"RACIAL" ABUSE?
Another interesting controversy in Cricket, which broaches upon a broader spectrum of sociology. Darrell Hair (a White Australian umpire) was subject to racial discrimination by "Asian countries", so he alleges... Andrew Symonds (Australian) was subject to "racial" abuse by Indians; and if that is not enough, get this... White South Africans (South Africans, of all people!) were "RACIALLY" abused by a section of people in the Pakistani crowd! Not that racial abuse is new in this world. But whats interesting is the reversal in trend recently. Suddenly, it is "cool" to be black/brown/asian. If you are white, then you could be taunted. White people are suddenly finding themselves at the receiving end of all the racial slurs. How did this reversal happen?
It is too premature to suggest that there is a definite reversal in the making. Racism as the way we know, is still very much prevalent- Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was the subject of racial ridicule in the celebrity show, "BIG BROTHER", for her being "brown". However, you cannot ignore the fact that race crimes (by white people) have come down dramatically.
Interestingly enough, "BLACK SUPREMACY" was in vogue for quite some time now. Wikipedia has this to say "Black supremacy is a racist ideology which holds that black people are superior to other people and is most often thought of in connection with anti-white racism, anti-Semitism and bigotry towards non-black people." Groups like the Rastafari group, New Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, Melanin theory, Nation of Gods and Earth, Nation of Yahweh, United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, etc. are all black supremacist groups- these groups with black pride ideas bordering on fanaticism are no lesser than Ku Klux Klan or other white supremacist groups.
What we are seeing could be the tip of the iceberg here- with the population of white people gradually being outnumbered by brown and black people, there naturally is a tendency for these so called "lesser mortals" to feel superior. And these incidents in cricket could suggest a trend in the making- of course law and order will prevail and it might not be as ghastly as 200-300 years back. But as it is said, History repeats itself...
(Image taken from http://www.water-bongs-glass-pipes.com/rastafari-movement-(rastas)/tp/ib/i-257/, and copyright rests with the original author who uploaded the front cover of this book)
posted by SHAILENDRA at 6:43 PM
2 Comments:
why is it cool to be a non-white?
While it's true that blatant white racism is outwardly expressed less these days - because many people can lose their jobs and friends, so they have to keep it in - I can tell you about the experiences I've had where I've been excluded from discussions and activities by white people...in Halifax, in North America.
On the other hand, it's pretty obvious that many people of colour (poc) can also be quite biased. Almost everyone is. We're raised to be biased towards something or the other. And we are conditioned into thinking certain ways about different groups of people.
When talking about racism, though, it's important to remember that racism includes one group of people having systemic power other groups. It always laugh when someone talks about a non-white person being racist in North America. I mean, sure, one can say something hateful about white people, but at the end of the day who's still in charge? What is the majority of people who make the laws, and enforce them?
I've noticed that many white people sometimes feel challenged when others assert themselves publicly. In fact, the same can be said for different types of oppression - If a gay couple walks down the street holding hands, they're flaunting it. Why? Because homophobic straight people are thrown out of their privileged comfort bubble when they see it, and they're the ones who make the laws...
The privileges that white people once had are slowly changing, and many of them find that alarming when they notice poc assuming positions of authority. And it's scary.
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