Posts Tagged racism

Too educated to be kicked off New York train or racism!

This one is juts plain weird!
“Do you know what schools I’ve been to? How well-educated I am?” A picture is worth a thousand words; how about a video!!

Here is an incident involving a brown woman traveling on New York’s Metro North train, recorded by a fellow passenger. Obviously, she is telling the train employee that she is too “well-educated” to be told to quiet down and not use profanity on her cell-phone. The video shows the employee explaining to another employee that she asked the passenger to stop using the “F-bomb” in her cell-phone conversation. The train employee happens to be black.

The whole thing is sad and the attitude of this ‘self-claimed well educated’ woman is somewhat strange, to say the least. You can watch the video on the YouTube here:

We don’t know if she went to Harvard or Yale, or even if she is really Indian, but the internet is buzzing with all kinds of comments and interpretations. Noting that she has looks of a south Asian or Indian American woman, the observations range from ‘a plain idiotic’ to ‘a class issue’ to ‘a racial discrimination’.

Here are some of the comments (warning: some comments include adult language):
“…a case of interactions between blacks/browns based on perceived differences in socioeconomic status. Some sociologists do attribute that to “white-washing” and differentiating oneself from “them”…..”
“What we have here is a brown woman who thinks being rude to a black woman is going to make her less brown….”

“THIS LAND IS THE WHITE MAN’S LAND…”

“These INDIANS are coming over, taking American jobs, getting a chance to leave their wretched country for a better life…..and on top of that they have ATTITUDE!”

“it’s really sad that you got thumbs up for your bigoted comment when a) you don’t know if she is indeed of Indian descent and b) she obviously is American yet you’re the kind of mouth-breading cocksuckers who tell people to go back to a country with which the only thing they have in common is ethnicity. She’s a bitch, sure, but she doesn’t speak for women, ivy leaguers, Indians, or wherever the f* you think she’s from. Crack a f*ing book sometime.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Desi in da club…or not!!

Many years ago, I (along with a desi friend of mine,) was refused entry to a night-club in Montreal, Canada. There was a cover charge – an entry fee, and we were okay with that; but I guess, we were not ‘okay enough’ to be a part of the crowd inside. Realizing that we were dressed too casual for some of the upscale clubs in that area, we went back to our places, changed into something more formal and had no problem after that.

Not sure if it was our ‘outsider’ looks or just the dress code that was the problem for the club, but appearance does matter. You are always judged on your looks, no matter who you are and where you come from.

And, you can say this about any country; this happens everywhere, every day and every night. I have heard stories about some night-clubs in India refusing entrance to foreigners, including Nepalese and those from far north-eastern states.

Recently Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club in New Zealand denied a Sikh man’s entry because he was wearing a turban. The Sikh community is crying foul and calling it a case of racism. On the other hand, the club management is calling it a purely policy issue, and has nothing to do with the racism according to them. It is a private club and they have their own rules, at least that’s what they say. The Sikh Council of New Zealand is seeking action from Human Rights Commission against the club, and is willing to take the battle to the court. Read the rest of this entry »

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I am not racist, but my brain may be!

NRI Tips: The unconscious bias and the depth of racial issues abroad

There is no dispute that America is one of the richest countries where entrepreneurial spirit strives for excellence; freedom of speech is respected and encouraged. Every work place preaches and teaches diversity but the society as a whole continue to struggle with racial discriminations and racial biases.
Many have undertaken the noble task of investigating and researching racism and race relations in America. I outlined a few very basic aspects of it in a previous article ‘ABC of race relation in America’. Some of the interesting studies of modern days blame this human behavior of discrimination on ‘unconscious bias’. The studies point to the fact that the racial bias is linked to our subconscious behavior where we discriminate, unknowingly to a large extent, even when we don’t mean it.
So it is not your fault entirely, it is the brain of yours that is messing with you! :) Read the rest of this entry »

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