Social media posts, including from the Department of Homeland Security and a Texas Republican candidate, have helped stir fear among people of South Asian heritage. Bo French, a Republican running for statewide office in Texas, made a post that drew backlash from many South Asians who saw it as racist.

For months, many Indian Americans said that they had noticed what seemed to be a marked uptick in racist comments against South Asians. As part of the rollout of a new tip line, the Department of Homeland Security posted an image on Sept. 9 of a “Transformers” character facing off with a Sikh man, along with the words: “America for Americans. Get off our roads. You don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh.” A few days later, Bo French posted an image from a University of Texas football game showing cheering students who appeared to be of South Asian heritage.

“What we’re seeing now is full blown and out in public view,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-director of Stop AAPI Hate. “When agency officials and candidates use this language, it gets weaponized.” On Sept. 13, a Sikh trucker named Gurvinder Singh was stabbed 17 times at a Wyoming rest stop. Many Sikh Americans drew a connection to the heightened rhetoric.

While the stabbing may have been a rare episode, it fueled fear, leaving many South Asians wondering about their place in the United States. For some people who trace their heritage to South Asia, the rhetoric has been surprising, in part because many had embraced the stereotype of their community as a “model minority.”