US envoy calls Tamilians ’dirty and dark’

Agencies

New Delhi, 13 August 2011: The US embassy has expressed deep regret over an alleged racial comment made by the Vice Consul of the US Consulate in Chennai, Maureen Chao. She was quoted on Friday as saying that her "skin had become dirty and dark, like the Tamilians."

 

The US embassy has now said that Chao made an inappropriate comment and that they deeply regret the unfortunate remarks. This diplomatic racial gaffe occurred while Chao was addressing a group of students at the Semester Abroad Programme orientation in SRM University.

 

"I was on a 24-hour train trip from Delhi to Orissa. But, after 72 hours, the train still did not reach the destination... and my skin became dirty and dark like the Tamilians," Chao said, going down the memory lane two decades ago when she was a student.

 

 

Going into a damage-control mode following her controversial remarks, the US Consulate said, "During the speech Ms Chao made an inappropriate comment. Ms Chao deeply regrets if her unfortunate remarks offended anyone, as that was certainly not her intent".

 

The Consulate said in a release that the diplomat was describing ’positive memories from her own study abroad experiences in India 23 years ago’.

 

As US Secretary Hillary Clinton recently noted, the US-India partnership was based on shared values of democracy, liberty and respect for religious and cultural diversity, the Consulate release said.

 

"The US Consulate in Chennai and the US Mission in India are committed to upholding these shared values", it said.