The American obsession with color - Relax, it's a good thing!

In the late 19th century the Italians flocked in large numbers to the American east coast. They did so to look for higher wages , lower taxes and to follow the great american dream. Along with them, they brought along their thick accent and the great cuisine. The delicious pizzas, the creamy ragoo and the sauces, aaah.. the sauces! Delicious Alfredo and Marinara and Pesto (I hope you used your fake Italian accent to pronounce the names) and a host of other aromatic sauces which filled your senses . The Americans loved it, so much did they embrace it that they gave it American names.. names which symbolizes American culture as much as the sauce symbolizes Italian cooking...
White sauce
Red sauce
Green sauce
You see what they did? they took something awesome and complicated and made it awesome and simple! So the next time you are standing at your favorite pasta bar and the chef asks you what kind of sauce you need on your pasta, you don't say "what do you recommend?" followed by "sure, let's go with that" simply because you cannot remember the darned Italian name! You nonchalantly say "white sauce"  and get on with life.

You see Americans like things to be simplified. I mean, when James Hoban submitted his grandiose yet extremely practical design for the presidential place, little did he know how the Americans are gonna name it. Is it a house? Yes. Is it white in color? Yes. We shall call it.. The White House!

Let's face it. This is a land of such insane diversity that almost every person you meet has a different ethnic background and hence a different kind of upbringing. So the best way to try and create a homogeneous society is to simplify things to the greatest extent possible, so that everyone is on the same page (to borrow a "cubicle phrase").


This being said, why am I supposed to be offended when I am called the "The Brown Guy"? Am I a guy? Yes. Am I brown? Dark brown, but that's just "details", so, Yes!. I mean you could call me the "The weird beard guy" but I may shave tomorrow and you would look like an idiot. You could call me the "Bald Guy" but science has advanced so much that if I say "screw you" to three years of my savings, I can say hello to a mop of golden hair. But can I change the color of my skin? Hell no! (Unless I am Michael Jackson, which I am not.. I have deep vocals, more like this guy. More on my musical prowess in a different post). So the next time you meet me on the street  and forget my name, feel free to call me the brown guy and I promise not to be offended.


So, relax Yo! I am totally cool with you associating me with the color of my skin. If you really want me to be offended, change the way you live.. call the Italian sauces by the right names, the Thai curries by their real names (Green Curry? Really?!) and change the name of the presidential palace to something more profound, like "The Caucasian House". Deal?


P.S.: I am NOT trying to undermine racial issues, this is a post written at two in the morning on a rather uneventful day where the highlight was lifting a heavy couch. Please attach due importance only.