We're all racist

Look around. It's all over mainstream news. Indian students being racially abused and discriminated against in Australia by their native Australian counterparts. Rewind a little ahead and you'll remember when Indian passengers aboard an Air France flight were subject to sub-standard, shoddy treatment by fair-skinned flight attendants. And of course, the early 2008 hot news story about Indian emigrants in Canada and the United States being victims of slander and continuous harassment. It's everywhere.

The backlash of it all back home here in India is expected and indeed very justifiable. Some even take it to extremes.

But introspect a little. Aren't we, as an Indian people racist also? And not in small or subtle, discreet ways, but boldly and shamelessly?

You've seen an African tourist in the train. You have. And you didn't just 'notice' him. You ogled. You, and a good proportion of the entire population in that compartment. Not because you feel intimidated (or maybe you do) by his presence. But because you feel that he's just ..different.
Now that's not racist, is it? It is.

We refer to fair skinned people as 'goras'. A direct reference to their colour. They're taken for a ride at shops, restaurants..pretty much anywhere. Young, innocent fair skinned teenagers are raped and killed at tourist places by locals.
It makes the news on page 16.

The most recent being the Scarlett Keeling case in Goa. Agreed, her mom was irresponsible and should've known better than to leave her in the custody of a local tour guide. But what picture does that paint about the trustworthiness of the Indian tour guide?
Coming from the land that gave us "Athithi Devo Bhava"


But our racist attitude as an Indian people doesn't end there.
We're racist towards ourselves.
People from Uttar Pradesh aren't welcome in Maharashtra. Before that it was south Indians. Dark skinned Tamilians are called "Kalyas" And we still look at our North Eastern countrymen as foreigners, as outsiders because of their mongloid features.

We like being fair. Fair, as in 'white'. It supposedly enhances our status and gives us an advantage. At pretty much everything. Everyone loves a fair person. Even Shah Rukh Khan wants you to be fair and handsome.




We're all racists, by and large. And I am generalizing.
So before we go ahead pointing fingers or accusing or burning effigies or anything, we need to introspect. For the racism we spew on foreigners (and Indians from other regions) manifests itself into violence and racism when on their turf. It's a stupid and frightful scenario. One that doesn't get anyone anywhere and creates only hostilities. Lets clean up our own dirt first.


Because the cardboard used to make the "Stop Racism in Australia" poster you're holding was made in a factory in Lucknow by UP "Bhaiyyas" whom you utterly hate for reasons best know to you. You anti-racism advocate, you.