Using a tired stereotype about Indians running Seven-11 stores, CNBC’s Joe Kernan, host of “Squawk Box,” used a story about Indian’s currency, the rupee, to affect an accent and make a joke that is not exactly original.
This is what our cultural competence guide about Indians in America says about occupational stereotypes:
“One is that they Indians all work in highly skilled jobs like IT and engineering. Other stereotypes say they run convenience stores or donut shops or drive taxis and trucks. Indians work in both areas, but the problem is when we think that jobs are mostly performed by one group or when we think of one group as mostly being employed in that job. That hardly ever happens.”
—Joe Grimm