These Huffington people are a bunch of cocksuckers. They have David Mamet as a columnist too.

Stop crying wolf guys. These people may be jerks or even racists, but the 2 posts cited so far are juvenile, not racist. Do you really think this stuff

Save the bile for important stuff, please.

Oh, thats the parody. Well, they are cocksuckers too.

Appearanlty they're not very good at parodying... anybody notice the "Kofi Annan" at the end of the long name? C'mon, that's not even Indian!

... anybody notice the "Kofi Annan" at the end of the long name? C'mon, that's not even Indian!

That's their out. That's how they'll claim they're not picking on one nationality exclusively.

Oh, it's just a joke.

The lack of humor threw me off.

Politically correct jokes have never really been funny (neither is this crap, but that's besides the point).

Oh, and if you have a problem with the parody, then you should also be thoroughly angered by this:

http://www.badmash.org/videos/videos.php?v=brown_guy.wmv&t=Russell%20Peters%20is%20Funny

Seriously Banglawarrior, What offends you?

Cocksuckers? Now come on! The Huffington Post (the original article) was weird and incoherent, but it was certainly not racially offensive, not could anyone seriously argue that it was intended to be so. The parody with the long name might be, but are we so stuck up as a community that we cannot laugh at ourselves? The HP article may be stupid, but calling them cocksuckers for that is plain juvenile.

Remember the boy in junior school who always got pissed at the jokes about him, and that only prompted even more teasing? Let's not be that boy.

... if you have a problem with the parody, then you should also be thoroughly angered by this:

Context matters. Russell Peters is desi, and he does cross the line sometimes (I wince at some of his Sri Lankan jokes). The people behind Huffington Toast don't seem to be doing informed parody, just a lazy surface approximation using commonly available stereotypes. It's junk food.

There's rich humor waiting to be mined. How desis take off their shoes inside the house. Or the massive spice rack. Or the live-in in-laws. Pay attention.

... are we so stuck up as a community that we cannot laugh at ourselves?

Yes, I'd be fine with laughing at ourselves. I'd be fine with others laughing, provided it's accurate.

Where in the crap above do you find accurate or even interesting? Do these people even know what the word curry means? (It's not what they think it means.) Do you know the long history of the word in ethnic slurs? Curry muncher, curry eater, curry smell, curry breath.

It's not just the stereotypes, it's the artistic laziness that bugs. A non-ethnic comedian mocking ethnic differences precisely might be hilarious. Matter of fact, I believe some are.

If we're going to have offensive comedy, give me a comedian who cares enough to be correct.

And then a major desi American star is dismissed as just another member of an anonymous brown horde. I'm guessing it wasn't done ironically, most people don't recognize M. Night's face.

It all stinks to high heaven.

Where in the crap above do you find accurate or even interesting? Do these people even know what the word curry means? (It's not what they think it means.) Do you know the long history of the word in ethnic slurs? Curry muncher, curry eater, curry smell, curry breath.

If we're going to have offensive comedy, give me a comedian who cares enough to be correct.

Stereotypes are not removed by admonishing those who make jokes at our expense. Also note that many terms such as curry breath and curry smell are actually rooted in reality. As long as there is a basis for the jokes, the jokes will be there. Being offended helps no one. Laugh it off, and no one will think twice about it.

The parody site does use the word in an offensive way, but we were getting all riled up about the original post...

Yes, the Toast is worse than the Post.

Comedy doesn't aim to be correct. Comedy usually uses stereotypes to get laughs.

Stupid comedy relies on played-out stereotypes. Great comedy relies on great observations that are true, you just didn't notice yet.

Also note that many terms such as curry breath and curry smell are actually rooted in reality.

I have never met a desi who smelled like either haldi or curry sabzi. Not once.

Stereotypes are not removed by admonishing those who make jokes at our expense... Laugh it off, and no one will think twice about it.

You live in your world, I'll reshape mine.

Hmmm...if you read all the posts by Gutfeld on HP (there are three now on "the party"), his blog really is in need of some decipherment.

Is he ghostwriting a metablog for a fictional author/narrator that mocks inanity in, and the general nature of, the blogosphere (see: posts referencing Ice Cream truck)?
Is he actually posting some real life events interspersed with bizarre fiction? (see: David Mamet)
Is he just an idiot? (see: his professional background)

It's like watching Gosford Park for the first time. Or a really good mime moving in slow motion. Maybe someone who will admit to reading Maxim or Stuff can clue us in.

I have never met a desi who smelled like either haldi or curry sabzi. Not once

I have never met a desi who smelled like either haldi or curry sabzi. Not once
Do you live in one of the Dakotas ?

"bumbling Sardars (before someone starts screaming - Khushwant Singh has one of the best compilations of sardar jokes"

When you're ready, Anil, for your ethnic community, whatever it may be, to be reduced to a stereotype, let me know.

PS... The only polish joke I've ever laughed at have been from my GOOD FRIEND who was Polish.

Because it was from a place of human warmth, not a place of trying to make myself feel better by making someone else feel less

You live in your world, I'll reshape mine.

When you're ready, Anil, for your ethnic community, whatever it may be, to be reduced to a stereotype, let me know.

Manish is the guy who wanted Mamet to change the language in his play, although it was an accurate reflection of the way the racists actually talked.....next up on Sepia Mutiny, a more desi friendly Shakespeare

"Why doesn't Shakespeare mention desis! An outrage, I tell, you!"

By the way, no large spice rack in my house growing up and we could keep our shoes on if we wanted. Is this your idea of funny, Manish? Rich humor to be mined? I find that offensive/sarcasm.

This particular part may not be to my taste, but the rest of Huffington Toast is quite funny, actually. Or is all that not really Arianna and houseboy stuff misogynistic and I should be offended! Oh please, enlighten me!!!!

Anil

What was unreasonable about Raju's question? It was a perfectly reasonable question. Please point out how his contribution is in any way unreasonable?

It points out your own mindset quite well, imputing unreason to those who question you, even in the most innocuous and legitimate terms.

Quite unreasonable I would say, Anil, please do show some reason and be sensible.

That's a commendable thought, but man, you've got to pick your battles carefully, else you run the risk of being thought of as the nutcase activist.

Time for you to live your own advice and stop being a nutcase Anil.

guys, I think anli chowpaticurrylingusmanian has a point. let us not get hot-headed over this simple matter. alni, while we are it please share with others your curry server that takes in news items and tells whether it is activist-worthy. I heard it runs on curry farts and haldi. Good post-use for those dosa and potato curry right anny? *wink* *wink*. Let us know what comes out of the curry server when Maxim's "Gandhi" comedy is fed in.

Are we still having an reasonable discussion?

As far as I see Manish has pointed out some stupid humor that can be interpreted as being racist and playing up to stupid stereotypes of Indians. If you dont want to see it that way dont. But there's no need to have a nervous breakdown as Anil has (hey Anil, your name sounds like Anal, hehehe, funny eh? Hey whatsthematter? Pick your struggles, dont be a nutcase) ;-)

Anyway, as I was saying, he just wrote a post, he's not marching to Washington or going on hunger strike, but it seems to have ripped up the fissures in Anal's, err, sorry, I mean Anil's haemmoroids and has him weeping like a puppy just because someone called it as he sees it. Maybe Anal doesnt want to rock the boat or cause horror to whitey, whatever, it doesnt matter, his name sounds like Anal, with a name like that, you've got to have a sense of humor. ;-)

(Its a joke, I thought you could take a joke!)

Manish, I reckon it is borderline racist and there's nothing wrong with calling it that if thats how you feel. The Anal's of this world cant seem to differentiate and see it as a tendency to nutcaseism but screw them, what do the Anal's of the world know? Its a freakin' post in a blog, not a petition to the UN or a death threat.

Hey Anil, I mean Anal, dont take it personally, its just a stereotype that your name sounds like Anal, hehehe, cant you take a joke, keep smiling, be reasonable, pick your battles etc etc etc, dont shed any tears or go crazy ;-)

Boy, I'm so glad we can have such a mature discussion here.. :-)

Yeah Anil that was totally reasonable. Let me know when we can all be as blase about your community and stereotyping, as you are about other communities. What's good for me should be good for you, thats quite reasonable, no?

MD I get you in that you're saying, don't let someone else speak for when you're offended by something. Which I agree with you.

But the tension lies, to me, in that when one person allows for a joke based on ethnic stereotype, it can de-legitimize another person's being honestly offended.

And the end of the day, to me, offence at ethnic jokes is about a sense of becoming vulnerable. For instance, a jolly sardar ji joke is all good, but when, in 1984, people were said to be "dancing bhangra" because they were writhing in pain from being burnt alive....you tend to remember that on some level next time you are stereotyped.

Curry muncher never gets me offended, because I've never been called one, and my family was very careful to either cook non-desi food, or else ventilate our house after cooking desi food. So that particular epitheth never "scared" me. Not much scares me about desi epitheths, because I led a pretty assimilated life. But I'm willing to come to the defence of people for whom those slurs hit to the bone.

For instance, I'm much more sensitive to slurs based on skin color, and if other desis take a strong tact that I need to get over it, I'm much less able to assert that, no, its not ok to be slurred for my skin color

all love, except for Anal, I mean Anil

Manish is the guy who wanted Mamet to change the language in his play...

Mamet did in fact strip the anti-Patel racism in the Glengarry Glen Ross revival. Probably because it wasn't commercially viable in 2005 as-is.

By the way, no large spice rack in my house growing up and we could keep our shoes on if we wanted. Is this your idea of funny, Manish?

I described a joke, I didn't write the joke. The way I'd write a joke, you'd find paint drying funny ;)

Oh please, enlighten me!!!!

Blog posts are all 'in my opinion.' Let me know when you've had your cup of coffee for the day.

you've got to pick your battles carefully, else you run the risk of being thought of as the nutcase activist.

Note the lack of a petition drive.

Do you live in one of the Dakotas ?

No, pickups aren't my taste ;)

Raju,

You stated "Curry muncher never gets me offended, because I've never been called one and my family was very careful to either cook non-desi food, or else ventilate our house after cooking desi food"

Are you suggesting that the people who are called curry-munchers stink up their house and are called so because of what they cooked ?
Surely you are not naive enough to believe that whenever someone is called a curry muncher, the caller is only calling him that because he smelled curry coming out of Indian's house.

Then you incredibly stated "Not much scares me about desi epitheths, because I led a pretty assimilated life. But I'm willing to come to the defence of people for whom those slurs hit to the bone".

Tell me you dont believe that people are called racial slurs because they have not assimilated enough! So if you are riding the subway and someone shouts a racist slur is it because the recipient of the slur has not assimilated enough ?

I'm saying, that for me personally, I never got too upset by curry muncher because for whatever reason, its never left too much a mark on me. Its water off my back.

If someone calls me curry muncher on a subway, there's a chance I'd take it seriously, and a chance other people might take it seriously. But, the chance goes down if it just seems like a random comment.

If its someone I know, who calls me a curry muncher, I'm even less likely to care, becuase I've never been "scarred" by a curry-smelling incident.

Yeah I guess any slur could suck to be called...but when I had a beard it was much worse to be called a name then when I started to shave. Because then it was just even more patently absurd I guess.

Anyway....love to all, except Anal, I mean Anil

All you oh-so-brave souls who don't think these words have any meaning....heres a test:

Look at yourself in the mirror, point to yourself, and say "Curry Muncher!" 10 times. See how you feel after.

As always those who don't routinely face racism themselves are ever so quick to dismiss its existence for others.

Bumbling Sardar played a blinder and hit a few sixes on this thread.

I said I am down to help people who are being called ethnic slurs, what more to do you want? No one deserves an ethnic slur

I said I am down to help people who are being called ethnic slurs, what more to do you want? No one deserves an ethnic slur

Also, it might help if you knew how to argue a point logically without calling names and acting puerile. As it is, the original point - whether or not the Post article is offensive, has been forgotten in the heat of this discussion and I am not inclined to be drawn into this juvenile personal bashing instead. Good luck!

I have no intelligent comment right now, and am not decided on what I think about this, but curry muncher doesn't even make any sense. I mean, I just tried vurdlife's little experiment and it just sounded ridiculous. You can't munch curry, by anyone's definition of the word, it's not crunchy. Now, chaat-muncher, there's a sobriquet I could consider getting emotional about one way or the other. I'm genuinely curious, who the hell used curry-muncher and when?

Curry muncher is a slur used more widely in the UK and Australia:

In a restaurant later that evening, he is said to have referred to the crown prosecutor, Lloyd Rayney, as a “curry-munching c**t”, mocking his Indian ethnicity.

Because desis and Arabs are the same, brown people from that-thar region who need to be killed.

This is definitely one trend taught in Racism 101, but the other that seems to be picking up more steam lately is "the Asians are taking our jobs." All of the radio DJ stuff that we've noticed over the past six months, whatever else you might think about it, linked various East Asian and South Asian stereotypes (as opposed to just talking about "Asians" and ignoring the existence of desis altogether, which is what usually happens in these contexts). This is one problem with Manish's idea (in the linked essay) that "to the extent that South Asia is viewed with respect, so are South Asians"; geopolitical competitition doesn't exactly have a history of reducing racism in the U.S.

btw, when did you start linking posts to your own writing, Manish? :) (just teasing! no need to get worked up!)

Manish

Actually, I havent ever heard curry muncher used that much in England, its usually you're just called a Paki Bastard. But Robert Hughes, that f**kwit is a respected art critic who has TV shows on the BBC.

Anil, I read at an ok level for the most part.

My calling you Anal was to suggest that its annoying when someone tries to pretty forcefully tell other people to laugh things off when they are not the ones to whom the insult is directed. Like I said, when you are ready for your community, whatever that may be, to be sterotyped as casually as you suggest Sardarjis should be, let me know.

"Because desis and Arabs are the same, brown people from that-thar region who need to be killed."

Yeah, Manish, even Tolkien says so. Didn't you watch Lord of the Rings?

My calling you Anal was to suggest that its annoying when someone tries to pretty forcefully tell other people to laugh things off when they are not the ones to whom the insult is directed

when you are ready for your community, whatever that may be, to be sterotyped..

I'm not frothing at the mouth, I think you're just making stuff up. Stick to the arguement man

I think the point-- whether curry-muncher, dot-head, sand-n***r, et al-- is that the slur originates from a place of hatred and ignorance. I don't rock the bindi on a daily basis, but if someone calls me such, it's because they see us all as the same, or they have already judged me as a person simply for my exterior and my points of ethnic origin, both beyond my control and least critical when it comes to "who I am"... Anil and Raju, I think THAT's the point. I could call you a peanut-butter sandwich, and so long as it's coming from a place of venom and hate, it's just as offensive as any mainstream epithet that you seem ok swallowing...

I could call you a peanut-butter sandwich, and so long as it's coming from a place of venom and hate, it's just as offensive as any mainstream epithet that you seem ok swallowing...

Stop being such a peanut-butter sandwich, DesiDancer!

Doesn't seem to have the same effect, although i could see how we might turn it into the equivalent of "oreo" or "coconut" or "Drake's Devil Dog" ("He's such a triple D--why doesn't he bust out the kurta once in a while?").

Anyway, for those, like me, who are entertained by ethnic slurs, here's a list at wikipedia. Not only does it have curry muncher, ABCD, FOB, and many others, but it covers a whole range of ethnic groups and slurs (although sadly, it doesn't have a definition for homofob).

oh the hate, Saurav! ;)

focusing just on "curry muncher"; its so ridiculous as to be like "you're such a moron I can't believe it" if someone said that to me. its not like its "swallowed" its more like, yeah, you are clearly an idiot so what you said doesn't upset me. I can't see people around the slur-ry person even rallying around anyone who says curry muncher, even if they wanted to

Raju kab banega gentleman!

I'm new to the site. I like the look and some of the posts. Personally I'm very sensitive to slurs. However, while I'm quick to note them (can't help it!), I almost never react. I think thats what the perpetrator wants to see. Better to excel at what you are doing and earn money which in this society guarantees respect. Thats what the Japanese did and the Chinese are doing.
This foolish fellow is not even worth a moment's indignation.

No curry for you, Manish.

No sense of humor, either, it seems.

Nacheez... I resent that I'm not worth a moment's indignation. I think I'm worth at least a FEW moments.

To hell with curry. I want sushi. Or ribs.

No doubt I am now a self-hater in your eyes.

With the overly-sensitive, nobody wins.

Um, some corrections here: Huffington et al aren't racists. Republicans are racists. Remember?

Also: Robert Hughes never used the term "curry muncher." That false story has been widely debunked.