Hillary Clinton's Gandhi 'Joke' is clearly racist
D N Verma
A seasoned politician and a fine lawyer, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is not
that dumb to make a sick joke about Mahatma Gandhi working at a gas station in St. Louis. The remark was clearly racist, stereotypical, as many South Asians do run gas stations in the US to make the white, black, brown, yellow people keep driving. But to denigrate a whole sub-continent is preposterous. It's disgusting. It's outrageous. It's inexcusable.
After Clinton made that sick remark there was laughter. Nobody from the Democratic group objected. Nobody frowned at Hillary Clinton. Nobody protested. There were 200 Democrats, but apparently all were as sick and dumb as the speaker. Hillary must have realized that it was a sick joke but did not apologize. She only added: "No, Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader of the 20th century." The regret also came days later.
This joke may be directed at India and India's leader but had it been a Republican, or a so-called rightist, saying the same thing, all the Democratic stalwarts and leftists, and all the media-persons would have asked for his blood, and demanded his resignation.
Hillary Clinton, being the darling of the liberal media, and of the Democratic Party, would not be subjected to anything remotely suggesting even a sincere apology.
Of course, the Indo-Americans, and those connected to Gandhi's teachings and principles, and some others, did feel bad about it and issued statements.
The director of a US center devoted to Gandhi's teachings called the remarks stereotypical and racially insensitive, while an educator said the flap underscored the need for politicians to be cautious when trying to get laughs.
"Political speeches can't be like episodes of the Simpsons," said David Robertson, a University of Missouri-St. Louis political science professor.
The comment was disturbing to Michelle Naef, administrator of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, the Memphis, Tennessee-based nonprofit founded in 1991 by Arun Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma, to promote his grandfather's teachings, including nonviolent resistance.
While crediting Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as long having "supported the Gandhi message," Naef said her remarks "could be incredibly harmful" in perpetuating racial myths.
"I don't think she was, in any way, trying to demean Mahatma Gandhi," Naef said. "To be generous to her, I would say it was a poor attempt at humor. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive, but I find it offensive when people use stereotypes in that way." Naef was apparently magnanimous, like Gandhi would be."
Farmer's spokesman Safir Ahmed said no one should be upset about "just a little flip remark" that preceded Clinton's reciting a Gandhi quote that's Farmer's favorite and is used in her campaign materials.
"As an Indian-American myself, I was not offended by what Sen. Clinton said," Ahmed said. "It (the quote) was clearly something Sen. Clinton loved, and she referred to Mahatma Gandhi as one of the greatest leaders. I don't understand why anyone would take any offense or remotely think Senator Clinton harbors anything against Indian-Americans." Obviously Ahmed is obliged to say that. But it's another dumb attempt at defending Hillary's sick joke. A true Indian would certainly be offended.
To Prof. Robertson, the flap demonstrates the potential peril of when humor by politicians falls flat. "The more prominent the politician, the more they've taken positions on equality in the past as Mrs Clinton has, the more this is going to be troubling to some people," he said. "It's understandable that groups want to make sure they're treated with complete respect."
When it comes to Hillary Clinton, he said, "There's no reason to think she doesn't admire Gandhi, like so many people do. After all, Gandhi was influential to Martin Luther King, Jr., and I know she respects King." But, that's all the more reason Hillary Clinton should have been more careful, more sensitive and more alert not to make that sick joke at the expense of Gandhi. Imagine what would have happened if she had made a similar remark about Martin Luther King, Jr. Will she do that? No. She would be a hundred times more cautious. Poor Indians. They can take everything lying down.
In the political arena, the Indian-American Republican Council has asked Senator Hillary Clinton to apologize to the Indo-American community for the "outrageous" comments she made on Mahatma Gandhi.
"It is simply outrageous that Hillary Clinton used the venerable Mahatma Gandhi to perpetuate racial stereotypes," council co-chairman Sudhakar Shenoy said. "This is truly shameful. I assure that the Indian-American community is not laughing. Humor based on racial slurs has no place in public discourse. We call on Hillary Clinton and Nancy Farmer to apologize to Indian Americans," he said.
The comments demonstrate Mrs Clinton doesn't respect our heritage, Shenoy said. "Bill and Hillary Clinton heap lavish praise to our faces, but behind our backs, they use hurtful racial stereotypes that perpetuate ignorance and cause harm to our community," he said.
(Courtesy Internationalopinion.com) |
