Racism is not just skin deep

Anuradha M Chenoy, Hindustan Times

image from, under the headline:

Indians being Racist towards Africans in India: Indians have been accused of being racist towards African students, who staged a protest at Bengaluru Town Hall in India.

Excerpt:

The violent racist attacks on Africans on the streets of the Capital by lumpen elements are a cause of deep concern and introspection by all who uphold human values. The minister for external affairs has strongly condemned these attacks, asked the law enforcement agencies to apprehend the attackers and stop any further violence. The African envoys are not placated by the Indian response. There is fear that such incidents will continue if adequate measures are not taken. Their anxiety is deep and is linked not just to the attack but also to the kind of responses.

One minister representing the government stated that the attack was “only a minor scuffle”. This not only contradicts the external affairs minister (EAM) but tries to underplay and thus normalises these attacks. As if minor scuffles are business as usual on the streets of this country and so not to be taken seriously. Another minister responded saying that “Even Africa is not safe”, as if to say why should India be safe for the ‘other’ if Africa was not? While condemning the attacks he also said that the attacks were giving India a bad name. As if the only problem at hand is one of image. Further, in 2013, Nigerians were attacked in Goa and one state minister called African nationals a ‘cancer’. Earlier, a Delhi minister had led a vigilante justice mob against African residents of his locality.

The response to such violence and statements on African nationals should not be one of‘ damage control’ whereby the hurt and anger of the African envoys is assuaged and we move on from there. What is required is a series of measures, after the condemnation from the highest authority and ensuring safety of all Africans living in India.

One way to accomplish this is to activate the public diplomacy section in the Ministry of External Affairs. They can initiate programmes to sensitise the politicians, the police and the public on the issue of racism. Perhaps a good idea would be to show how the national movement for freedom and the very formation of India were based on a platform that opposed colonialism and racism. Further, the ideas of non-violence and how these were developed by Mahatma Gandhi and his experience of racism in South Africa can be creatively revived and popularised. India’s solidarity with African anti-colonial, anti-racist struggles should be made a part of the public culture and discourse. It is worth noting if these ideas are repeated by politicians from public platforms, the message is well received by the masses.

Further the Information and Broadcasting Ministry should promote debates, discussions and historical analysis of racism, how it is linked to oppressions, how to fight it, and how we develop critical thinking about it. Perhaps it would be good for the culture ministry to show how diverse and plural the many cultures within India are and how they compare with African and Asian cultures. And if we really want to condemn and stop racism, it would be a good idea to make sure that the realities and implications of race are presented. How race has local forms that are called by different names and how it is a system based on exclusions and hierarchies.

Another resource against racism can be the NRI [see] community. Many NRIs are into long-distance nationalism and want a good image of India. It would be worthwhile if they were to relate their good and bad experiences on racism as part of this nationalism. Several of the countries they live in now had terrible racist policies and practices. Many, like the UK, Canada and the USA have also made huge efforts to diminish this, even as racism continues to exist. Multiculturalism and tolerance are promoted as public culture. But anti-racism and opposing all kinds of phobias is a process that should be initiated from the highest levels.

India has been party to the United Nations and all kinds of international resolutions and conventions on racism, it is time they popular is ed these and took action on the wonderful rhetoric presented in these forums. It would be useful if the Parliament and state assemblies had an all-party resolution against racism and its local forms.

The reason that resistance against racism needs to be promoted is because it is a major challenge within India. It is present in the association of being‘ fair ’ (somewhat white) as an aspect of beauty. It is deeply associated with caste discrimination. Racism intersects with different kinds of exclusions and discriminations. ...