Time magazine article on Indian-Americans, apologies and rebuttals

[willynilly]

This article was briefly discussed in this forum, so thought i'd share that Time has issued an apology for the article. The author has also apologized to all Indian-americans. I am glad that atleast the voices of all those who protested didn't go unheard, I myself had written to the editor too.
I dunno if this news has been posted already, if it has, the mods can please delete this thread.

Here's the link to the news article :
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/time-magazine-apologises-to-indian-americans-36108

And, here's the link to the actual article which has time and the author issuing apologies below it :
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1999416,00.html

[VS007]

I thought it was funny and true, not sure why he needed to apologize to point out the truth.

--
"For a while, we assumed all Indians were geniuses. Then, in the 1980s, the doctors and engineers brought over their merchant cousins, and we were no longer so sure about the genius thing. In the 1990s, the not-as-brilliant merchants brought their even-less-bright cousins, and we started to understand why India is so damn poor".

[nj_tina]

Apology from Joel Stein sounded half hearted to me ,, if he thought his hometown has changed more than his credence he would have emphasized on his shock in the article..I thought article tried to be funny but took a different turn as it progressed. But what can we say ,, if you ever read his placenta article you know his unique sense of humor. There were a few comments in article I wouldn't mind ... I have my own issues with Edison (who doesn't?) . My sensitivities are not that fragile but this guy had managed to disgust me from time to time .. somehow his usage of words like dot heads did not give me a good vibe..nor did his apology.

[R2IFinal2010]

Lawyers Vent on Time’s ‘Edison’ by Joel Stein



http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/07/08/lawyers-vent-on-times-edison-by-joel-stein/



And the full Letter here -> http://www.sabany.org/article/sabany-responds-joel-steins-column-time-magazine

[moneyIsNot_funny]

Apology from Joel Stein sounded half hearted to me ,.. somehow his usage of words like dot heads did not give me a good vibe..nor did his apology.

Agree with you on this one. I didnt really think too much of his original article. But if he needs to apologize, he should apologize clearly without slipping in some half apology like "understand the other side" - that was pretty pathetic excuse to give.

Usage of dotheads was a strict no-no. Its racially insensitive, given the violent connotation it had had in the past.

[soxfan]

I thought it was funny and true, not sure why he needed to apologize to point out the truth.

--

Funny?....his columns always had a particular brand of humor (which was never funny to me) but this one article is plain horrible...neither funny nor insightful nor ironic...anything. One of the comments made is this "In retrospect, I question just how good our schools were if "dot heads" was the best racist insult we could come up with for a group of people whose gods have multiple arms and an elephant nose" - I am sure he is still trying to be funny there - lamenting the ability of "local kids" in their racial abuse skills.

If his intention was to bring up the "thought process of other side" in a funny way - he missed it - missed it by big difference.

[nj_tina]

[QUOTE]I am sure he is still trying to be funny there

He does try a bit too hard ,, may be due to his sports reporting practices from earlier days?? The success ratio is rather debatable.

[sumeet]

Funny?....his columns always had a particular brand of humor (which was never funny to me) but this one article is plain horrible...neither funny nor insightful nor ironic...anything. One of the comments made is this "In retrospect, I question just how good our schools were if "dot heads" was the best racist insult we could come up with for a group of people whose gods have multiple arms and an elephant nose" - I am sure he is still trying to be funny there - lamenting the ability of "local kids" in their racial abuse skills.

If his intention was to bring up the "thought process of other side" in a funny way - he missed it - missed it by big difference.

I may be a minority of one, but I feel beyond a point to drag it and make it a 'us versus them' is counterproductive to our, meaning Indian NRIs interests.
what do we want? To silence a guy as him is not that difficult, but if he is reflecting the undertone felt by majority population (some of the aspects he has dwelled on), then by targeting him, one would only be fueling the anger of the rest of the community and create more divisions and cracks.
The best thing under the circumstance (IMO), would have been to register ones protest, and use the ignore option, that way this would not have been read and reread (and fortified cliched opinions) by thousands if not million other people.
By the way it was featured prominently in Indian TV channels who as usual sensationalized the whole affair, headlining 'racist author' apologises etc.
As VS007 points out it is not a secret that over the decades the profile of people immigrating has changed and this would not be an unnoticed fact.

[mn_op]

Here's the link to the news article :
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/time-magazine-apologises-to-indian-americans-36108

And, here's the link to the actual article which has time and the author issuing apologies below it :
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1999416,00.html

I don't understand what's there to apologize. I am sure there are millions who share his opinion but he is the only one who is speaking it out. It sure did not feel like humorous article and may get cousins of the not-so-bright's all enraged.

About the guy who screamed "go back to India" made a fool of himself and probably is working as a waiter in one of the Indian restaurants in Edison...I don't see why get worked up about it...especially when we come from a country where 'outsiders' are beaten up and people of different religion are burned alive.

We don't have to agree with his opinions but his apologies makes me nervous. This is against freedom of speech.

[R2I-2010]

I may be a minority of one, but I feel beyond a point to drag it and make it a 'us versus them' is counterproductive to our, meaning Indian NRIs interests.
what do we want? To silence a guy as him is not that difficult, but if he is reflecting the undertone felt by majority population (some of the aspects he has dwelled on), then by targeting him, one would only be fueling the anger of the rest of the community and create more divisions and cracks.
The best thing under the circumstance (IMO), would have been to register ones protest, and use the ignore option, that way this would not have been read and reread (and fortified cliched opinions) by thousands if not million other people.
By the way it was featured prominently in Indian TV channels who as usual sensationalized the whole affair, headlining 'racist author' apologises etc.
As VS007 points out it is not a secret that over the decades the profile of people immigrating has changed and this would not be an unnoticed fact.

You sure are in a minority. If his remarks are not offensive to you, you can put the whole thing on ignore. I am sure majority of us (NRIs) dont feel that way. Though I completely agree with you about Indian TV channels sensationalizing the episode. Though I did not watch any of that, I am not surprized if they did sensationalize it. They all are bunch of morons.