Yes, I have listened to it. It was in the news when Joe Biden first uttered those words. It is an old incident now. He even apologized for it. Besides Indian Americans are not known for holding grudges.
He is family now
Biden: I may have relatives in India
Biden I may have relatives in India
US Vice President Joe Biden resolves the mystery of distant relatives in Mumbai
US Vice President Joe Biden resolves the mystery of distant relatives in Mumbai - timesofindia-economictimes
And his apologizing had far more to do with my current sigline than with anything in the clip, because there's no reference to racism in there at all. I've seen this clip before, trotted out as a cum hoc fallacy by partisan hacks trying to pin a tale on all donkeys. Then I point out that the content of their clip doesn't contain any of what they imagine it does. (Then they run away)
First of all it's a grammatical train wreck. Obviously you don't need an Indian accent, or any kind of accent, to walk into a store. He tried to allude to the store keepers and reversed the roles. Second, it refers to language ("accent") which has nothing to do with anyone's race. It's stupidly phrased too -- "Indian accent", as if there is only oneThird, since racism requires a value judgment ("all Indians/blacks/Chinese/etc are inferior because X, Y, Z") it completely fails to qualify. However clumsily, the speaker's trying to boast of a large Indian contingent in his state. Noting that they're frequently seen in Dunkin Donuts makes no value judgment on anybody's race. It merely notes that they exist. There's nothing "racist" about noting that some race or ethnic group exists. Existence isn't subject to opinion.
It's part of the dumb-down hyper-PC knuckledragger mentality bullshit that attempts to imagine that making a reference to the presence of a race --- is the same thing as making value judgments about that race.
Biden would need to apologise for an atrocious assault on the English language, but that's about it.
I found Joe Biden's remarks quite offensive and I was not alone on that. Did you not hear him doing fake Indian accent in that video? That was very rude. On top of that he was alluding that pretty much all Indians work at Dunkin Donuts or 7-11. This feeds into the stereo type. Actually, there was a poster here on this very board who attacked me because I objected to his anti-Muslim hate posts. He was trying to get me angry by saying that I worked at a 7-11. Racist people in the U.S. use references to 7-11 and Dunkin Donuts to put down Indians.
No, I heard nothing like that, and language accents have nothing to do with race anyway. Accents are a product of linguistic upbringing.
And again, working at a 7-11 or Dunkin Donuts (or anywhere) makes no comment about one's race. To the extent there's a pattern there (Arab taxi drivers, Hispanic chambermaids etc) it would have to do with cultural connections -- 2015 immigrant from Country X arrives, the 2014 and 2013 immigrants hook him up with a job. Nothing "racial" about that process, and nothing about it indicates that said ethnic group would be limited to those jobs.
Nor did Biden. Right from the beginning of the clip he's clearly bragging on his state's growing Indian population; and saying it to an Indian. Now why would he be doing that if his intent was the opposite?
But here's the real test:
In the clip itself, the guy he's talking to --- isn't "offended" at all. He gets the meaning. He's smiling back. This is yet another case of Revisionistas trying to manipulate and morph the news into something it isn't. This is PC manipulation bullshit, and it's easily disproven by simply listening to the content.
Just out of curiosity on your earlier note about "why aren't there more Democratic Indians in politics, I looked up the Wiki page of Indian-Americans in any kind of politics. Scanning down the list as far as those whose political parties were noted, outside of the red state governors already mentioned I found 14 of them to be Democrats, 2 Republicans, and a Socialist. One of the Republicans was in Orange County California -- again, a red zone.
Does 14-2 surprise you?
I along with many other Indians and Indian Americans found that remark offensive. I personally do not think that he was trying to be too mean or cruel to Indian Americans. Sometimes we end up saying things that do not do justice to our intention. This may have been that case. I will leave it at that.
As far as your list is concerned, it may not be very credible because it listed Sashi Tharoor who has nothing to do with the US. But yes, 14-2 in favor Democratic party is surprising.
Yes, I didn't count that one. Only those who were clearly identified. 14-2 is exactly what I would have expected; for the same reason, again, one would expect similar if one searched for "Muslim politicians" or "gay politicians" or "women politicians". The DP is identified with the common folk, and has been for a bit over a century, since the DP absorbed the Populist movement and the RP drifted to the interests of the rich and corporations, all around the turn of the 19th-to-20th century.
I'm afraid that's a strawman, since Biden did not say, or imply, that Indians in Delaware are *all* in DD or 711. That part was inserted where it did not exist. I mean, check the whole video-- it's not there. I'm afraid this amounts to disingenuous politician-speak pandering. It's basically a "Checkers speech", if you catch my meaning.
