A social media exchange over Indian-American visibility in Texas has snowballed into a heated online debate after a US professor pushed back against a content creator’s remark comparing Dallas to “New Delhi”.
The controversy began when Korean content creator Kangmin Lee posted on X about his experience flying into Dallas. “Just flew into Dallas, over half of my flight was Indian and every other person at the airport is Indian. Am I in Texas or New Delhi? What is going in Dallas?” he wrote.
His post drew sharp reactions, including from US academic Wilfred Reilly, who countered the claim by pointing to demographic data. Retweeting Lee’s post, Reilly, an associate professor at Kentucky State University, wrote, “Texas is 1% Indian and you yourself seem to be a legal immigrant of Korean descent.” Lee responded, “And? Is it wrong to not want parts of America to look like entire foreign countries?”
What followed was a polarised exchange in the comments section, with some amplifying anti-immigrant sentiment and others defending the Indian-American community.
{{/usCountry}}What followed was a polarised exchange in the comments section, with some amplifying anti-immigrant sentiment and others defending the Indian-American community.
{{/usCountry}}Reilly later also cited figures related to the Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) metro area, noting that it is home to over 235,000 Indian Americans - roughly 3% of the total population. He added that while some suburbs such as Plano, Frisco, Lewisville and Irving have higher concentrations, Indians do not form a majority in the region.
“DFW is 3% Indian. In only one successful suburb, Irving, do I have Indians as topping even 15%,” he wrote. Reilly also highlighted socioeconomic indicators, stating that Indian Americans are among the wealthiest ethnic groups in the United States and that Asian and South Asian communities statistically record lower crime rates than the national average.
(Also Read: 'Not Islamabad or Delhi': Republican leader calls Hanuman statue in Texas an ‘invasion’, sparks outrage)
How did social media react?
Meanwhile, in the commented section, while some users dismissed Lee’s comment as inflammatory, pointing out that he himself is an immigrant, others seized on the topic to amplify a narrative of “invasion” or cultural takeover.
“Kangmin’s favorite thing to do is to vilify and spread lies about (other) ethnic groups in America (especially Indians). Also, you’re right. He is an immigrant himself and wasn’t even born here. By his own definition, he isn’t even an American. But his audience doesn’t hate East Asians as much as other groups, so they let it slide. Dude is a pathetic grifter of the highest order,” one user wrote.
“If Texas was 15% Indian-American, why is that a problem either? India has many similarities with US that a Russian does not. India is multiethnic, democratic, multireligious, common law system, English is widely spoken and is the language used in corporate settings,” wrote another.
"North Dallas is like Mumbai,” remarked a third user.
“how is Texas 1% indian when everyone i see is indian. even when i look at city numbers it doesn't make any sense,” commented one user.
“Where did you find this statistic? I’ve lived in NJ, Seattle, NH, Boston, Rochester, NYC, uptown Dallas, Frisco,TX, and now Prosper,TX. What this person said is 100% accurate. You need to second guess your sources and their statistical accuracy,” wrote another.