Is anyone else appalled at 94.7's ridiculous segment that ran this morning about Durban Indians? I'm not sure what the point of the whole thing was but to denigrate Indians and Durban, and allow Jeremy Mansfield to speak in what he believes is a Durban Indian accent. Newsflash, Mansfield: what it sounds like is actually what Indians by way of India speak like. They opened up the phone lines as well and read emails iterating that Durban Indians arrived in Jhb with no intentions of leaving, "taking over the place" and attempting to speak with white accents. Last I heard we all lived in SA, we're not immigrants, millions of us were born here, you'd think we'd be allowed to move within the country.
Mansfield, Cowen and co thought this was great fun, when in fact it smacks of the dreaded r word. Hey it's media freedom right? I don't want to sound like a fuddy duddy who doesn't have a sense of humor but why even incorporate such an asisine thing into their show? I'm disgusted that Highveld would even allow this to air, and if you think this is just fun, let's put the shoe on the other foot. Would they do a show on Blacks who come to Jhb from the farms looking for work and poke fun at their accents and clothing? Sounds ugly right? And also, no, because that would just be way too politically incorrect. What about discussing why Sam Cowen persists with her English accent when she's lived in SA for X many years? Not nice, is it?
I'm disgusted with Highveld. I hope that, like me, however many Indian listeners Highveld has, also become ex-listeners.
