As a millenial brown dude I can definitely see this happening. Basically all the feedback I got growing up was that white (and some Asian) people cannot handle the spice in our food which is why it was often made fun of (along with Mexican food). A lot has changed since then but there is an innate reflex to tell white and some East Asian friends and colleagues to be careful with it and it’s hard to break. No one wants to see another person get ill from their food simply because their digestive tract is not accustomed to it.

It’s very similar to the reflex that makes me stop my toddler from eating anything with spice but then she actually likes it and I’m like oh yeah, that tracks, you’re a mini version of me 😆.

I will say that palates universally have broadened in the past few decades. When I was growing up it wasn’t uncommon to see people (even grown adults) physically recoil, make faces or pinch their noses in the presence of Indian food and a lot of folks have really stepped up their game since then.