Why Mindy Kaling's brother posed as black to get into med school
Vijay Chokal-Ingam, who is sparking controversy with a proposed 鈥� but not yet finished book 鈥� "聽鈥� The True Story Of An Indian American Who Got Into Medical School Pretending To Be An African American," which he says is intended 鈥� at least in part 鈥� to balance the moral ledger.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 a Hindu, and we have something called karma鈥� says Mr. Chokal-Ingam, in an interview. 鈥淚 think I鈥檓 doing the right thing now. I鈥檓 telling the truth about a system of organized racism that I don鈥檛 think helps anyone. I鈥檓 trying to prevent people from being discriminated against or having negative stereotypes created that hurt their careers indirectly through the cycle of discrimination.鈥�
Chokal-Ingam, who subsequently聽dropped out of medical school and is now a graduate school admissions consultant,聽declined to speak about his family or his famous sister, the聽'聽and their reaction to his work.
He describes how his decision to falsify his applications came about. 鈥淎fter watching some of my best friends who were Indian-American like me get rejected from medical school I said, you know, I don鈥檛 want to take the same path.鈥�
鈥淎n applicant with my test scores who was Indian or Asian-American was unlikely to get into med school, while an African-American with the same scores was statistically likely to get into medical school. So it was a pretty easy choice at that point,鈥� he says.
Chokal-Ingam says that it was at that point, 鈥淚 chose to shave my head, trim my Indian eyelashes and join the organization of Black Students and apply to medical school as an African-American.鈥�
Chokal-Ingam says he applied to a number of US medical schools, including Harvard, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania in 1998, adding, 鈥淚 never lied about anything on my application, except my race."
Asked if he truly wanted to become a physician or if this was a social experiment, he says, 鈥淎t the time there was nothing I wanted more in the world. My mother was a doctor. I鈥檇 worked in a hospital. There was nothing I wanted more and I was willing to do anything within reason to achieve that goal.鈥�
But he never completed his medical training, a fact that he attributes to karma.
鈥淚 have to be willing to accept the fact that perhaps I was never destined to become a doctor because of the way I got in,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 showed that I didn鈥檛 have the clinical skills required to be a doctor. So unfortunately, I dropped out.鈥�
He went to business school at UCLA, which he says 鈥渄id not have affirmative action and so accepted me purely on my merits.鈥�
Now, however, he says the school has become privatized since his graduation, and there is currently聽聽admission policy.
Chokal-Ingam聽says he experienced racism daily while posing as an African-American man.
鈥淚 would walk into Mr. G鈥檚 market where I鈥檇 shopped for years and I was accused of shoplifting,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚 was constantly pulled over by police for driving a nice car with them saying 鈥楧o you know how expensive the car you鈥檙e driving is?鈥�"
Yet, despite seeing racism first hand, he says, 鈥淒iscrimination in the form of racism is not the answer to our country鈥檚 racial problems.鈥�
, director of the聽聽(ACLU) Racial Justice Program, takes issue with聽Chokal-Ingam's analysis.
鈥淲hat I think disturbs me most about this, and there鈥檚 a great deal to choose from here, is that here is a man who has been privileged to drive down the street and go into a market without experiencing racism who got to see it from the other side and was able to just walk away from it unchanged.鈥�
鈥淗e took away from that, not that he should champion or advocate for people who don鈥檛 have the luxury of walking away from discrimination and racism and instead looks all these years later for his own self-interest," Mr. Parker adds.
Chokal-Ingam says that he understands the backlash he is getting on social media, which he characterizes as coming from African-Americans, 鈥渨ho have experienced racism in their lives and they are very angry about the experiences they鈥檝e had.鈥�
But he says that his book, if published, will be designed to help African Americans.
鈥淚n business school we say that 鈥榩erception is reality.鈥� There is a perception, a stereotype that African American and Hispanic professionals are not as competent as their peers and, unfortunately, affirmative action is designed to give them special treatment that perpetuates that myth,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat is more damaging than any temporary, transitory benefits from affirmative action. Although, of course, there are definitely social wrongs that need to be addressed.鈥�
鈥淭here are about 15 different ways to go at this [claims made by Chokal-Ingam], one more infuriating than the next,鈥� Mr. Parker says. 鈥淭o contend that people of color who are unqualified are being let into schools is wrong and offensive. His [Chokal-Ingam鈥檚] statements strike me as being completely a-historical. The very idea that black people became stereotyped because of affirmative action is ludicrous.鈥�
Twitter erupted with conflicting views.
Parker adds that American culture and society has a long way to go before it will be ready to abolish affirmative action and not suffer the consequences of flagging enrollment among African American students, such as the declines that have sparked debate in聽听补苍诲听.
鈥淏efore you eliminate affirmative action, you need to be sure you eliminate racial inequality; have an unemployment rate for people of color that isn鈥檛 twice as high as whites. Also, show that white wealth isn鈥檛 consistently higher than that or people of color and that educational opportunities aren鈥檛 tied to wealth in America,鈥� Parker says.
Asked if he would make the same decision all over again Chokal-Ingam says, 鈥淚 know what I did was wrong. Things you do at age 22 are not the same things we choose to do at age 38.鈥�
