I write this letter to express my profound disgust and horror at an ad published in The Daily Orange on Sept. 28 that advertised a study abroad trip to India with a picture of two monkeys grooming each other. The caption of the ad read, ‘Hang with the monkeys.’ As someone who was born and raised in India, I am mortified to see the vibrant history, tradition and art of my culture has been reduced to nothing more than hanging with primitive animals.

The hidden, or not so hidden, subtext of the title adds to this devaluation of the Indian culture and people by reducing brown bodies to be similar to monkeys. It is a thinly veiled attempt to equate Indian ethnicity with primates. It wasn’t too long ago the New York Post printed a racist cartoon of President Barack Obama, depicting two white cops shooting an ape stating, ‘They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.’

Just a simple Google search on the words ‘blacks as monkeys’ documents both the history and the continued representation of people of color as primitive in the American context. I am deeply offended and hurt to see both my culture and my people have been represented in such an inhumane way.

Based on my previous experience at this institution, I would have understood if this ‘artwork’ would have come out of a student publication. (I am referencing HillTV.) However, I am deeply disturbed to see this ad carries the approval of a university office (SU Abroad), listing both its website and a staff member’s name.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that the particular office is one in charge of building bridges between Syracuse University and international communities. Given the nature of the work done by SU Abroad, this form of multicultural incompetence is reprehensible and simply unacceptable.

Students of color, including international students, have to endure endless acts of racial micro-aggressions (small actions of racist behavior and rhetoric), both on and off campus. This is just one more example of the derogatory treatment we have to endure on a consistent basis. As someone deeply offended and hurt by this representation, I demand a full printed apology in The D.O. by those in charge of this program.

Amit Taneja

Ph.D. student, Higher Education 

School of Education

 

Published on September 28, 2010 at 12:00 pm