English -- who needs that? I'm never going to rural Georgia anyway
Nothing like draconian enforcement of ridiculous drug laws to perpetrate a little oblique racism.
Now, I'm sure that federal prosecutors arrested 49 Indian convenience store clerks and owners in rural Georgia because these folks were clearly flouting laws meant to prevent the sale of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals with applications for making methamphetamines. It's pretty much an open and shut case.
Oh, sure, defense attorneys for the accused may plead cultural and linguistic lack of understanding. But, honestly, like these Indians really didn't know that "cook" was slang for making meth.
"This is not even slang language like 'gonna,' 'wanna,' " said Malvika Patel, who spent three days in jail before being cleared this month. " 'Cook' is very clear; it means food." And in this context, she said, some of the items the government wants stores to monitor would not set off any alarms. "When I do barbecue, I have four families. I never have enough aluminum foil."
The audacity of these hardened criminals is just atrocious. They tried to protect themselves by observing the letter of the law but not its spirit.
Defense lawyers say the Indians were simply being good merchants and obeying what they believed was the letter of the law. Several refused to sell more than two bottles of cold medicine, citing store policy. They were charged, prosecutors say, because they allowed the "customers" to come back the next day for more. Prosecutors say that should have made it clear to the clerks that the buyers were up to no good.
Despicable.
All these attempts at pleading poor understanding of a foreign language just disgust me. Because, after all, the locals can puzzle out a little Hindi, even if they might have wrongly assumed that the Malvika Patel they picked up was the Malvika Patel in whose name a van was registered. Just a trifling mistake that shouldn't cloud the great strides local white Georgians have made to understand the new Indian culture spreading into their (red)neck of the woods.
Her misidentification has fueled the belief among the Indians that investigators were operating on cultural bias. This corner of the state is still largely white; Indians began moving here about 10 years ago, buying hotels and then convenience stores, and some whites still say, mistakenly, that "Patel" means "hotel" in Hindi.
Now, I'm sure that federal prosecutors arrested 49 Indian convenience store clerks and owners in rural Georgia because these folks were clearly flouting laws meant to prevent the sale of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals with applications for making methamphetamines. It's pretty much an open and shut case.
Oh, sure, defense attorneys for the accused may plead cultural and linguistic lack of understanding. But, honestly, like these Indians really didn't know that "cook" was slang for making meth.
"This is not even slang language like 'gonna,' 'wanna,' " said Malvika Patel, who spent three days in jail before being cleared this month. " 'Cook' is very clear; it means food." And in this context, she said, some of the items the government wants stores to monitor would not set off any alarms. "When I do barbecue, I have four families. I never have enough aluminum foil."
The audacity of these hardened criminals is just atrocious. They tried to protect themselves by observing the letter of the law but not its spirit.
Defense lawyers say the Indians were simply being good merchants and obeying what they believed was the letter of the law. Several refused to sell more than two bottles of cold medicine, citing store policy. They were charged, prosecutors say, because they allowed the "customers" to come back the next day for more. Prosecutors say that should have made it clear to the clerks that the buyers were up to no good.
Despicable.
All these attempts at pleading poor understanding of a foreign language just disgust me. Because, after all, the locals can puzzle out a little Hindi, even if they might have wrongly assumed that the Malvika Patel they picked up was the Malvika Patel in whose name a van was registered. Just a trifling mistake that shouldn't cloud the great strides local white Georgians have made to understand the new Indian culture spreading into their (red)neck of the woods.
Her misidentification has fueled the belief among the Indians that investigators were operating on cultural bias. This corner of the state is still largely white; Indians began moving here about 10 years ago, buying hotels and then convenience stores, and some whites still say, mistakenly, that "Patel" means "hotel" in Hindi.
posted by Alexander Dubcek | 05:44
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