Road to racism and more : Part 3

To once again pick-up from where I left, well, before that, for those of you joining us mid-way, heres the link to the Part 1 in this series, and heres the link to Part 2. In Part 2 of this series, I spoke of how some people fret at even the identification of race and claim that to be racist. I do not buy that. Identification is not necessarily racism, but it surely could be terminus a quo in a racist act.

Also, as Ive said before that cultures influence ones takes towards many issues, issues that are ab initio social. Racism is no different. There are so many instances of us being racist in our daily lives as well. I mean, we can all camouflage ourselves and say that certain instances warrant the act of unequal treatments, but then, where does one draw the line? Are you a racist based on what you do and how you treat a member of a suppressed race? I would like to think not. Racism would mean nurturing an ill-will towards a community as a whole, well, more often than not.

Now-a-days you see Indians "stealing" American jobs, the BPO where you've had the Sharavaris turn into Sharons, but this was done with a purpose. So now, all Americans hate globalisation. No real surprise there, but then, now if they bad to an Indian, would that also be embedded with a tinge of racism, or is it really just racism from the very start? Would the Americans really have fretted as bad as they are now because their jobs are going to the Asians? Would they have done the same has their jobs been outsourced to their colonial ancestors? Maybe, maybe not. We'll never know.

In this part, I take a look at the men who redefined the world for the coloured people.

The Men of Honour

Another example of racism is the ICC. Yeah, Im talking cricket. With years that Malcom Speed was at the helm of affairs at the ICC no one saw a possible Australian threat, now, that a person of Indian origin is being talked of as the new ICC chief, the media just can be terrified enough! We all know what happens to Asians when they tour down-under. Remember the "no-ball" over by Mutthaiah in late 90s. Remember the "ball-tampering" incident involving the scumbag Darrel Hair, and remember his reinstatement. The Aussie crowd really grind up opposition players, though to be fair they give each player his due, but nothing then excuses the Australian media's complete ignorance of the acts of their crowd, but a complete symphony-like attack at the Indian masses. It is deplorable at mildest. I remember once when Mark Taylor and the Sri Lankan captain, Arjuna Ranatunga had a heated exchange of words, and then the Lankan came on top when he shot back at the Aussies comment about cultures, he said (something like) "Dont you talk to me about cultures. The Australians have been here for only 5 mins, our culture dates back 5000 years!" Way to go, HAIL ARJUNA!

Another instance of unbelievable racism by the ICC, while we're at it. Steve Bucknor was removed, and correctly so, because he just didnt get his act right. The Windies made all the noise about it, as much as they could. But whatever happened to fair treatment? Why was Mark Benson given a reprive for asking Ponting when that is clearly against the rules. How can a "dishonest batsman, become an honest fielder?" Why was Benson not made to sit out like Bucknor was? Im still trying to figure out. Going back to the ball-tampering, why was nothing done to Hair, when he had acted clearly without any proof, but Inzy was punished. Hair also, almost unforgivably, but not quite as we all know now, had asked for money. Im fed up of asking questions and expecting that the men who take decisions will ever answer them, cause right from our schools we're told, the teacher can quiz and question, the student can only "clear doubts".

The coloured people have often had the shoulders of people like Arjuna, Sunny etc. to bear the flags of equality for them. Outside of cricket, there couldnt be men bigger than Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., also, Tupac Shakur. If it were'nt for these men, the black in America would still have been negros, there would have been no NAS with his Nigger albums, he'd been back on some farm land of his farming, instead of earning millions.

Over the centuries of toil and hardships that the coloured race has been subjected to, many men have evolved. Men who've taken racism by its neck and broken it. For themselves, though surely. While on a visit to Hollywood, do not miss out a chance to inquire about one Mr. Sydney Poitier. Im sure you know all about the Denzel Washingtons, Morgan Freemans, Cuba Gooding Juniors. These men, and many more like them who never quite made it to the front page, or any page, have changed the way the world looked at the coloured race. Racism still prevails and will always keep on so, until we have "them" understanding that a black man has more to himself that big one(!), a jew is more than just rich, and when pronouncing IRAQ, its pronounced, E-RAAK, and not Aaye-rack!

So, who from India, other than our beloved Sunny, takes the racism to the perpetrators in the face? Dont even think of one Mr Singh, he does'nt do that well enough. He comes out as someone who has got more testosterone than brain impulses. We will never have another Luther Kings, another Mandela's, but we sure do need someone who will carry the flame that these men have lit up. But in our efforts to carry the burning flame, one must make sure that they dont fire it to the point that it spills out of the torch, for otherwise it'll burn the innocent too. We need to be cautious. In trying to "kick out racism" (as the English FA says) lets not tackle the ones who never played the game! But as for now, its game on. And may I add, we need a better referee than Steve Bennet! Ask Mascherano.

[comments expected, as always]

Road to racism and more : Part 2

Now, in continuation of my( if you did not read it, you should read it first) Part 1 of this controversial and undoubtedly delicate topic, I assume the post from where I left the previous one. I embedded a link in the blog so that you could see what the Americans really think of the N-word. So I thought over the issue, but you know if you try and tackle the issue in one go you are sure to end messed up, dazzled, tired and surely still confused. I read this article in the newspapers some months back as how the Africans who now seem to be everywhere in Mumbai complained of being subjects of racism. I wonder though, what exactly is it that defines a racist act? I mean, as I said before calling someone a monkey, whether the person actually looks like one or not, is not (to my mind) an act of racism. But then we had the whole deal of the Australian media taking digs at Harbhajan, accusing him of being a racist and what not. That was a bit too much. I mean, no one made a hue over when Hogg called some Indian players as basta**ds.

I cannot seem to understand as to how a country can actually accept the usage of a word as derogatory as basta**d--- a word that questions the relationship between someones parents; ridicules it, tarnishes it and insults the oldest institution by slam-dunking it--- yet fret, cry foul and condemn a person for calling one of their own a monkey! Now, did the Australians find Harbajan at fault because he was not one of their own? I guess only an Aussie can answer that one. But, in all honesty, this incident and then the kinda reactions the two incidents drew does make me feel that, in my quest towards racism, i should not give much importance to the reactions that these incidents drew. I mean after-all, it does seem a little skewed in the favour of one of their own. But I shall take one thing from this episode though. Thats the cultural perception.


The cultural take & identification

That one thing, which has been common in all racism accusations, calling some a black (at times the N-word), calling the guy a monkey, or addressing a customer as a jew by a waiter at the diner. That one thing is identification. This to me is a very crucial element of this whole saga of being a racist, and one small act by a man, one huge act by mankind towards racism. Surely the use of the N-word, the F-word, the C-word, well they are all considered bad, but then, one has got to understand that the way racism is looked at in different parts of the world is different. I mean, its hip to use the F-word these days, I did that on this blog, but then with time the usage of words once considered as very offensive does tend to not be offensive as before anymore. That has been the general trend. The youth today uses the F-word to denote a sign of frustration, something that was used to actually derogate somebody years back. This tells you that the way in which we use our words are surely but a matter and should always be viewed in context to the situation. So, when Harbhajan called Symonds a monkey, what should have first been seen was the baggage attached to word in the culture of the person who spoke it. In this case, Harbhajan. I mean, in India calling someone a monkey is surely not racist. May be down there it is. But the Australian media did its best to make Harbhajan look like a serial racist. That was bad. How they almost forgot about the words used by Hogg, words that are derogatory anywhere on this planet, and thought that they were less derogatory than a "monkey", a word that is not racist all over the world! For someone in the media and the Australian media as a whole it just showed exactly what they were wanting to achieve. You cannot adjudge a person as a racist just because he said something which is racist in your community, your culture. To be racist, the person has got to be aware of the fact that the word he used is racist and also necessary is that the use of such word is frowned upon in his cultural, even though the word might not be racist in his culture. Monkey is not racist in India, not even frowned upon, and for someone to take cover and shelter of that word and accuse a person as racist is surely in much worse taste because it undermines the real issues of racism and dilutes racist acts elsewhere.

As I started this "cultural take", with the whole issue of identification, I mean, with all this hue and cry over the identification of race one really wonders whether all that is required to be a racist is to be an identifier? What if you were walking down the road and spotted a black man and called him black? There, right there at that very time on that very spot did you become a racist? To my mind, HELL NO! When someone identifies some person as a black, or a jew or some other race, no racism is being initiated. Even the Oxford Dictionary defines racism as belief in the superiority of a particular race; prejudice based on this; antagonism towards other races. Then how exactly does identification of race mean racism? It does not, it surely does not. Its arguably without a shred of doubt the first step in the schema of things that could be considered racist, but the act of identification on a standalone basis does not amount to racism and thus labeling someone a racist just because he distinguished between two people based on their origins and physical appearance is premature and ill-thought. Also for those who say that identification a racial difference amounts to racism, a question, a thought worries me. If someone says that calling a black man black amounts to racism, then I wanna know, how? Now, if a black man is called black whats the harm in that? How else would you describe his physical appearance. Besides, whoever believes that identification of race is racism, does that mean, that all but the white race are bad?

I mean, does that mean that you belong to a race that is so bad, that you would not even want to be identified with it? Now, Im not talking about the use of N-word, Im talking about the use of black, or calling someone a jew at the diner. Really, just because the waiter was able to identify your race and wrote it down on your bill (for reasons best known to him) he became racist? Is being a jew so bad, or any other race for that matter, that the very instance of people acknowledging your links with that race make you feel pathetic about yourself and give you a sense of injustice? If you feel so, then are you not actually saying something like,

"hey! look fellas, Im a jew (black, or whatever) and I would not like to be even reminded of where I come from and I don't even care whether you gonna be bad to me after knowing that fact. I am an equal, just like you, God created me, just that he placed me in a race that has been subject of injustice (or something that actually amounts to racism) and Im really fed up of this. All my life Ive tried to work as hard as I can to get to a point where I can be considered as an equal or one among the very limited tenants of the accepted race, and so if you identify my race of origin (doesnt really matter what you do to me after itand also something that I could not have controlled), the very instance of identifying me as a different race person Im gonna label you a racist! Whew! So, dare you call me a jew (black, or whatever). AND OH YES! I take pride in being a jew(black, or whatever)."


(will be continued in Part 3.

Drop your comments. I need to know what you people think.)

Road to racism and more : Part 1

Now I know that I'm not a social doctor, or a Phd. in social sciences, but I've got a mind. A mind that wanders here and there, every brief while. I've been thinking of racism for quite sometime now, and really wanna know what exactly it is. So, I thought that if I pen my words down, well, not exactly, but pretty much that though, I may be able to get somewhere (rather than get lost).

They say that its in really bad taste to call someone a nigger. But, then again, its not everyday that we get outta our house and let the N-word flow out. (Man its a hell of a job to keep count of, I mean, theres the F-word, the C-word...its an ever-growing family we got down there!) But, what exactly amounts to racism? I mean, if I did call you a black man (Id stay away from using the N-word, till I reach some conclusion) would that amount to racism? Those who followed the tour down under, well, the Andrew Symonds incident. I mean, to be honest, he does look like a monkey, so there it is. I just said that. Am I racist now? Does me calling a man, who in all honesty does look like a monkey, make me racist beyond the consideration of what Ive made of myself up till this day. All the deeds that Ive done, and all the good that was to come to me once I reached THERE, have I relinquished that just because I said that some guy resembles a monkey? The jury is still out on that one, ask Harbhajan Singh!

But again, they say that you cant use the N-word, to tell you honestly check out the lyrics of this song and you tell me what you think. Again there is this one thing that I came across. If you do read it closely, or well enough, you'll find a link which will take you here. Okay, so now we know (err, me thinks it should be read as "think") that not all the americans are down with it, but you gotta definitely see this one. And once you are done with, and clicking all the links I provided you with, just wait for the next part in this series which I have decided to call....Road to racism and more : Part 1

What are you afraid of???!!

FEAR it seems is a word not many like to associate themselves with. It is quite genuine a feeling id like to believe. While it many seem that as we grow up our childhood fears are laid to rest, more fears, newer ones are embedded into us! Ask a child what he is afraid of and he'll say ghosts, darkness, loneliness, etc. All that fairy tale stuff!! It is not always and not necessary that we shed most, let alone all, of our childhood fears as we grow up. We simply cant. Some fears have emotional reasoning behind them, the others continue to exist for lack of opportunity to dispel them, and thus they continue to be a part of life we've always heard but never felt.

The difference between the fears of a child and a grown up adult is that, while the child has no previous experience of trying to squash his fears away, the adult does! This can act in the favour and also against depending upon the success of the adult in trying to get rid of his fears. While the child has only his "ghosts" to deal with the adult has bigger issues. He knows what it is like to fail, he knows the cost of failing whatever he's engaged into currently, the child does not. Then there is constant pressure to succeed at giving a better opportunity to his/her children than what he had. The fear here is of FAILING. Thats perhaps one of the beauty of being a child, they've just no tasted failure, an adult might have over and over again!!

Our greatest fears lie in loosing that thing that we aspire the most. Thats why loosing loved ones is so hard, thats why failing is so hard, its not the fact that we failed, its the fact that we've lost an opportunity to take something we've wanted, something we've always desired the most has slipped out of our hands, something, someone. These things happen to everyone, everyone experiences these fears atleast once a lifetime, its a given.

Then is overcoming these fears our greatest hurdle or is it these fears themselves? For me, our greatest hurdle is neither of them. Our greatest hurdle lies in our ability to rise, not beyond everyone else, but as much as we can. But, how do we know how much we can rise? Simple, keep trying, forever!!Ironically, our greatest hurdle lies in our ability to have faith in ourselves, that we can tackle every obstacle!!Once we are done with a little dose on self-belief then we can try and face the problems, then once we believe that we are self-sufficient then we can bolden up to our greatest fears. Our fears are a manifestation of our beliefs about our abilities. So for me the best way to overcome them is to assess ourselves thoroughly and then gear up!!

Theres no running away from our fears, no hiding either. The only way to escape them is to have them and experience our powers.Lions don't become the king of the jungle unless they've fought another male for a territorial advantage. Someones gotta lose in that fight but the winner knows his ability forever! Thats the beauty of facing our fears, they show us what we are truly made up of. Fears need not end or be finite, and why will they, neither are our abilities nor is our spirit. Even though our greatest fears might lie,besides others, in not being able to unlock our true potential or failing to see that light within us that exemplifies our spirit, our greatest challenge lies in rising up and not in preventing a fall.

This is what i think. Its not all that i think, but pretty much. Please let me know what u think by adding your precious comments!! Thank you!