No, It’s Not Racist To Use The Word ‘Curry’

Over the last few weeks, a “curry” has threatened to boil over in the food world. A movement to delegitimize the word curry is supported by over-zealous race-baiting academics who jump at the first opportunity to baptize into victimhood any group of people they deem as needing salvation.

First, it was Chaheti Bansal, a food vlogger from California, who took upon herself the sacred task of chastising the culinary world and anyone who has ever used the word “curry” for his abhorrent crime of supposedly mischaracterizing the wide variety of stews and gravies from the Indian subcontinent.

Apathy towards South Asian culinary tradition is rooted in colonialism and “white, Christian supremacy,” according to Professor Ilyse R. Morgenstein Fuerst of the University of Vermont. Despite historical European cravings for South Asian flavors, the professor opines, there was a devious attempt on the part of the colonizers to appropriate the culture surrounding the cuisine of the region and turn it into their own colonial version with significant social, political, and financial impact. This tendency to see everything through the lens of race and oppression is the hallmark of modern-day academia.

Columnist Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post found himself in the crosshairs of the Twitterati after his take on Indian cuisine as comprised of only one spice — curry. Weingarten eventually apologized for his ignorance about the difference between spice and spice blends, and the Post even issued a correction acknowledging the breadth of Indian spices and types of dishes.