Friday, January 20, 2006

nytimes: yanks really dont get it, do they?

jan 19th

another example of the yank belief that india is a muslim country. they are not generally aware of the existence of hindus. the only ones who know about hindus are the fundamentalists who are looking for conversion cannon fodder.

http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/01/20/movies/20musl.html?8dpc

it's funny to see that in the audience in the still in the review, there is not a single person who is wearing a muslim outfit.

but most yanks believe that india is part of the middle east (ie muslim) or africa (ie black). i dont know how many times people have looked at me in disbelief when i said india is in asia. they disagree because for them, asia is only populated by yellow people.


1 comment:

daisies said...

some of us must have seen this
while filling up ethnicity survey
forms in usa. i dont exactly
remember in what context this
survey came up - but i always
noticed indians do not come under
the category of asians.

but they didnt even come under
middle-east.

i think the only option left
was "other". as if america doesnt
know geography.

just like they show the india map
chopped off on top.

i think the surveys were optional,
or maybe some immig ones were not.

it was insulting to be called
"other" and not included in asia.
(but it didnt affect me deeply,
because most americans are pretty
ignorant, they havent travelled
outside their own state).

on the other hand, in a way it was
flattering. because we are indeed
different & "other" and deserve a
very special category. someday it
shall be carved out. and it shall
be called indian. no mix-up. :-)