Mindy Kaling's estranged brother, an outspoken affirmative action opponent, says in a controversial new book that he posed as black when he applied to medical school, believing it would improve his odds of getting in.
Vijay Chokal-Ingam's claim, the premise of his book "Almost Black," has come under fire from critics who have called the suggestion racist, pointed out that he is an outspoken opponent of affirmative action and said he is capitalizing on his sister's fame.
"I shaved my head, trimmed my long Indian eyelashes, and applied to medical school as a black man," Chokal-Ingam wrote on his website, adding that he used his middle name Jojo instead of his first name.
He says he was admitted to St. Louis University's med school with a 3.1 GPA and enrolled, then dropped out after two years after realizing he didn't want to become a doctor.
The school confirmed to St. Louis Magazine that it had admitted him in 1999, saying that his MCAT scores and GPA met its admission criteria at the time and that his race was not a factor in his admission.
Chokal-Ingam's med school admission scheme has been slammed in the media and on Twitter, with Salon calling it a "lousy... stunt" that "completely misses the point on affirmative action and merit."
And Stereo Williams, writing for The Daily Beast, said Chokal-Ingam had "committed fraud to prove a racist point."
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"It’s easier for him to tap dance for the right wing as the brown man who 'gets it,' while conveniently missing how ongoing racism makes affirmative action absolutely necessary," he wrote.
A spokesperson for Kaling told E! News that the "Mindy Project" actress had been estranged from her brother for years and hadn't known about his med school application scheme.
