Hi Mario
You make an interesting point that the term "Paki" is not used in the USA.
Let me suggest to you that this may not at all be because the Americans have
some sensitivity to this term. It is just that there is a remarkably high
level of ignorance predominately among white Americans and they do not know
the word "paki" when peoples from Mongolia to Timbuctoo seem to have some
awareness of this term. I have travelled a lot in the States and have always
been baffled by the level of ignorance there. I was once asked ..."well what
language do you speak in England, is it British?" Another student was
puzzled when I referred to UK pounds or Sterling. He said, simply, you mean
you don't use dollars in your country? Another university student had never
heard the term apartheid and had to ask me, in my lecture, what it meant.
Another time, I was in the former Yugoslavia and was being shown around the
huge fort at a strategic spot where the Danube below has two powerful
adjoining streams of waters and there are many incredible whirlpools. When
we were shown some really old cannons in the fort, an American woman turned
to her husband and said, sufficiently audibly for many to hear, "Honey, why
did they have to use such old guns, could they not have asked for some of
ours?" Her husband did not know where to look with so many people around.
Honestly, Mario, I could go on and on but the occupational structure which
invariably ensures that one's education qualifications are generally not
recognised in another State, even next door, has prevented people learning
more than they they know from within their own cocoons. For a nation on
wheels, it is a paradox that Americans travel little within the country and
barely outside for anything which would widen their narrow horizons.
Consequently, only some 10% of 'established' Americans have passports. Now
you work that out in terms of actual numbers and don't include new
immigrants who ought to have passports. I once met an American in Quebec
who was convinced he was in Europe because French was spoken there.
Consequently, I have never ceased to be amazed that I have seen more of the
States than the many Americans I have met.
Now, as is your wont, please do not try and tell me that I do not know what
I am talking about. I have known the above for years but it was absolutely
crystallised for me when I explored this issue most thoroughly with American
academic colleagues very recently.
Forget the use of "pakis" in the States, have you not heard of the "dot
busters" in New Jersey? These are the sods who scout for Indian women with
the red mark on the forehead and then terrorise them. What about in Boston,
where South Asians are called sand... (something, I can't recall the next
word right now). I am sure my Canadian friends will provide more detail of
the derogratory terms Americans use for their Southern neighbours and other
examples which put "paki" in the shade!
Regards,
Cornel
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mario Goveia" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <goanet@goanet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 4:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Goanet] Emails from Mario Goveia's address
--- Mervyn Lobo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The fact remains that you, because of your parents
and place of birth, do not have the rights that
other
Americans have. That means you are a SECOND CLASS
citizen.
In all my years studying/teaching in US, not once
did
I come across anyone who was called Paki.
Mario replies:
Mervyn, you have the typical attitude of someone who
could not get a US "green card", and had to move to
Canada or go "home". I guess you tell your friends in
Canada that you moved there because they would not let
you run for US President. I can see the Canucks
nodding their heads in agreement and patting you on
the back for displaying such wisdom.
In the US, once you are a citizen, no one considers
you as anything else. This notion of second-class
citizens and names like "Paki" are used in the UK and
Canada, not in the US, as you have correctly stated.
