UPDATE: 14:57 CST – Allen Concedes Defeat (with facial expression borrowed from Santorum’s daughter); Salon.com Quotes Manish, Amardeep and Abhi of Sepia Mutiny; One Party No Longer Controls All Branches Of US Government; Champagne Uncorked At VatulBlog HQ
I’m so sorry you aren’t around for this, Ed Bradley.
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J. Mehta comments on Sepia Mutiny’s Macacas, YouTube and the Question of Respect
The Macaca incident, if anything, illustrates just how out of touch Allen is with his South Asian Constituency. Sure the Macaca crack was a disgusting, Freudian slip that revealed if anything, a disturbing, unconscious racism. But more importantly, what it revealed to me was that he keeps no South Asian company; he’s ignorant of our culture; and he“s clearly ignorant of the history of South Asian immigration to the U.S. (as per the “Welcome to America” comment).
You can’t benefit a group [of] people when you don’t know that they exist¦
Is it just an Allen problem though ? I don’t think so. Think about Hillary“s Gandhi crack 2 years ago. Or Biden“s comment about not being able to go to any 7-11 in Delaware without hearing an Indian accent. These aren’t as bad to me as the Allen crack but they all reveal just how out of touch some of our reps can be with the South Asian community. If I lived in Virginia my vote would hands down go to Webb. But just because Webb made some dosas doesn’t mean he“s any more connected than Allen.
Amen.
That said, many South Asian Americans continue to be the “non-threatening” minority, bearing the burden of unconscious wisecracks, vocal racism and token photo-ops as long as their 7-11s, medical practices, corporations, investments and children reap the due rewards of working hard in America. Sticks and stones may break immigrant bones, but words are cheap. Their children, on the other hand, born and raised in this nation, are Americans and are not as acclimatized to such treatment. Nor should they be.
In other words, to quote PhoenixRising, “The proper response, I think, is not so much ‘Yay desis! Make another dosa!’ as ‘Yay Virginians! Come join us in the post-Civil-War era!'”
This is the future of immigration coming to pass.
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Related:
– The American Prospect: Welcome To America, Senator!
– Attack Ad Against Dick Cain
I’ve been travelling back and forth to VA for the past year, since the storm. After having spent some time in the southern part of Virginia (Roanoke/Blacksburg), I was really shocked at the level of racism and outright nastiness I encountered.
Allen was running ads on the radio in Southern VA for the past month, attacking Webb on his ambiguity towards gay marriage. That’s the only thing he had to attack him with…and it almost worked. This race was way to close and Allen actually gained ground in the end on the basis of Social issues such as gay marriage and immigration.
It is a great thing for the Northern part of the state that Webb pulled this out…hopefully it will mark a turn for a more progressive mindset in the state…God knows it has a long way to go.