Making Fun of How South Asians Talk: A History
Last week, The Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump had mimicked the accent of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Soon, several publications began to ask if the alleged incident could chill the leaders’ warm relationship. Disturbingly, this wouldn’t be Trump’s first brush with this very controversy—on the campaign trail in 2016, he entertained his base with an impression of an Indian call-center employee.
While a rupture between Washington and New Delhi may not be in the cards—both countries’ administrations recognize the value of an alliance as China grows more powerful—the stereotypical accent that Trump reportedly used merits some scrutiny. In the recent documentarywhich takes to task the convenience-store owner of the same name on the actress Sakina Jaffrey this type of common, broad, and ultra-exaggerated South Asian accent . For those unfamiliar, is characterized by a retreating tongue, stressed syllables shaken out of order, mixed V’s and W’s, and hammered-out A’s. It tries to fold from into a single accent. (Of note, from the University of Oregon upends common assumptions of a mere standard Indian accent.)
