Exciting coz it my first post here. Anyway Cheer up, and continue visit.

Thanks.

Yeah right ahmed, so why then is muslim majority Bangladesh, where he from, among the most corrupt nations on earth? Why is no muslim nation found among the the top 20 least corrupt nations?

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2006

The context is extremely important. If the confedarate flag is hanging in the American History Museum in DC, it’s pretty clear that the context is non-offensive. If the flag is displayed on someone’s car, it’s ambiguous. So, when using symbols or phrases with multiple meanings, one walks a fine line that is dependent on making the context abundantly clear. Siddartha probably thought the context was abundantly clear. That said, even if the phrase “honest injun” has a neutral history, the word “injun” does not and for that reason it may be best to banish the phrase from use.

ahmed thatz kinda sweeping statement innit?

i read “honest injuns” as a statement on the attitude of the white majority, ie, subtle racism and condecension toward injuns masquerading as praise. in other words, it was a subtle derogitory jab at whites.

of course, i only saw praise for an individual in the reporting, as the stereotype siddhartha refers to, is not applicable at all, as far as i know, to indian immigrants.

i would like to praise siddhartha and shruti for being so “articulate”, but i’m afraid they may take offense.

itz like the idiot that catched the baseball that he cud sell for millions and ppl were saying the rite thing to do was give it back to the player. oh plzzzzz what stupidity. ppl need to make logical decisions wid their head as opposed to emotional decisons based on the heart. yes they get their 15mins but is it really worth it? hmmm i think noT.

In Shruti’s words, that you endorse, “The use of the term “honest Injun” in the title prompts a comparison with the historical use of that term”. If you wanted to lead with offensive expressions, I think the term “mighty white of him” would have worked much better. Lets face it. The article was about a Bangladeshi cabbie (not withstanding your efforts to put the Indian cabbie into the story) and the story is about a non-white, who did the right thing.

Divya’s “Political correctness for the sake of political correctness is a hundred times worse than any imagined insult to any community, imo.” comment and Manju’s “offensive to the white majority” comment, don’t make sense to me and I will leave it at that.

Not to flog a dead horse (too late!), but in my opinion, leading the article by using terms that others found offensive did distract your readers. Then that became the story. The current WaPo.com, William Arkin “mercenary” brouhaha comes to mind. In this case, I assume that is not what you wanted. That was my point.