On a very local scale, people might have read about some Birmingham
city councillors complaining about having to much "ethnic fare" at
city council meetings. The reporting of the event (in the national
and regional press) deemed "samosas, masalas and curries" to be
"ethnic", whilst beef stroganoff (also on the menu) was not.
Meanwhile, the notion of "traditional" English food was represented
unproblematically by fish and chips (the product of the
culinary tastes of earlier Jewish and French migrant communities).
The reports strongly legitimated the [white] councillors claims that
being offered curry was pandering to the desires of the city's
minority ethinc councillors. It was left to quotes from Asian
councillors (quote:"whose Sparkhill ward is home to hundreds of
Balti restaurants") to balance the debate even slightly. One got the
last word however - suggesting that the white councillors should
count themselves lucky - at least they don't get curry at home too.
A very small, but striking example of 'unwitting racism' in the local
press.
Alison Stenning
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Alison Stenning
School of Geography and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM
B15 2TT
phone: 0121 414 6922
fax: 0121 414 5528
mailto:[log in to unmask]
website http://www.bham.ac.uk/geography/stenning.htm
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