Debarati Bhanja graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in neurobiology while competing in track and field. She is currently a medical student at the Penn State College of Medicine. Bhanja won the long jump at the 2016 UAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and swept the 400-meter dash at the UAA indoor and outdoor championships during her senior season.

The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.

Racism in Athletics by Debarati Bhanja

When I was 13 years old, one of my club team coaches told me that he didn’t think I would be a good athlete because I was Indian. In front of my teammates, he would consistently call me racist nicknames, including “durka durka” and “camel jockey.” While his comments evoked laughter among my teammates, for me, more detrimentally, they sowed seeds of self-doubt in my athletic capabilities.

I was a young girl, the daughter of immigrants, trying to navigate my Indian heritage and American upbringing as well as these inaccurate, hurtful racial stereotypes. Passively, I laughed along with the mockery, but internally, I was determined to prove my coach, and my own doubts, wrong. I kept my head down, worked diligently, and reminded myself to focus on my passion for the sport. Over time, my love for athletics conquered any self-doubt or discrimination I faced. With each year, I found new coaches who ignored any Asian stereotypes, who saw my drive, dedication and spirit - who saw me as a great athlete.

Upon reflection, I truly believe this experience built the resilience that has followed me throughout athletics. I try to take on every hard workout and tough track race with the confidence I spent years building. However, this experience has also clouded my perspectives. I am disheartened that a part of my drive to succeed is to prove myself athletically to anyone who judges me based on my race and ethnicity.

I try to reconcile this with the hope that my athletic journey will pave paths for other Indian and minority athletes in my community to succeed, whose journeys won’t be defined by the desire to prove others wrong, but for pure love of a sport. I regret not outwardly defending myself back then, but I am proud to have overcome this challenge because both my Indian identity and involvement in athletics play such integral roles in how I define myself. Above all, I am proud to belong to a diverse and successful group of Asian, South-Asian, and Indian athletes.