I’ve often argued that the human race has an incredible
talent of finding areas of differences, there is one unfortunate factor that
seems to unite the world. That unfortunate factor is the inability to view
anyone of a darker skin tone as a normal human being.
Racism, particularly in the West, is currently a
“Black-versus-White” issue. The murder of George Floyd, an African-American at
the hands a “white” police officer on video ignited many years of pent-up anger
that the Western world’s “black” population has had from years of laws that
were designed to keep them down and when those laws were abolished, the fact
that prejudices that lingered were for many parts accepted.
Unfortunately, the issue of racism is neither limited to a
case of “blacks-versus-whites” nor is it limited to the Western world. In
America, there is the undiscussed issue of “Asian-Black” relations. This was
first seen in the 1992 LA Riots (caused by the beating of a black man by White
Police officers and the subsequent acquittal of the police officers despite the
evidence), when the city’s black population tried to loot stores owned by
America’s Korean population. In the most recent incident, it was a cop of Asian
decent who looked away while his “white” colleague murdered Mr. Floyd. More can
be found at:
Like it or not, Asians who have settled in the Western world
have not been helpful to the issues faced by the black communities. The reason
for this is simple, the Asian inability to see the suffering of other
minorities in the West is the very thing that makes Asians valued immigrants –
material success.
In America, they’re known as the “model-minority,” or the
poor migrants who arrive with nothing and within a generation are part of the
educated professional class (so much so that the Old Rogue, used to say “If
American universities really admitted by merit, there wouldn’t be a single
round eye). In Britain, Asians, particularly the Chinese were well regarded as
the group that stuck to its corner, prospered (no state handouts) and avoided
contentious politics. My stepfather, who works in a hospital in Germany says
that unlike many of the other minorities, the “Yellow People,” never went onto
German welfare. This same sentiment was echoed by Finnish friends who stated
that Japanese and Vietnamese were welcome because they worked hard and kept to
themselves.
As an Asian, who grew up in the West, I felt proud that “my
people” came to the West with nothing and built something. While this
achievement of Asian communities in the west is a good thing, it blinds “us” to
the realities to the harsh realities of other communities. When the Black talk
about social justice after screwed by the history of slavery, the Asians shrugged
with the “so what, we were once poor and made it out – what’s wrong with you,”
mentality. Yes, we were fresh off the boat but we didn’t have the conditioning
that many American blacks suffered. Contrary to what Ben Carson would argue –
slaves were not immigrants.
Being a “model minority,” has given the Asian communities a false
sense of security in the status quo and many Asians forget that they too once
benefited from the struggles of the African American Community as this clip
from the comedian Hassan Minhaj explains:
The situation that “dark-skinned” people face is not exactly
prejudice free in Asia too. One of the biggest examples of how Asian people are
proving to b as awful was from an infamous ad from China, which showed a black
man approaching a Chinese girl, who then shoves him into a washing machine,
where he emerges Chinese and therefore desirable;
With attitudes like these, it’s not surprising that the
Chinese in Africa are often regarded as arrogant arseholes (sure, unlike the
Western Colonial powers before, there’s no lecture on human rights, but the
Chinese are far from liberating heroes).
Over here in Chinese majority, Singapore, we claim to be “multi-racial.”
Unfortunately, beneath the lovely exterior, it is politically acceptable to endorse
racism. The official line is that, “Singapore’s majority Chinese population is
not yet ready for a non-Chinese Prime Minister,” even if the one politician
with global credentials and accepted by all races is a non-Chinese.
While it was heartening to see many Singaporeans (including
the Chinese ones) open up their hearts and wallets to foreign workers as cases
of Covid-19 erupted in the dormitories, an unhealthy number thought nothing of denigrating
dark skinned labourers who were doing the work they wouldn’t do.
The only salivation for the Chinese race in this respect is that it’s not the only race in Asia with an issue with the dark skinned. The Indians (many of whom are dark skinned, particularly in the South) also have a strange fixation with trying to get fairer. Take a look at this commercial, staring Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, which while not as obvious as the Chinese detergent ad, isn’t exactly subtle in its messaging:
The message is clear. Fair equals handsome, hence if you’re
a guy who wants to pick up girls, you invest in skin whitener. I think of one
of my best friends, who is a good looking Nepali, who takes great pride in the
beauty of his kids because ….they’ve got his colour.
I’d go as far as to argue that it’s almost worse than in the
West. While the Western worlds are erupting into violence on the streets, the
problems are clear cut. Blacks are clearly being screwed over by the system,
particularly the police force. While America is the focus, I’m old enough to
remember when the Algerians rioted in Paris and when the Stephen Lawrence
Inquiry Found Police forces in the UK to have major issues with race. Sure,
current leadership hasn’t helped. However, these are problems that can be
solved with the obvious – i.e. legislation, money and so on.
In Asia, its almost as if the prejudice against the dark skinned
is part of accepted culture. Let’s go back to “fair and handsome.” Think of it,
it’s probably not meant to be racist against dark skinned people. It’s just an
accepted fact that fair automatically gets equated with handsome. I remember my
late grandmother telling me, “These Indian girls are actually pretty – it’s
just that they’re dark.”
Changing culture will take time. I think the obvious is to encourage mixed race marriages (or as one Jewish guy said “My dick is not racist”). This will be particularly tough, especially when you consider that most Asian marriages are about families as much as the individuals. Yet, as the Western situation has shown, the prejudice against dark skinned people has to be eradicated to a level where dark skinned people don’t feel that it’s the natural order of things for them to be screwed.
Both the West and Asia need to re look at the way they treat
the dark skinned. It’s not just a black and white issue but a human issue that
needs to be addressed. Racism and ancient prejudices don’t have a place in the
modern world.
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