Who is this Arab terrorist? Priyanka Chopra talks about racism in America

Priyanka Chopra might have come a long way in Hollywood, and will be presenting an Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards but there was a time when she faced the racism that many brown-skinned individuals experience in the USA.

Describing her experience, the actress told The Guardian about how she was called an ‘Arab Terrorist’ when one of her songs replaced Faith Hill’s for Thursday Night Football on American TV. She told The Guardian: “My song replaced one from Faith Hill, who is like the all-American girl and suddenly there was this brown girl and the NFL got so many emails from fans saying: ‘Who is this Arab terrorist?’ I got so much of it, too.”

She added: “I find it really funny that people have such primitive thinking. I called them out. I said: ‘Why is every Arab person a terrorist, and why am I an Arab terrorist just because I am brown?’” She also spoke about facing racism in the US as a kid when she studied in Iowa and was often called ‘brownie’ and ‘curry’ with people telling her to go back to her own country.

She also waded into the diversity row that’s been affecting the Academy Awards and explained why she won’t be boycotting the event with the likes of Jada Pinkett-Smith. She said: “I am too new in this industry to be taking extreme decisions like that. When it comes to India I am very vocal about how I feel, but I am just six months old here, and honestly I want to go and see what will happen at the Oscars, especially as there is such a huge debate. I think it will be a very interesting evening.”

She also added: "I’m not even Indian-American, I’m Indian-Indian,” she says. “Everybody expected me to have henna and a nose pin and talk in an accent like Apu from The Simpsons. I was nervous because I wasn’t sure if America was ready for a lead that looked like me.”