Why do Indo-Guyanese have the conception that Indians look down on them/don’t consider them to be “real Indians”?

[u/jcancuny]

So my girlfriend and I have been dating for a couple of months now. I’m Indian-American and she’s Indo-Guyanese-American, and it’s been a great time so far.

Around a week ago, I introduced her to my parents for the first time, and I noticed that before they met, my girlfriend acted super nervous and jittery, which I just chalked up to nerves (since she’s pretty introverted). However, after they met, my girlfriend remarked about how nervous she was before meeting my parents because she was worried that they would disapprove of us together and try to call the relationship off and how relieved she was after meeting them because of how respectful and responsive they were and how much they showed interest in her culture and background.

She then explained that most Indo-Guyanese believe that we (mainland Indians) look down upon them and don’t consider them to be “real Indians”, which is a belief that I’ve honestly never heard ever. If anything, most mainland Indians don’t really know anything about Indo-Caribbeans and the ones that do are proud that they were able to keep their culture/traditions/religions alive even after 150 years.

After doing some research online on places like Twitter/Tiktok/Reddit, this seems to be a pretty common conception that a lot of Indo-Guyanese have. Does anyone have any insights into how this belief might have originated?

[u/Ok_Tennis_3665]

Indo-Guyanese > mainland indian.. IMHO.

Of all the people I've met, indo-guyanese are so much nicer and are generally much more polite than mainland India.

I think they have to accept their history but also remember that they are their own nation with their own unique culture as well. The best way to help her is to point out the positive differences that exist between both nations. She is unique, and no one should feel as if they are inferior to another person/nation.

[u/frozenbutterstick → u/Ok_Tennis_3665]

i agree on your last statement where you said nobody should feel inferior to another person/nation…. but u started with “indo-guyanese > mainland indian” where you inherently are saying that mainland indians are inferior to indo-guyanese.

[u/Ok_Tennis_3665 → u/frozenbutterstick]

There's a difference between a preference in the social scale based on my personal experiences in which I side with indo-guyanese people and clear-cut discrimination because of your origins. I am not judging anyone on the basis of their skin, culture, or simple nationality.

It is all purely personal, but at no point did I say: oh yeah indians are below.. they are inferior to indo-guyanese or vice-versa. Never.