CNN Hosts Mock 12 YO Indian-Origin Spelling Bee Champ, Pass Racist Remarks On LIVE TV.

भारतीय केवल संस्कृत बोलने में सक्षम नहीं हैं l

(Indians are not capable of speaking ONLY Sanskrit.)

I am sure, not each and everyone of you would be able to read the above line in Hindi, so leave alone had it been written in Sanskrit. Because we Indians have 22 languages recognised in the Constitution, 31 are official languages and (wait for it) over 800 languages are spoken by people living in India. But still, people in the West are under some sort of impression that we ONLY speak Sanskrit. (Duh?)

12-year-old California-based-Indian-origin kid and 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champ, Ananya Vinay did us all proud by bagging the coveted title.

Naturally, we all were happy with the piece of news and also she was the 18th Indian heritage kid to do so. Her winning word? Marocain, a type of fabric.

The champ created a lot of buzz and caught the media eye, so it was quite obvious that news channels would vie for her interviews. And, so they did. She appeared on CNN with a lot of expectations, but anchors Alisyn Camerota and Chris Cuomo made the process a pretty awkward and racial one, towards the end.

 

They asked her to spell “covfefe“. Of course, you know of the snafu Donald Trump’s tweet created, last week, which we later learnt was a typo for “coverage”.

 

Ananya was even asked of the word’s origin. But the snide remark that followed, left everyone stunned. Alisyn Camerota said,

“‘Covfefe’ is a nonsense word but we’re not sure that its root is in Sanskrit — which is probably what you’re used to.”

Umm, what?

Who told them that Indians still speak Sanskrit? Or that we are used to it, in anyway? Plus, that kid is of Indian origin and lives in California, how on Earth would she be used to, when we in India are not used to, speaking Sanskrit?

Soon, Twitter poured in reactions and reacted to the racial remarks.

1. Some called the anchors ignorant.

Really @CNN "Sanskrit?"
Pile on the ignorance & racism #ScrippsNationalSpellingBee champions experience every year. Ananya deserves better https://t.co/zBnqXEbrjK

— Sara K. Ahmed IS ON SUMMER HOURS (@SaraKAhmed) June 4, 2017

 

2. Some called it creepy.

Wow, that's so creepy. Fucking CNN. Institutional racism in your face. https://t.co/WmtSiAviVZ

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) June 4, 2017

 

3. She wanted the anchors fired.

@CNN Both should be fired for insulting Ananya Vinay and belittling her accomplishment. Outward racism to a 12-year old student. For shame! https://t.co/MU4ryOhWvr

— Rebecca Waysek (@rwaysek) June 4, 2017

 

4. She wanted CNN to put their casual racism in check.

Dear @CNN, Ananya is used to using English letters because she's from Fresno, CA. You need to check your casual racism. https://t.co/y4QElsaLz7

— Patricia 🦔 (@Patricia_DSC) June 4, 2017

 

5. These are the words of a Wall Street Journal’s Tech Reporter.

Ananya's too good for this treatment. I'm disappointed in this, @CNN. https://t.co/1rwChfayRO

— Deepa Seetharaman (@dseetharaman) June 4, 2017

 

6. And, some just called out the shameful act.

.@AlisynCamerota you should be ashamed for belittling a national champion. Apologize to #AnanyaVinay. #ScrippsNationalSpellingBee

— Anand Loharikar (@loharikar) June 5, 2017

 

7. Comedian Nanjiani gave it back to them in his own style.

https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/871220722881896449

 

You can watch the entire clip, here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHnRaRfiDZ4

What surprises us is the way they casually slipped it in their conversation and didn’t even realise it.

H/T: The Huffington Post