I'm insane

my letter to the editor:
re: "Feast on East Indian Flavours", page D17, Wednesday January 10 Calgary Herald

Can the Herald explain the use of the term "East Indian" in a headline and story by Dee Hobsbawn-Smith? Is this to differentiate them from north, south, west, and central Indians?
I think your readers know that if they see the word Indian in a headline or an article in the Herald, then that means that you are probably not referring to First Nations people from the Americas, but rather people from the Indian sub-continent who don't need the unnecessary designation of "East". I'm sure if the headline had read "Indian" instead of "East Indian" that 100% of your readers would have understood immediately what kind of cuisine the story was about. It just sounds so hick and backwards to use the term "East Indian" in the 21st century.

James

Dear James,
Thank you for your comments.
However, you neglected to mention that our Canadian Press story on food trends, also in today's Real Life section on page D15, uses the term "East Indian" as well to describe food from the Indian subcontinent. I'll be sure to let CP, Dee Hobsbawn-Smith and Bonnie Stern know they too are dwelling in 20th century Hicksville.
Sincerely yours,
Valerie Berenyi
____________________
Valerie Berenyi Editor—
Real Life The Calgary Herald 215 16 St. S.E. Calgary, Alberta T2E 7P5 vberenyi@theherald.canwest.com (403) 235-

Dear Ms Berenyi,

Thank you for your prompt reply. I'm sure you have a busy job and don't wish to waste your day debating with me. I wanted to thank you for letting me know about the Canadian Press story by Bonnie Stern.
I confess I was just scanning the Real Life section and missed Bonnie Stern's article. I know she is a highly respected and honoured food writer, one of Canada's best.
However I could have had some fun with Ms. Stern as she mentions East Indian food and then later in the paragraph mentions northern Indian regional dishes and south.To be consistent, shouldn't she have said northern East Indian and southern East Indian?
I hope the western East Indians and the eastern East Indians are not offended that their regions weren't mentioned. Also the north and the south want to know why East gets a capital E when they don't get a capital n or s?
I don't have easy access to the Canadian Press Stylebook, but I did find the York University Style Guide on-line which says they use a "modified CP Style".
They list the term "East Indian" under "Non-racist Language/Preferred Language, commonly used words to avoid using".
York U's Style Guide suggests the alternative of "South Asian":
http://www.yorku.ca/ycom/style/sg35.html
In my letter to the editor I didn't get in to the racist element of using East Indian, but it is used in a condescending way by the "western world".
Hey, if you want to ride the train out of Hicksville, let me know!

Sincerely yours,

Bengali Jim
(I am from Calcutta)
p.s. I hope you have a sense of humour - (no, she has none)