Ouch

Why Would the GOP Mock Indians?

New ad stirs up controversy.

Neera Tanden, a veteran of the Obama and Clinton administrations, wants to know why it’s OK for Republicans to mock Indians. This week an outfit called Americans for Job Security unveiled an expensive ad, targeting Bill Halter, a Democratic candidate in the Arkansas senate race, who the group says is responsible for outsourcing jobs to India. In the ad, Indian actors speak with Indian accents in front of images from India thanking Halter for their jobs. “Our society strangely tolerates mocking Indians. There are never, for instance, ads attacking outsourcing to Ireland with Irish actors, even though that country has made a major push to become an outsourcing hub,” Tanden writes. “Or imagine an ad featuring Hassidic Jews and klezmer music and the outrage that would generate.”