This South Asian Content Creator Exposed Out-Of-Hand, Racist DMs She Received And It's Shedding Light On The Struggles Creators Of Color Have To Deal With

    "It's just not okay."

    Simrin Singh
    by Simrin Singh

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Recently, Vidya Gopalan, a 36-year-old fashion and lifestyle influencer, shared this TikTok calling out several Instagram users for sending her unprovoked, nasty, racist messages.

    "First of all, I don't understand how someone can say these things. I've never talked like that to anybody," Vidya said in an interview with BuzzFeed. "To talk about me being 'the scum of America' is a hurtful thing to say to somebody."

    It all started when Vidya saw that makeup brand Tula discontinued relationships with a couple of influencers who promoted harmful beliefs. On one of the influencer's posts, Vidya commented, "Well, I'm going to start buying Tula now."

    After writing that comment, Vidya opened her phone to a barrage of hateful messages in her Instagram DMs.

    @queencitytrends / TikTok / Via tiktok.com

    "It wasn't just like, 'You shouldn't have said that on her page.' It was more like, 'Go back to your own country,' and that made no sense at all," she described.

    Others sent hurtful messages about the color of Vidya's skin, saying, "You should use this skincare brand to treat your discoloration on your skin."

    As an Instagram and TikTok influencer with a combined follower count of almost 450K people, Vidya said she expects others to push back and disagree with her online. But, comments targeting her South Asian heritage, the color of her skin, and her family are simply not okay.

    Vidya said she wanted to post the awful comments on TikTok in case it could help other creators of color feel like they're not alone.

    Vidya at the beginning of her TikTok next to some text that reads "
    @queencitytrends / TikTok / Via tiktok.com

    "If [people] feel free enough to say these things to me, then I'm fine with exposing who they are," she expressed. "I'm sure I'm not the only person dealing with this. There are other South Asians or people of color of all different races that are dealing with the same thing."

    Fortunately, Vidya didn't let these comments get to her too much. She said she became more concerned about younger creators of color who also often deal with this sort of racism online.

    Since exposing the racist messages on TikTok, Vidya said she hasn't really received any more. However, the TikTok comments section can still often become a toxic environment for creators, she explained.

    "They'll make comments like, 'Oh, you smell like curry,' which honestly, doesn't even have anything to do with the video that I'm posting," she recalled.

    Despite the hate, Vidya said she hopes to continue sharing her love for fashion and family, while also giving online audiences a better understanding of what it means to be a creator of color.

    To keep up Vidya's content, you can visit her Instagram and TikTok @queencitytrends.