Colour Colour, What colour do you choose?
Rohit R
A few days ago, our social media had messages of solidarity for George Floyd. Hashtags calling for justice for him and various other people from the African-American community came up. There were large scale demonstrations across the world as well. People voiced out the support in whatever medium possible against the systematic racism raging today.
Indians too selectively decided to blink instead of having their eyes shut and put out posts and Instagram stories. Even celebrities whom many believed to be blind, mute and deaf during the events in the last few months showed they were all right and woke up to express their sympathy. Some celebrities went on to say all colours are beautiful, a scroll down their pages show them promoting a fairness cream promising results of increasing your skin tone. When these celebrities were questioned on this blatant hypocrisy on display or the lack of support over the events in their own country, they silently removed the comments.
We must admit this, Indians do not like when their mistakes are shown. Attempts are done in brushing it off or dismissing it. At the same time, we would love to point out faults at the next door. Probably, it gives us the satisfaction that we are better than them. We are witnessing a path-defining moment in the Black Lives Matter movement amidst the socio-political landscape of the United States of America. But, here we rarely come across such stories, struggle faced by the citizens of the place you live at while it happens regularly with varying intensities if we just look around properly.
It is ironical in the least when Indians speak against racism. We often have people of different ethnicities around who are often subjected to racial abuses because the one who does it comes from a supposedly superior race. People around you always indulge in some form of racism. It is not a phenomenon seen now but something prevalent since time immemorial. It has even been practised by people whom we consider as saints, whose names are synonymous to the identity of this nation itself.
Indians have been thick-skinned when it comes to discrimination. It has become a normalised ritual that we do it on the expense of others just because people get a kick or exert the superficial superiority they believe they enjoy. Unfortunately, we have become a bunch of unapologetic society and often the response to the criticism has been that we are sensitive and one would receive a bit of advice which more or less says “Take in good spirits”.
The notions spread in mainstream media, however insignificant it is believed to be projected as does play a huge role in moulding the thoughts. For instance, any South Indian character has a surname chosen from a list of three or four commonly seen upper-caste names. They are shown to be very meek, unattractive, annoying and have an accent, basically inferior to them in any possible angle. Paatal Lok, a show streaming on Amazon Prime received brickbats for the slur used against a North-Eastern character, again something that is assumed to be associated with the community. Various mediums have sexualised people from the North-Eastern states, often giving a wrong impression. This exoticisation has led to a spate of sexually predatory behaviour from men.
Another example seen in various movies is the typecasting of Africans in villain roles. Often shown as drug peddlers, it has hit the African student community of over 60 thousand students. They face difficulties in getting accommodations and even if they have one, they are under intense scrutiny. There are many testimonials of people who before learning the nuances of the local language, know what certain slurs mean. Recently, Cricketer Daren Sammy came out when he found out that his supposed nickname used by his IPL teammates was a racial slur. It is not an isolated incident but rather shows how deep and how prevalent racism is in a country like India.
The craze we have for fairness is visible and out in plain sight. No matter, how talented and qualified we are, the melanin content of our skin will overshadow it. If you are having any doubts over this, the matrimonial section with advertisements for Fair Bride/Groom is enough as evidence. Some announcements often carry a line saying, “Caste No Bar” while demanding only fair brides shows us the pseudo- woke savarnas casteism. It has only been a few days when a prominent marriage portal had to remove a skin-tone filter after an online petition went viral. Yet another indication of how seeped in is the thought of the idea that fairness is beauty’.
India is a country of contradictions. We often pride ourselves by uttering the phrase “Unity in Diversity” or “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” while it is a sham as no one even considers practising it. We do not take the effort in acknowledging different ideas, cuisines, culture and practices. When asked to explain the attacks on Africans in South Africa, Marvin Harris, an anthropologist termed, “bio-cultural hypothesis” to describe these incidents. He felt that people are targeted on the ground due to their traits, attributes that usually differentiate the majority in a place like a language, hairstyle, facial features, language. The hypothesis, however, does not give enough explanations on how it leads to attacks. We have seen instances in major metropolitan cities in India on the struggles faced by the minorities.
Bengaluru, for instance, which brandishes the tag of a cosmopolitan city with panache has often come under the lens of African nationals hounded, beaten up or stripped. There have been incidents that have received international limelight on the atrocities inflicted on the community. The North-East Indians too have been called names, slurs due to their facial features. There has now been a spike in such incidents after the Covid-19 cases began increasing. People not allowed to get in their housing societies, thrown out of their houses, not denied entry to stories. There is ostracisation of the businesses and so on. Some have even resorted to spitting on the individuals to showcase their power and express their misdirected anger.
With the current Indo-China border issue, these racial tensions will only continue to peak. Supposed nationalists would use this as a chance to show their shallow love to their motherland. Recently, Ramdas Athawale, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment called for a boycott of Chinese restaurants and Chinese food. Many mocked and criticised the comments of the minister. The dark repercussions of this comment will be visible soon. Restaurants and businesses run by the North-East community could face an attack from fringe elements.
Racism is one of the few components that ensure the toxic power structure we live in becomes only strong. It is one of the tools that dehumanises and vilifies people and allows in satisfying the ego residing in the heads of people who think they are a step above others. It promotes a sense of supremacy and is often the most desired one. Enough examples that have defined countries, the history that has shown the after-effects of the actions of a racist community. We need steps taken to sensitise communities over differences and embrace and respect them. It is illogical when we get angered on racism against Indians abroad when we practice the same, just with a deadlier measure of illogic, xenophobic and absence of morality. We should consider practice before even preaching others of equality.
Write to Rohit [email protected]
Sources
Adibe, Jideofor. “Impact of Xenophobic Attacks against Africans in India on Afro-India Relations.” Journal of African Foreign Affairs, vol. 4, no. 1/2, 2017, pp. 85–98. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26664041. Accessed 24 June 2020.
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-53146969
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/the-dark-face-of-indian-racism-1.61161168
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Color color what color do you choose. I choose none. Why do you say? Because blacks hate whites and whites are too stupid to figure it out. Stop trying to start spit.