A celebratory video by NYU Tandon showcasing graduates announcing jobs at top tech firms like Google and Amazon has sparked a wave of online racism. Though intended to highlight student success, the video drew xenophobic backlash on social media, with users targeting students’ perceived South Asian or Chinese heritage. Critics linked the clip to broader debates over immigration and the H-1B visa program, despite no mention of the students’ nationalities. While some praised their achievements, the incident underscored growing anti-immigrant sentiment, raising concerns about whether merit can be celebrated without prejudice in an increasingly diverse tech industry. Watch the video to know more.
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00:00And finally, graduation is a major milestone meant to be lauded and celebrated, but instead, in this particular instance, it opened the floodgates to hate.
00:11When NYU engineering students proudly shared their new jobs at tech giants like Google and Amazon, you'd think people would have cheered these bright young minds on.
00:20But instead, what these graduates got were ugly, hate-filled pushback.
00:26Here's a look at how a moment of joy became a lightning rod for hate.
00:30What was meant to be a heartwarming celebration of student success has instead sparked a troubling wave of online racism.
00:40A video shared by New York University's Tandon School of Engineering, showcasing proud graduates revealing their job offers at major tech firms, was met with a barrage of hateful comments on social media.
00:53Continue to be a professor here.
00:55The video, filmed during graduation, showed an interviewer asking students about their post-college plans.
01:02Where are you going?
01:03Many graduates happily announced positions at global giants like Google, Amazon and IBM.
01:10At IBM.
01:11These roles were nothing less than symbols of their hard work and academic dedication.
01:16One student revealed that she would soon start working for Google, while another spoke about his new position at Amazon's Seattle office.
01:26I just joined Amazon in Seattle, and I'm going to be working there from next month onwards.
01:31Then there were others who secured opportunities in firms like IBM and AWS.
01:36At IBM.
01:36AWS.
01:37Another student expressed deep excitement about his role in a robotics company in Minnesota.
01:43A robotics company in Minnesota.
01:44But instead of applause, the clip triggered xenophobic remarks online.
01:49Viewers, drawing assumptions from the students' accents and appearances, fixated on their perceived South Asian or Chinese heritage.
01:57The comments section on Instagram and posts on X were flooded with slurs, mocking their names, ethnicities, suggesting that foreigners were taking coveted American tech jobs.
02:09In this sea of hateful comments, there were some who credited the students.
02:14Some users quickly jumped to defend the students.
02:18One user stated that the students worked hard for this.
02:21Another pointed out the excitement in their eyes, while there were others who wished the students good luck.
02:27The backlash reflects a growing climate of anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States of America.
02:33This is particularly aimed at South Asians, amid debates over the H-1B visa program.
02:40As per reports, Indians alone account for nearly 70% of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued annually.
02:49While the program is intended to fill critical skill shortages, critics often portray it as a threat to American workers.
02:57Sentiments that clearly spilled into the comments on the NYU video.
03:02What makes this incident particularly disheartening is that the nationalities of the students were never revealed.
03:10The focus was meant to be on their achievements, landing jobs at some of the world's most competitive firms.
03:17Yet their accomplishments were overshadowed by prejudice, reducing years of academic effort into fodder for racial attacks.
03:25The success of the NYU graduates should have been celebrated as a testament to perseverance, skill and global competitiveness.
03:35Instead, it became a reminder of the persistent challenges immigrants and minorities face, even in moments of triumph.
03:42As the tech industry continues to thrive on diversity and international talent, the backlash against these students highlights a pressing question.
03:52Will society allow merit to shine through or will prejudice continue to cloud genuine achievement?
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