This Indian Actress's Response To Her Racist Critics Is Calm And Powerful

"Keep being an achiever. Keep achieving."

In September of 2013, Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra performed the kick-off song for a Thursday night football game.

Via desimartini.com

Chopra performed her song "In My City." Watch the full video here.

According to Chopra, she received hate mail and tweets after her NFL performance, calling her an "Arab terrorist" who didn't belong on American television.

Dominique Charriau / Via Getty Images

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Chopra compared her experience to Miss America Nina Davuluri's.

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Her response was eloquent and calm.

"I've been in the limelight, in a public space, for very long. I understand dealing with brick bats and bouquets. You will get the bad and you will get the good. And I've dealt with racism... I think the only way to go forward is to shut the detractors with your work. Keep being an achiever, keep achieving, because there are so many people who support you. Instead of harping on the fact that yes, I'm called a terrorist, because I happen to be brown and from South Asia, and on getting hate mail saying "You're not white, why should you be on NFL?" Despite that, I'd rather focus on the millions of other people who've been sending emails or tweets and writing in to the NFL network saying it's amazing. I'd rather focus on that."

Watch the excerpt from the interview:

And watch the full Wall Street Journal interview here.