They also slip...

Once again the Americans are in the news. This time, it is thanks to poor choice of words by a diplomat in Chennai.

“… my skin became dirty and dark like the Tamilians,” Ms Maureen Chao, Vice Consul at the US Consulate in Chennai, said while recounting her 72-hour train journey from New Delhi to Orissa many years ago. Ms Chao was addressing the Semester Abroad Programme of SRM University.

As expected, everyone present was offended, though the remarks never meant to, with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister demanding an apology for stereotyping, racial slur and what not. The American Mission in Chennai quickly regretted the “unfortunate” remarks, reiterating that it was never the diplomat's intention to hurt anyone's sentiments.

Inappropriate and poor choice of words, yes, it was; but there did not appear to be any intent of a racial slur. Prior to her diplomatic assignment, Ms Chao was a student counsellor for many years at an American university and she wouldn't have lasted there had she harboured any politically incorrect views!

This is not the first time that an American politician or diplomat has courted controversy with poor choice of words. Ms Chao stands in the distinguished company of former President George Bush, the present Vice-President, Mr Joe Biden and the Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton, all of whom were hammered in the media for their unfortunate remarks. But they had not intended to wound, even indirectly.

RACIAL SLUR

“We are working hard to convince both the Indians and the Pakis that there is a way to deal with their problems without going to war,” quipped Mr Bush in 2002, without realising that the word “Pakis” is a racially-offensive epithet that is not acceptable. In fact, even prior to Mr Bush, Mr Sandy Berger, the National Security Advisor to President Bill Clinton, came to realise the hard way that the term “Pakis” isn't acceptable usage. Of course, it's another matter that Mr Bush was reprieved by Pakistan.

“I would give him the benefit of the doubt and say it was said in passing. I would say it doesn't amount to racial slur,” remarked the then Spokesman of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington.

Two years later, in 2004, at a fund-raiser, the then New York Senator, Ms Hillary Clinton, joked that Mahatma Gandhi used to run a gas station in St. Louis. That comment did not go down well, as it is associated with certain ethnic groups running gas stations in America.

“I have admired the work and life of Mahatma Gandhi and have publicly spoken regarding that many times. I truly regret if a lame attempt at humour suggested otherwise,” Ms Clinton said in an interview shortly thereafter.

It does not take too much for so-called slurs to be noticed, but what needs to be kept in mind is that there are those Chaos, Bushs, Clintons and Bidens who may mean nothing offensive, except for their misconstrued attempt at humour and poor choice of words. Diplomats are trained to be culture-sensitive, just as scribes are, for the most part, trained to be sensitive to the larger picture. This should be borne in mind the next time such a controversy breaks out.

(The author is Head, School of Media Studies in the Faculty of Science and Humanities at SRM University, Chennai.)

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