Of course they are. I would never seek to undermine them and think they were uneducated, because as the lesson of Apu(!!!) has taught us, store owners sometimes have PhDs too. And I don’t. And I don’t own a store either. So in a way, I would be proud to be an Apu too.

Store owners are also proud of their backgrounds, upbringing and educational accomplishments.

In fact, if someone assumed I was successful enough to own a store, I would feel very proud of myself and take it as a great compliment.

running low-end or cheap business’ (like wal-mart, 7-11, mobil gas) is not exactly looked down upon in the capitalist world, as you imply. i know you’re trying to bust the model minority myth, as you were here, but by pointing out that desi’s are disprportionately represented in these businesses, you’re just adding to it.

Dont get your knickers in a twist over imaginary insults you thin-skinned “snivelling idiot”. No one is putting you or yours down for making an honest living running a small convenience store or a cheap motel. But you seem to have a real issue dealing with the fact that these businesses which are disproportionately desi-owned are at the low end of the hospitality and grocery businesses in America. Why this problem dealing with facts??

You’ve grown up with a Brahminized model of prestige, and believe putting on a tie and fiddling with excel sheets makes you superior. No wonder India is such a poor wretched place.

You obviously are new around here. I happen to agree to a large extent with your blaming brahminism for India’s wretchedness.

Thanks, HMF. I just realized what was wrong with my above logic and wrote, I don’t know, 500 words about it. See the trackback above. (Snow days are good for blogs, yes?)

The gist of the argument is “Who am I to try to combat the experiences of a group of people with my single personal experience?”

I was more surprised at their stupidity to use him as an insult. But they did exactly what you said – pilfered their shallow, white-American brains for whatever desi/brown/Indian connection they could think of, and force it into an insult.

Those “insults” really had no effect on me, because I knew who Gandhi really was, and what was more offensive was their lack of knowledge, rather than their attempts to dehumanize me.

But there’s no way I can get behind Apu in same way, regardless of how many times Lisa goes to him for advice.

There you people go throwing your personal views of Apu up there, which are fine and dandy, and respectable, but totally irrelevent. Your average white viewer isn’t thinking to himself “Wow, he’s such a respectable immigrant for setting up a successful business in a middle-American town, a real pillar for the American Dream!”

why is it that our society has allowed Apu has become a negative generalization of desis while a character like Groundskeeper Willie doesn’t seem to have any recriminating effect on people of Scottish descent?”

This is an excellent point. I think it has to do with a lack of counterbalancing force. US Pop culture has Willie from the Simpsons, but it also has http://sepiamutiny.com?p=4179#comment-118148 <p>Perhaps the real question is "in a show like the Simpsons, which contains characters of a multiplicity of nationalities, histories, and stereotypes, why is it that our society has allowed Apu has become a negative generalization of desis while a character like Groundskeeper Willie doesn't seem to have any recriminating effect on people of Scottish descent?"</p> <p>For heaven's sake, Bumblebee Man is a lot more broadly drawn and can be viewed as much more offensive than Apu.</p> <p>So is it because of the way Groening et al have portrayed Apu, or because Team Average Racist American would have found any available insult to hurl at the feared other, and Apu, being the only desi on television, was closest at hand?</p> Perhaps the real question is “in a show like the Simpsons, which contains characters of a multiplicity of nationalities, histories, and stereotypes, why is it that our society has allowed Apu has become a negative generalization of desis while a character like Groundskeeper Willie doesn’t seem to have any recriminating effect on people of Scottish descent?”