A content creator has sparked a conversation online after sharing his thoughts on what he believes the South Asian community could learn from Black communities when it comes to cultural pride, confidence and representation.

Krishn discussed the subject in a TikTok video, where he praised Black communities for making Black identity and culture something he believes people outside the community have increasingly embraced and admired.

He pointed to areas including fashion, music and wider cultural influence, arguing that aspects of Black culture are frequently adopted by people from other racial backgrounds. For him, this represented an example of how embracing an identity can influence how that identity is perceived by others.

"Do you know what I respect about black people yeah, they've made being black cool," he said.

Krishn explained that he would like to see South Asian people develop a similar level of confidence in their own identity, arguing that being proud of your background should involve more than simply saying you are proud.

He claimed that South Asian people can sometimes become the subject of jokes and stereotypes, with particular words relating to South Asian identity being used in derogatory ways.

"Being brown is literally like being a meme at this point, like it or not it's true."

Rather than suggesting that people should simply ignore those attitudes, Krishn encouraged South Asians to challenge them through how they present themselves and interact with the wider world. He spoke about looking after yourself, carrying yourself with confidence and refusing to accept disrespect because of your background.

"You need to be proud of being brown yeah, I'm not just saying be proud and do nothing."

"I'm saying bro, hit the gym, improve yourself, carry yourself with more confidence, act like you're proud, not just be proud, act like you're proud of being brown yeah, walk around demanding respect."

His argument was also centred around community, with Krishn suggesting that greater unity could change how South Asian culture is viewed and potentially encourage other people to embrace aspects of it.

He said he believed that if people stopped conforming to stereotypes and instead presented their culture with confidence, it could have a wider effect on how that culture is perceived.

"If we start actually coming together as a community and carrying all of ourselves with such pride and respect and not like the stereotypical meme that everyone has of us, I promise you people start to like copy some of our things as well, it will happen yeah."

The video prompted a range of responses, with some viewers agreeing with Krishn's wider point while others suggested that there are lessons that could go in both directions. One person wrote:

"I hear it...... we too as black people can learn a few things from their culture and customs"

Another agreed that there were aspects of South Asian culture that Black communities could learn from, particularly when it comes to building financial security within families.

"Respect!. And there's a lot we can learn from you lot as well. Example; financially building together, and actually keeping that wealth within the bloodline. My people love flex, instead of investing amongst themselves."

However, not everyone agreed with the comparison, with one commenter arguing that discussions about racial pride should also acknowledge problems within individual communities.

"I’m sorry i disagree. The amount of colourism in our community is concerning. Black men don’t even like dating their own women. They call it a 'preference' theyre still trying to assimilate to white men."

The debate touches on wider issues surrounding how ethnic minorities are represented and treated in Britain. South Asian communities are not a single group, with people identifying as Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan and from a range of other backgrounds, each with their own cultures, languages, religions and experiences.

Stereotypes surrounding South Asians can range from assumptions about accents, food and family life to broader ideas about appearance, class, immigration and professional success. While some stereotypes may appear harmless on the surface, they can become offensive when individuals are reduced to a set of repeated jokes or assumptions about their background.

There is also evidence that racial discrimination remains an issue affecting South Asian people in Britain. Government figures show that Asian adults were estimated to be more likely to experience racially motivated hate crime than White adults, with 0.7% of Asian adults recorded as victims in the Crime Survey for England and Wales between April 2022 and March 2025, compared with 0.1% of White adults.

Police-recorded figures also demonstrate the scale of racial hostility more broadly. In the year ending March 2025, 84,374 racially or religiously aggravated crimes had victim ethnicity information available in 34,072 cases. Of those where ethnicity was known, 33% of victims identified as Asian, although the Government cautions that ethnicity was not recorded in the majority of cases.

These figures provide some context to Krishn's comments about stereotypes and the importance of being confident in one's identity. At the same time, the experiences of South Asian people vary considerably depending on nationality, religion, skin tone, class, gender and generation, meaning there is no single experience that applies to the entire community.

The discussion around colourism also adds another layer to the conversation. Colourism, which involves prejudice or preferential treatment based on skin tone, can exist both within and between ethnic communities. The commenter who raised the issue argued that conversations about racial pride should not overlook internal attitudes around skin colour, beauty and relationships.

Krishn's original point, however, was primarily about representation and self-confidence. He argued that Black cultural influence demonstrates what can happen when a community embraces its identity strongly enough for elements of its culture to become influential beyond the community itself.

Black British culture has had a significant influence across music, fashion, sport and popular culture, with elements of Black British and wider Black diasporic culture becoming prominent in mainstream British life. That influence has also generated ongoing discussions around cultural appreciation, appropriation and whether communities receive recognition or financial benefit when aspects of their culture become commercially successful.

For Krishn, the lesson he believes South Asians can take from this is not simply to imitate Black culture, but to develop a stronger sense of confidence in their own.

His comments have therefore opened up a wider discussion about what cultural pride actually looks like, whether communities can learn from one another and how people can challenge stereotypes without creating new divisions.

While some viewers clearly felt his message resonated, others questioned the comparisons and pointed to issues within Black and South Asian communities that should not be ignored. Ultimately, the conversation appears to have moved beyond Krishn's original video, with viewers debating not only how communities are represented by others, but also how they represent themselves.