You may have heard that recently a desi furniture retailer in Toronto got into a bit of hot water for selling a sofa with the tag shown below to a black family (Candians of Ghanaian origin). As paragons of racial sensitivity and spin, we thought Sepia Mutiny should offer some public relations advice to our Canadian brethren. 
1. Respond to the customer’s complaints right away
The day after the discovery was made, Moore says that she called Vanaik Furniture and Mattress store, where the purchase was made, to address the issue. But her phone call was unreturned. At least three other calls were made to the store. Those were unreturned as well. [Link]
Don’t make the customer chase you, it looks bad. And don’t leave the sofa with a customer who is offended by it. Instead, offer to take the sofa back right away. Remember, this is one of your best selling pieces of furniture and you can charge a notoriety premium if you auction it on eBay. Put the tag proudly on display and sell it to the highest bidder. The only color that matters is green.
2. The best defense is a good offense
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p>Your response thus far has been to pass the buck, which is OK for a start. So Romesh Vanaik, owner of Vanaik Furniture, blamed his supplier, Paul Kumar of Cosmos Furniture, who blamed the Chinese manufacturer, who blamed the company that made the auto-translation software, which blamed the out of date dictionary it was using [Link].
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p>You really should go a lot further, though, and seize the initiative. Mount a press conference, stating that you are gravely offended that the Chinese have wrongly appropriated this term when they should have used “Macaca Brown” or “In need of Fair-and-Lovely Brown” instead. Use this press conference as an opportunity to announce your new dining sets, offered in Chinky Yellow, Redneck Pink and Lazy Injun Red.
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p>3. Never plead ignorance, it makes you look weak.
Romesh Vanaik, owner of Vanaik Furniture … added that he had not known the meaning of the N-word. “It’s amazing. I’ve been here since 1972 and I never knew the meaning of this word,” said Vanaik, a native of India. [Link]
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p>Big mistake. Ignorance is no excuse and who will ever believe you’ve been in Canada for 30 years without knowing what that word means? Instead, advertise your racial behavior proudly. Tell them that it doesn’t matter when a macaca does it, since we’re not white we can’t be racist! Furthermore, point out that this is proud part of Indian culture. Then announce a “West Indian week” where all the workers show up in blackface, just like in this Indian TV show [via UB]:
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Remember, using racial terms will never backfire amongst your desi clients, and there are enough of those in Toronto to keep your business rich as a Gujju.
[UPDATE] In case my intent is unclear, this post is meant as satire. The post is meant to mock the store owner who avoided his customer’s phone calls, doesn’t seem to have offered to take the offending sofa back, is passing blame rather than taking responsibility, and is now claiming that he has never heard the “N-word” in 35 years.
While it is absolutely ridiculous to claim that “I dont know what that word means”, I think that the merchant in Canada may not have meant to offend. Just because it is stupid in terms of business. I could not say that for that offensive TV program. This type of racial stereotypes are in-excusible. Besides as opposed to the Merchant in Canada, the TV producers are people with considerable power and are putting out material for public consumption.
The TV bit was disgusting. Shame on them. People in India watch cricket and play cricket as opposed to say “kabaddi” or “Kushti” because Cricket is associated with the British. The terms of Cricket are in English and they have to be “explained” (with a racial caricature sometimes), WTF?
I saw this on the news a few days ago and shook my head. I wanted to smack the owner of the furniture store before I even got to the Chinese supplier.
However this is a general question for anyone that might know. When I was in India recently someone casually used the N word to inquire about the general population of the area I live in NY. There wasn’t even a hint or racism and this person is educated however it was said so matter of fact I couldn’t help but think that he really thought it was a normal word and had no clue about the oppression behind it. I didn’t even know how to respond because I was the only one that was offended.
I’ve in the past heard this word randomly used in a very matter of fact way in the fat east and while I’m flabbergasted I really didn’t know how to address it with someone that most probably would never encounter someone African American or turn it into a huge sidebar discussion especially with older relatives (that’s who asked me about that in India) Any thoughts?
JOAT.. I totally hear you, have had the same experience myself when I heard my convent-educated, metro-living, mom-in-law (who was visiting me from India) sing the nursery rhyme “Eeny Meeny Mynie Moe” except with the “n” word in place of the “Tiger”…I was appalled and asked her to never say that word and explained that it was a very offensive term..she had no idea!! of course, my kid picked it up and it took numerous time outs and loooots of cajoling to get him to drop the word..yikes!!
RC,
Please see Bytewords and my comments on it.
And btw, cricket is NOT popular because its associated with the british. Field hockey used to rule the day 40 yrs ago, much like cricket does in the side-streets and playgrounds of India today. India’s won 8 Olympic golds in Field hockey, six in a row from 1928-56. I’m not clear on the reasons for cricket’s ascension and hockey’s decline, but if they had to do with british association, cricket would have been popular since ever. Kabaddi or kushti indeed have always been considered too vernacular to be cool, probably due to colonial influence.
There is no doubt that cricket era in India came full-on when India won the world cup in ’83. The significance of winning the game of India’s former masters in their face, on a ground that’s described as the mecca of cricket, was not lost on a country still trying to define its identity. However, it would be inaccurate to ascribe cricket’s popularity in India due to desi attempts to ape the gora sahib. The win of 83 made more cricket converts because of its symbolism and the game’s innate excitement (yes, I know – there’s the one-day, and then there’s the five day), not because by playing it desi’s felt more angrez.
You must really think that the producers of that video, and the Shiv Sena goons who paint faces black, are such stupid, ignorant buffoons that they are aping westerners without even realizing the offensive racist nature of what they are aping. I dont buy that at all. No one is that stupid.
That urdu “idiom” is also racist. It originated with the central asian muslim conquerors and rulers of India who, like the brits after them, saw indians as black/dark and contemptible. But the practice of painting faces black is of british not mughal origin. It is certainly not an indigenous hindu practice, for the hindu Puranas paint their epic heroes and heroines as black/dark.
Why on earth would a brown-skinned desi use the words “nigger-brown” as an insult? Why is everyone assuming that the desi store owners are the guilty party here? They could be guilty of letting their greed overrule their pride perhaps, but the racism is coming from the people who sent these sofas to that store with those offensive words on them. And that racism was directed towards desis. What it emphasizes is that to yellows and whites, desi browns are also “niggers”
Prema,
Amazing! You’re claiming that the producers of that video MUST realize they are producing offensive racist content, and that everyone in world is automatically equally sensitive to a certain standard regarding racism!! From your comments it appears to me that you haven’t grown up in India, and don’t really understand day-to-day behavior of common Indian persons in India. As such you are examining desi artifacts from a ‘foreign’ POV, and applying an outsider’s standards of racism/colonialism/oppression etc. to a context not native to you.
It is not an Urdu idiom, and it IS an idiom, no need to place it in quotes. I have never read anything about the British painting desi faces anything, so if you can back up your claim with some respectable research, I’m really interested in learning more about it. Otherwise allow me to say that this ‘everything is racism’ theory of yours is hogwash.
Even supposing per your argument the origin of the practice is racist, I doubt you can call it racist behavior on part of someone who practices it without realizing its racist origins. Maybe you do, I won’t.
The store-owner is making money off it; he is responsible. And so I don’t get it – you are contradicting yourself. In one instance you argue that Shiv Sena’s actions MUST be racist because that action has racist roots (and you won’t give them benefit of the doubt about perhaps being ignorant), while the store-owners actions are not racist even when the term clearly has racist roots (and you readily give them benefit of the doubt about perhaps being ignorant). Why wouldn’t you apply the same standard to both situations?
At any rate, I think I’ve nothing more to add to this racist-or-not back & forth. I would be interested in being pointed to some literature to reduce my ignorance regarding racist origins of face-painting though!
I rest my case. How would that be “significant”?? US was a British colony too, they never felt the need to win “their master’s game”. Trying to “prove” to the British is still in Indian pysche, which is known as slave mentality in other words.
And dor all you people talking about what Indians were called under te British, Narain Karthikeyan was called the first black driver in Formula 1. I have a post about it on UD. This happened last week.
and sorry about the spelling mistakes. These are from my cellphone.
Vanaik Furniture Mattress, 5010 Steeles Ave West
416-748-9111
So me and my dad went to this place last week and ended up buying a sofa set for $1500 , we gave a $300 deposit and were told to give the rest when the delivery arrived, we were called a few days later and told that it would come on the 24th from 2 – 6 pm , well it didn’t come. Today they called and told my dad it didn’t come because my dad didn’t pay the full amount. We then went to the store and the guy was saying that we told you had to pay full and my dad said you told us to pay when it arrived.
Another guy then quickly showed a list of receipts real quickly and was showing how ppl left deposits and then paid the rest . I thought i had seen COD ( Collect on delivery ) on the receipts , so i asked to see those , and showed him COD , COD , COD on many receipts , and i told him COD means collect on delivery , which means those past customers paid when the delivery had arrived. I then tossed those receipts and he got mad and told me to leave the store.
Just a bunch of liars, they said the delivery ppl are a private company and don’t do collections for insurance purposes , 5 mins later they agreed to delivery the sofas on Monday and we can give them money then.
Just thought i would let you guys know to avoid future hassles from you guys.
I wish i read this article before purchasing. My storey proves that they are just a bunch of liars, he didn’t no what the N word means , doesn’t no want Collect on delivery means.
Ok…so Romesh Vanaik claims not to know the meaning of the “N” word although he has been in Canada since 1972. That is a laugh. And liars…I agree. Their word is not their honour. Take it from a Westerner who knew this man for many years……he knows the “N” word and has no respect for the Western culture and even less for West Indians and Blacks who are not of motherland India origin. Profit is the name of the game, regardless of who is offended.