Why the row over Zohran Mamdani eating with his hands is essentially about racism

In the face of criticism, Representative Brandon Gill, 31, has doubled down on his claim, posted on X, that “civilised people in America do not eat like this”, and his wife, who has Indian roots herself, has jumped to his defence.

Civilized people in America don’t eat like this.

If you refuse to adopt Western customs, go back to the Third World. https://t.co/TYQkcr0nFE

— Congressman Brandon Gill (@RepBrandonGill) June 30, 2025

“I did not grow up eating rice with my hands and have always used a fork. I was born in America. I’m a Christian MAGA patriot. My father’s extended family lives in India and they are also Christian and they use forks too,” Danielle D’Souza Gill posted on X.

D’Souza Gill, who is the daughter of the Conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza, ended the post with “Thank you for your attention to this matter”, the signoff line that President Donald Trump frequently uses in his posts.

I did not grow up eating rice with my hands and have always used a fork.

I was born in America. I’m a Christian MAGA patriot

My father’s extended family lives in India and they are also Christian and they use forks too.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. https://t.co/pORq7bJPgO

— Danielle D’Souza Gill (@danielledsouzag) June 30, 2025

Critics have posted pictures of the senior D’Souza eating with his hands, and of the Congressman himself enjoying pizza using his hands. Why this outcry and debate over the way literally billions of people around the world have eaten for thousands of years?

Besides Indians, which other communities use their hands to eat?

A large number of communities and cultures across South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of South America, representing a large chunk of the global population, eat using their hands. Several items of food, including tacos, burgers, pizza, sandwiches, and hot dogs are eaten using hands around the world.

While it comes naturally to most Indians who instinctively use their hands to eat, it is also variously argued that doing so leads to an increase in immunity – provided fundamental principles of hygiene are followed – promotes mindful eating practices, and is better for the environment.

Art of Living, the popular yoga and wellness initiative, makes a connection between eating with one’s hands and Ayurveda, in which the five fingertips are seen to represent the five elements of nature.

In a comment published in 2012, mythologist and author Devdutt Pattanaik wrote: “In Vedic texts, food is a goddess and fingers are the midget sages known as Valakhilyas. The sages carry the goddess to our mouths so that we sustain ourselves. In Jyotisha, the five fingers are associated with the five elements: earth (little finger), water (ring finger), air (middle finger), ether (index finger) and fire (thumb). Thus when we eat by hand, the five elements get symbolically connected with the food.”

So what exactly is the problem with eating with one’s hands, as long as they have been washed to get rid of germs before beginning the meal?

The reaction of most people is triggered by the shock of encountering an unfamiliar cultural practice, who then judge it as being “gross”.

Thus Oprah Winfrey is alleged to have asked some years ago whether Indians “still” ate with their hands, the actor Shilpa Shetty was bullied and shamed on a British reality TV show for eating with her hands, and there was an online debate on “manners” and “hygiene” recently after a woman did the same on the London Tube.

Like many such judgments, however, the roots of this culture of shaming often lie in a racist view of the world that is essentially intolerant and inward-looking.

It has been pointed out by scholars and historians that the use of cutlery can be traced back to European imperialism, American colonisation and African slavery, as part of which the culture of eating by hand came to be associated with “natives”, labourers, and servants.

This culture of shaming of non-Western traditional practices has been passed down to the present, and is often celebrated by modern culture warriors, even those who come from non-Western cultures. In the way this imposition of cultural hierarchy works, practices such as eating with one’s hands becomes acceptable when White people do it, but “barbaric”, “gross”, or “uncivilized” when non-Whites are involved. The escape route for this thinly disguised racism is often sought in distinguishing between types of food – thus, pizza is OK, but rice is not.

My culture lesson for Mamdani: Eating with your hands is acceptable when it’s bread, naan or pizza. Not when it’s soup, meatloaf or mashed potatoes. Indians sometimes eat rice with their hands in India, but it’s much more common in rural areas. In America, it’s considered gross. pic.twitter.com/0e45pcsafR

— Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) July 1, 2025

In the end, the objection to eating with one’s hands is not about etiquette; it is about power, prejudice, and the lingering shadow of colonialism.

The writer is a student who is a summer intern at The Indian Express.