Racism: A mental prejudice

Ritam Banati

Eminent British poet Rudyard Kipling’s words aptly reflect the thought process of a racist: “It is the White man’s burden to civilise the inferior races.” By calling the coloured people as inferior, he acknowledged his own lowliness. A man or a woman is inferior or superior by the deeds that he or she does. The recent spate of attacks against Indians in Australia have once again highlighted that there are some Whites, who are victims of a deep-seated inferiority complex. One that runs so deep that it becomes hell bent on ruining the lives of fellow humans, who happen to be of a different colour. Racism can be colour-based, gender-based, caste-based, class-based or even religion-based. Many have linked the recent assaults on Indian students living in Australia due to factors like jealousy especially after India’s historic victory over Australia in a cricket match! A more convincing explanation is offered by others who say that it could be due to the crushing recession and attribute economic reasons to it; whereas some just dismiss the same as violent incidents of crime aimed at vulnerable targets. Racial prejudice is ages-old. African leader Nelson Mandela had to spend 27 years in jail when he led his movement against the malaise. ‘Their blood is not black, their blood is not white, it is red, abolish apartheid’ was a famous slogan used in those times to emphasise the irrationality behind such a bias. Even when India was a British colony, not only were its resources plundered, but its natives were also repressed because they were "browns". Even today there are some areas in England and America where it is wise for Indians not to visit after a particular time of day. It could be England’s Leicestershire comprising a sizable section of ethnic minorities or perhaps some hubs in California’s capital of San Francisco where it is dangerous for Indians to go after late evening. However Leicester used to be England’s worst racist city over 35 years back but now the scene is not so bad due to formation of committees and awareness campaigns. We talk of our people being attacked in Australia, and conveniently forget the ones who are equally hapless victims at home. For example, a classic case of gender-based partiality in our country could be any instance of female foeticide or infanticide. Differentiating among people on the basis of caste is still prevalent in the lower reaches of our society even though it may go unreported many times. Rich-poor divide may still differentiate the treatment that is meted out as would the fact that religion becomes a greater binding force at times as against humanity. So only talking of racist attacks abroad against us Indians is not enough. One must look at the larger picture. One must redefine racism to include all aspects and not just colour.