The Anti-Apartheid Movement

Apartheid means separateness. Apartheid was a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the South African National Party government between 1948 and 1994. This system created a society of enormous repression for black South Africans. Apartheid was characterized by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation’s minority white population. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status, followed by Indians and Coloureds, then black Africans. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day.

The anti-apartheid movement was the first successful transnational social movement in the era of globalization. The movement began after a massive turnout by rural Afrikaners gave Rev. Daniel Malan’s Nationalist Party a majority of five seats in the whites-only Parliament of the Union of South Africa on May 26, 1948. The Nationalists won on a racist platform that played on white fears of the “black threat” and promised to establish strict “apartheid” or separate development policies to counter it. British Anglican archbishop Trevor Huddleston was a leader in the campaign against apartheid, an official system of discrimination against non-whites in South Africa. His efforts helped bring that struggle to the world’s attention

What is unique about the anti-apartheid movement is the extent of support it received from individuals, governments and organizations on all continents. Few social movements in history have garnered anywhere near the international support that was mobilized against the racist apartheid regime in South Africa. Although national liberation and Marxism might both be considered as successful, trans-national social movements, neither of these had the global support that the anti-apartheid movement garnered.

There were two main aspects of the anti-apartheid movement: the internal campaign to destabilize the racist apartheid regime in South Africa, and the external campaign for political, economic, and cultural sanctions. At the heart of the movement was the struggle of black Africans to end white supremacy in South Africa. This internal movement was both a catalyst for actions at the international level and the critical link that gave coherence to the movement as a whole. The external effort can be divided into two fronts: (1) regional efforts to provide military bases, material, and diplomatic support for liberation movements; and (2) the diaspora movement, which focused on seeking international sanctions against the regime and providing direct aid to the liberation movements.The internal struggle within South Africa was the core of the movement, and it served as a catalyst for regional and international support movements. This effort emerged to oppose apartheid legislation imposed after the all-white election of 1948.

Nelson Mandela’s contribution

The man we know behind this movement is Nelson Mandela. Under apartheid, the South African population was divided into four distinct racial groups: white (including Afrikaners, who speak a Germanic language called Afrikaans), black, colored, and Indian. Strict residential, economic, and social segregation was enforced on the basis of these racial categories. Non-whites were not allowed to vote in national election. Moreover, apartheid saw the institution of the “homeland system,” in which the government sought to establish separate states for members of each of the country’s many black ethnic groups. This often involved the forced removal of families from their original homes to the newly-created “bantustans” (or ethnic states). In other cases, it meant breaking up interracial and inter-ethnic families. While non-whites were confined to squalid ghettoes with few decent educational and employment opportunities, whites were afforded the basic privileges of life in a democracy.

In a 1955 article, Nelson Mandela—then a leading activist in the growing fight against apartheid—described the horrors of the system and the brutal means by which it was enforced:The breaking up of African homes and families and the forcible separation of children from mothers, the harsh treatment meted out to African prisoners, and the forcible detention of Africans in farm colonies for spurious statutory offenses are a few examples of the actual workings of the hideous and pernicious doctrines of racial inequality. To these can be added scores of thousands of foul misdeeds committed against the people by the government: the denial to the non-European people of the elementary rights of free citizenship; the expropriation of the people from their lands and homes to assuage the insatiable appetites of European land barons and industrialists; the flogging and calculated murder of African laborers by European farmers in the countryside for being “cheeky to the baas”; the vicious manner in which African workers are beaten up by the police and flung into jails when they down tools to win their demands; the fostering of contempt and hatred for non-Europeans; the fanning of racial prejudice between whites and non-whites, between the various non-white groups; the splitting of Africans into small hostile tribal units; the instigation of one group or tribe against another; the banning of active workers from the people`s organizations, and their confinement into certain areas.

Because of the injustices it perpetuated, the apartheid system gave rise to a broad resistance movement. The primary organization leading the struggle against apartheid was the African National Congress (ANC). The ANC was founded in 1913 in response to the oppression of non-white South Africans at the hands of the white ruling class. In 1943, Nelson Mandela—then a law student—joined the ANC and co-founded its youth division, the ANCYL. Mandela and other young activists had begun to advocate for a mass campaign of agitation against apartheid. In 1949, the ANCYL gained control of the ANC and a year later Mandela was elected national president of the ANCYL. Around this time, Mandela’s political outlook began to shift: while he had previously opposed cross-racial unity in the fight against apartheid, he came to be influenced by the writings of socialist thinkers who supported organizing across racial lines. He was also influenced by the nonviolent strategies of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was himself a resident of South Africa for more than 20 years, from 1893 to 1914.

Mandela and other political prisoners engaged in many political debates and discussion. The prison on Robben Island, where Mandela stayed for 20 years, was sometimes called “University of Robben Island.”

Although he was sidelined from direct participation in the movement while in prison, Mandela became a symbol—both in South Africa and internationally—of the struggle against injustice. During his imprisonment on Robben Island, the fight against apartheid continued. New organizations and leaders emerged to advance the cause, and thousands of average South Africans risked their lives to resist the brutal system. A powerful international movement included boycotts and bans of South African goods; protests, including massive civil disobedience; and an explosion of music and art demanding the end of apartheid and the freeing of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners.

Violence and instability grew within South Africa. The apartheid government faced increasing domestic and international pressure. In 1985, then President P.W. Botha offered to release Mandela from prison if he agreed to “unconditionally reject violence as a political weapon.” Mandela refused the offer. He wrote: “What freedom am I being offered while the organization of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.”

Despite his recognition as a central figure in the fight against apartheid, Mandela has always been quick to note that he was not personally responsible for its overthrow. As he said upon his release from prison in 1990: “I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.” Mandela’s courage is inspiring and his story is dramatic, but he did not end apartheid alone. In South Africa and around the world, people were inspired by Mandela’s example. They recognized that there would never be freedom in South Africa unless many people took action. In South Africa, many died in the struggle for freedom.

Was Gandhi wrong

Ok, so let me make it clear, I’m writing it because I know his autobiography and some other literature of that time.

Many say Gandhi was Racist about Africans and didn’t fight for black people.
When he reached Africa Indian merchants had a far better life there(compared to native Africans) and in that colonial time it was nearly impossible to make govt give some good rights, so he had to play small first. He fought for little rights of Indians couse there they have education and money to make pressure and start changes many others were fighting like him so it was a good start and solving in pieces is how he gave freedom to India(it’s not like India got freedom from one movement it was succession of events, movements, rights that made Britishers slowly give rights to Indian).
And for all the documentation and stuff of that time sorry but all wise guy knows about propaganda, narratives that time every resource of information was controlled by whites even if they try acting well you know deep down they are just harshly judging(I know this point will be hard to clear for some.).

Treated women and low cast badly.
He had done lots of good things to remove discrimination(this is more hard topic then second one) when you are between people who have lots of discrimination in mind and you want to correct them you have to start small not like give education and abuse your wife but he respected his wife from whole heart but for others, he made like educate them later treat with respect too.
Also even if he seems great like Budha or written characters like Optimus, superman(where I believe his morals are far stronger than our most moral fictional characters even now. He has given all his life rechecking his ideas improving himself morally so it’s really hard our fictional characters can reach that height.)

I’m not saying to worship him or idealize him just be as hard critique as you can but remember that all info was recorded by those who were deep inside biased or willing to spread propaganda.

James Baldwin: Empowerment Through Words

James Baldwin was an American essayist, novelist, and playwright whose eloquence and passion on the subject of race in America made him an important voice, particularly in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the USA and throughout much of western Europe. One of the 20th century’s greatest writers, Baldwin broke new literary ground with the exploration of racial and social issues in his many works. He was especially known for his essays on the Black experience in America. In light of recent incidents in America, with the killing of George Floyd and all the violence against black people, James Baldwin’s literary works have resurfaced and remain relevant even today. Unfortunately, the violence seen in America decades ago is still in existence, and Baldwins works brings these matters to light.

Early Years

James Baldwin was born the illegitimate son of Emma Jones on August 2, 1924, in Harlem, New York. When he was three, his mother married the Reverend David Baldwin, a fire and brimstone lay preacher who legally adopted James. Despite their strained relationship, Baldwin followed in his stepfather’s footsteps and served as a youth minister in a Harlem Pentecostal church from the ages of 14 to 16. He developed a passion for reading at an early age and demonstrated a gift for writing during his school years. Baldwin published numerous poems, short stories and plays in the magazine, and his early work showed an understanding for sophisticated literary devices in a writer of such a young age. After graduating from high school in 1942, he had to put his plans for college on hold to help support his family, which included seven younger siblings. He took whatever work he could find, including laying railroad tracks for the U.S. Army in New Jersey.

During this time, Baldwin frequently encountered discrimination, being turned away from restaurants, bars and other establishments because he was an African-American. After being fired from the New Jersey job, Baldwin sought other work and struggled to make ends meet.

Aspiring Writer

James Baldwin started devoting his time to write a novel, trying to fulfil his dream of becoming a writer. Eventually he befriended writer Richard Wright, through whom he was able to land a fellowship in 1945 to cover his expenses. Baldwin started getting essays and short stories published in such national periodicals as The Nation, Partisan Review and Commentary.

Three years later, Baldwin made a dramatic change in his life and moved to Paris on another fellowship. The shift in location freed Baldwin to write more about his personal and racial background. He once told the New York Times; “Once I found myself on the other side of the ocean, I see where I came from very clearly…I am the grandson of a slave, and I am a writer. I must deal with both,” The move marked the beginning of his life as a “transatlantic commuter,” dividing his time between France and the United States.

Major Works

Baldwin had his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, published in 1953. The loosely autobiographical tale focused on the life of a young man growing up in Harlem grappling with family issues and religion.

In 1954, Baldwin published his next novel, Giovanni’s Room. It told the story of an American living in Paris and broke new ground for its complex depiction of homosexuality, a then-taboo subject. Baldwin was open about his homosexuality and relationships with both men and women, and believed that human sexuality cannot be limited by rigid categories.

In 1957 he returned to the United States and became an active participant in the civil rights struggle that swept the nation. Delving into his own life, he provided an unflinching look at the Black experience in America through such works as Notes of a Native Son (1955) and Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son (1961), which explored Black-white relations in the United States. This theme was also central to his novel Another Country (1962), which examines sexual as well as racial issues.

Nobody Knows My Name hit the bestsellers list, selling more than a million copies. While not a marching or sit-in style activist, Baldwin emerged as one of the leading voices in the Civil Rights Movement for his compelling work on race.

Final Years

By the early 1970s, Baldwin seemed to despair over the racial situation. He had witnessed so much violence in the previous decade, especially the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., caused by racial hatred. While his literary fame faded somewhat in his later years, Baldwin continued to produce new works in a variety of forms. He published a collection of poems, Jimmy’s Blues: Selected Poems, in 1983 as well as the 1987 novel Harlem Quartet. Baldwin died on December 1, 1987, at his home in St. Paul de Vence, France. Never wanting to be a spokesperson or a leader, Baldwin saw his personal mission as “bearing witness to the truth.” He accomplished this mission through his extensive and timeless literary legacy

RACISM

Racism, also known as racialism, is the belief that humans can be divided into distinct biological entities known as “races,” that there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and personality, intellect, morality, and other cultural and behavioral characteristics, and that some races are innately superior to others.

While contemporary social science considers race and ethnicity to be distinct categories, the two terms have a long history of equivalency in public usage and earlier social science literature.

“Ethnicity” is frequently used in a sense similar to that of “race”: the classification of human groups based on attributes thought to be inherent or necessary to the group.

The term “racial discrimination” refers to any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference based on race, color, descent, national or ethnic origin that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal footing in the political, economic, social, cultural, or other fields of public life.

The phrase also refers to political, economic, or legal institutions and systems that participate in or perpetuate racial discrimination or otherwise exacerbate racial disparities in wealth and income, education, health care, civil rights, and other sectors.

With the rise of critical race theory, an extension of the critical legal studies movement, such institutional, structural, or systemic racism became a special focus of scholarly research in the 1980s.

Since the late twentieth century, biological race has been recognized as a cultural construct with no scientific foundation.

Racism dictated that different races (primarily blacks and whites) be separated from one another, that they should have their own distinct communities and develop their own institutions such as churches, schools, and hospitals, and that it was unnatural for members of different races to marry in North America and apartheid-era South Africa.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

On June 6, half a million people showed out in approximately 550 locations around the United States for the recent Black Lives Matter rallies, which peaked on June 6. That was just one day in a month of protests that are still going on today.

Four recent polls, including one released this week by Civics Analytics, a data science firm that works with businesses and Democratic campaigns, estimate that between 15 million and 26 million people in the United States have participated in protests in recent weeks in response to the death of George Floyd and others.

These figures would make the recent protests the largest movement in the country’s history, according to interviews with scholars and crowd-counting experts.

While it’s likely that more people stated they protested than actually did, even if only half of them were telling the truth, the surveys indicate that over seven million people took part in recent protests.

There have been protests in more than 40% of counties in the United States (at least 1,360).

Unlike previous Black Lives Matter events, approximately 95 percent of counties with recent protests are majority white, with nearly three-quarters of counties having a white population of more than 75 percent.

Half of those who claimed they demonstrated indicated it was their first time participating in some type of activism or protest.

Within the recent year, the majority of people claimed they had seen a video of police violence against protestors or the Black community. And half of those polled thought it strengthened their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

According to the Crowd Counting Consortium, the number of protests has decreased significantly over the last two weeks, notwithstanding a rise on Juneteenth.

“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.”

– Mahatma Gandhi, 1925

Professor McAdam stated, “It appears, for all the world, that these protests are accomplishing what very few do: putting in motion a period of profound, persistent, and broad social, political change.” “We look to be on the verge of a social transformation tipping point, which is both rare and possibly significant in society.”

‘Power’ by Audre Lorde

The difference between poetry and rhetoric
is being ready to kill
yourself
instead of your children.

I am trapped on a desert of raw gunshot wounds
and a dead child dragging his shattered black
face off the edge of my sleep
blood from his punctured cheeks and shoulders
is the only liquid for miles
and my stomach
churns at the imagined taste while
my mouth splits into dry lips
without loyalty or reason
thirsting for the wetness of his blood
as it sinks into the whiteness
of the desert where I am lost
without imagery or magic
trying to make power out of hatred and destruction
trying to heal my dying son with kisses
only the sun will bleach his bones quicker.

A policeman who shot down a ten year old in Queens
stood over the boy with his cop shoes in childish blood
and a voice said “Die you little motherfucker” and
there are tapes to prove it. At his trial
this policeman said in his own defense
“I didn't notice the size nor nothing else
only the color”. And
there are tapes to prove that, too.

Today that 37 year old white man
with 13 years of police forcing
was set free
by eleven white men who said they were satisfied
justice had been done
and one Black Woman who said
“They convinced me” meaning
they had dragged her 4'10'' black Woman's frame
over the hot coals
of four centuries of white male approval
until she let go
the first real power she ever had
and lined her own womb with cement
to make a graveyard for our children.

I have not been able to touch the destruction
within me.
But unless I learn to use
the difference between poetry and rhetoric
my power too will run corrupt as poisonous mold
or lie limp and useless as an unconnected wire
and one day I will take my teenaged plug
and connect it to the nearest socket
raping an 85 year old white woman
who is somebody's mother
and as I beat her senseless and set a torch to her bed
a greek chorus will be singing in 3/4 time
“Poor thing. She never hurt a soul. What beasts they are.”

Power by Audre Lorde is a poem that expresses anger against certain social injustices faced by the people of colour in a predominantly white-privileged society. The poem is said to be a reaction against an unjust trial of a white policeman who shot a black child to death in Queens in 1973. Owing to the title, the poem dabbles with various forms and magnitudes of power and the different ways in which it is made use of.

Lorde has structured the poem into irregular stanzas of five. She begins the poem by putting out two heavy options of poetry and rhetoric, through which one may choose to channel their power. In the second stanza, the poet paints a heart wrenching image of a powerless bleeding black child. She watches helplessly as the child slowly bleeds to death. Here, both the child and the poet are powerless; but the describing colour-contrasted imagery leaves a powerful impact on the readers. The third stanza highlights the power held by a white policeman who, in his trial, fearlessly admits that he fired the shot purely on the basis of colour. The poet then calls out the corrupt jury which exploits and manipulates its powers to set the policeman free. The jury was comprised of eleven white men who clearly held all the power and one token black woman. In the final stanza, Lorde concludes by pointing out that power, if not used right, can either end up corrupt or end up useless. She then draws up a metaphor between electricity to that of the power and anger surging within oneself. Finally, she puts forth a hypothetical situation of an old white woman being raped by a black man to point out the biased double-standards of the society that manipulates power to perpetuate racism.

The poet explains how unlike rhetoric, poetry can be used as a medium to channel one’s anger. She makes clever use of numbers (both spelt out and otherwise) and capitalisation of certain key words to draw attention to the power play within a society. Lorde tries to describe the desperation that comes with being powerless and urges the readers to use their power productively. The poem can be seen as her hopeful attempt at empowering the otherwise powerless black community.

Despite the fact that Power was written in 1978, it holds strong relevance to the power imbalance prevalent in the society even to this date. It resonates with the several incidents of police brutality against certain African-Americans such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. This gave way to the strengthening of movements like ‘Black Lives Matter’, amassing strong protestors especially on several social media platforms. Unlike the one in the poem, the white policeman who attacked George Floyd was charged with a second-degree murder owing to the help of the massive number of protestors. Though it is disheartening to see such brutality prevailing after years of struggle, we see that Lorde’s advice on using power in the right way does make a difference.

Reference Link:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53918/power-56d233adafeb3

Why you should read ‘Born a crime’ by Trevor Noah

I recently read ‘Born a crime’ by Trevor noah.I’ve been watching Trevor Noah for a long time now.He is a stand up comedian ,and often talkes about racism in his work, but here we really get to see its spread and depth.

Summary: The book basically tells us about life during apartheid[1] .Trevor Noah is born to a white man and black woman,and that was a crime during apartheid.He speaks about the abuse their family suffered at the hands of his alcoholic stepfather,his struggle being ‘coloured’ ,poverty,and most importantly his mother.

“Where most children are proof of their parents’ love, I was the proof of their criminality.”-Born a crime.

Two things that Trevor has talked the most in the book is

Racism
His mom

And both of them surprised me.

1) Racism

This book showed layers of racism and how the colour of your skin wasn’t the only thing that would constitute the importance of your race.

For example Chinese people were classified as black.But since the Englishmen wanted the develop good relations with the Japanese, they were given the honorary ‘ ‘white’ status.

“I always like to imagine being a South African policeman who likely couldn’t tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese but whose job was to make sure that people of the wrong color weren’t doing the wrong thing. If he saw an Asian person sitting on a whites-only bench, what would he say?
“Hey, get off that bench, you Chinaman!”
“Excuse me. I’m Japanese.”
“Oh, I apologize, sir. I didn’t mean to be racist. Have a lovely afternoon.”

And by the way they had a whole different perspective of what racist behavior is.They didn’t apologize for being racist,they apologizd for aiming their racism at the wrong person.

Trevor says the was was considered ‘white’ by black people and ‘black’ by white people.But that wasn’t it,there were many divisions among the black themselves. He says that his biggest tool was languages.His mother taught him English and many other languages,he himself picked up a few by listening.

“I became a chameleon. My color didn’t change, but I could change your perception of my color.

If you spoke Zulu, I replied to you in Zulu. If you spoke to me in Tswana, I replied to you in Tswana. Maybe I didn’t look like you, but if I spoke like you, I was you.”

Racism has so many layers,its crazy.This book navigated through it like butter.For the first time we get to see how it is to be stuck in a cycle.

And this whole system was created to keep black people in a cycle.I knew what apartheid was in defination,but we get to see it in true sense.

It was illegal to be mixed (to have a black parent and a white parent), but it was not illegal to be colored (to have two parents who were both colored). So my mom moved me around the world as a colored child. She found a crèche in a colored area where she could leave me while she was at work. There was a colored woman named Queen who lived in our block of flats. When we wanted to go out to the park, my mom would invite her to go with us. Queen would walk next to me and act like she was my mother, and my mother would walk a few steps behind, like she was the maid working for the color.

_______________________________________________________________

He says how a lot of people don’t have the most basic block of improvement ie.opportunity.

“People love to say, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What they don’t say is, “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.” That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing.”

Then there’s the hood[2] .The hood is basically a more poorer parts of the society. Like slums in Mumbai.The people of the hood were taught how to fish,but they weren’t given a fishing rod.

These people couldn’t get higher education since they couldn’t afford it.if they got a decent manual Job,they would often get fired on suspicion on stealing.They would have to come back to the crime they were surrounded by.

Although Trevor wasn’t originally from the hood,we feels he belongs there due to their sense of community.

2) Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah.(Mother)

Patricia—this woman is EPIC. .She is 30 years ahead of her time.If you follow Trevor, you’ll know he often talks about how badass a his mom was.Now– I truly understand.

When Trevor said that his parents were an interracial couple,I thought Trevor was probably not a planned child and it for brave of their parents to keep him.well I was surprised to know that he was in fact a planned child.His mother wanted a child and she knew that Trevor’s dad was the man she wanted her child with.She knew the consequences so did Trevor’s dad,Robert, but he agreed anyway.She told him he doesn’t need to be involved in Trevor’s life of he doesn’t want to.But Robert decided to stay.They obviously never got to live together due to apartheid laws.

One of my favourite and most amusing Patricia’s-rebellion stories is when she gets married to boyfriend, Abel and they have a kid.

They go to visit his village Tzaneen for the first time.

“Tsnoga culture,I learned was extremely patriarchal.We’re talking about a world where women have to bow when they greet a man.

Men were not allowed in the kitchen.As a nine year old boy,I thought this was fantastic. At my house my mom was forever making me do the chores–wash the dishes, sweep the house.

My mom thought the whole ‘bowing to men tradition’ was absurd.

Patricia Noah stayed at no one kitchen,she was a free spirit.She didn’t refuse to bow,she overdid it.

My mom would go down and cower,grovelling in the dirt like she was worshipping a deity,and she would stay down for like a really long time,long enough to make everyone uncomfortable.”

Throughout the book,the things that she does,I wouldn’t have the guts to do today inspite of living in much more advanced society. Its obvious how she played a very important role in Trevor’s upbringing.

This book touches many other topics such a masculinity and what it means to Trevor.

Despite of dealing with many heavy topics, ‘born a crime’ is actually pretty humorous. One of the very funny things was when he was talking about this time in hood,he said many people sold things that were obviously stolen (from white people) but no one really feel anything because apparently all ‘white people have insurance’ . No guilt.

This is definitely a book everyone should read.I myself am not a big fan of biographies, but I think this was one of the best books I’ve read so far.

Not Fair But Still Lovely

India’s obsession to fair skin is not new. Fairness does not define beauty and racism harms everybody. Colourism is the bias against dark skinned tone that views white skin as the ultimate benchmark. It is a persistent social force in India, and many South Asian countries.

George Floyd’s killing in police custody in U.S has led to the ‘Black lives matter’ across the globe. Undoubtedly, there is power in protest. But the question lies when we think, does this really bring a change and do people really mean it. The protests happening through social media has advantages as well as disadvantages. According to many, the notion of beauty lies in skin colour which is absolutely wrong.

‘Fair and lovely’ has been criticized for years as they promote the idea of being fair to be an achiever. Chandana Hirana, a 22-year-old, Mumbai girl started a petition against the brand before the name was changed to ‘Glow and lovely’. Changing the brand’s name turned out to be an utter failure as there is no change in ingredients. Also, Loreal and many other brands are also removing words like ‘whitening’ or ‘fair’ from their products. Sure, it is a welcome move but it is a high time to ban the prevailing mindset of people that equate fair skin not just to beauty but also to rich and upper caste.

As anti-racism protest erupted across the globe, many celebrities like Sonam Kapoor, Disha Patani, Yami Gautham etc came forward in support of ‘Black lives matter’ who were latter trolled massively as they were already promoting fairness products. Priyanka Chopra in an interview said that she regretted promoting such products.

Last year, Nandita Das, founder of Dark is beautiful campaign did a rap video to fight skin-tone discrimination. She also added that she is fed up of people commenting on her skin tone. Hassan Minhaj, an American comedian on his popular show ‘Patriot act’ on Netflix said that ‘it is bad to be black in Desi culture’ and I couldn’t agree more. We shouldn’t assume a particular race to be superior than others. Even filters and photo editing apps are focussing now how to make you fairer.

Matrimonial ads are the best example to see how things are uglier in the world. People search for wheatish skin girls. It is surprising to know that most of the matrimony sites have filter option to select the skin tone.

In ‘my experiments with truth’ Gandhiji tells how he was embarrassed because of his dark skin tone against white skinned people around him. Even after Britishers have left India, racism still exist here. We should learn that all shades are lovely. We are all in different shades for many reasons. Embrace your shade instead of hating it. Let us not give space for racism to exist in our mind. No shade is superior or inferior than any shade. It is of no doubt that racism will take a mental toll on people. Stop racism. Nothing more, nothing less.

COLORISM IN INDIA

Colorism

Colorism is the practice of favoring lighter skin over darker skin. The preference for lighter skin can be seen within any racial or ethnic background. Race can be defined as the attributes, traits and features which differentiates one group from the other existing social groups. In simple words, races are the physical qualities that one inherits biologically and serves as a way of self-identification from the other groups. Racism is a theory that one race is superior that the other based on the physical attributes, caste, creed, ethnicity or origin. A person is being racist when he displays the emotions of hatred, prejudice, biasness and intolerance against another person solely due to his skin color, structure of his lips, language, place of origin or any other attribute which he might have gained biologically.

Colorism in India

India is known as one of the most mega diverse nations in the world. It is indeed a diverse country and a home for people belonging to different caste, religion, color, creed, culture and traditions. Indians are known for their varied degrees of skin complexion termed as fair skinned and dark skinned. The skin color has always remained an important factor in determining a person’s value and worth. Fair skin people are considered to be of a superior status than to the people with a dark sin. Racism has been prevailing in India since the Rig Veda Period, followed by the Mughal era and the British rule. We live in a society where the people are highly obsessed with one’s skin tone. Indians have varied degrees of skin complexion and they are categorized as fair, dusky, dark etc. Indians believe that fair-skinned people are of a much more worth and value than those who are dark skinned. The fair is considered the intellectual and gets the respect, dignity and the social status while the dark are left behind struggling for their rights and status. We face color hatred and prejudice and somehow still choose to remain silent about it.

The people need to understand that a person’s worth or status is not determined by his or her color. There are numerous cosmetic brands promoting skin lightening creams and lotions. There are advertisements promoting the desperate need of looking fair. The question is why? No one has the right to question or judge one’s complexion. Racial discrimination brings down the morale and the enthusiasm of the dark, they do not get a chance to stand up and speak up or fight for themselves. The mindset of the Indian society should realize the fact that no matter what the skin tone is, what caste or origin a person belongs to, irrespective of all the other physical traits, a person is entitled to equality before the law and has every right to deserve the same respect and honor a fair person gets. Racism is a refuge for the ignorant. It seeks to divide and to destroy. It is the enemy of freedom, and deserves to be met head-on and stamped out.

Colorism in India.

Ethnic complexities or relations in India have historically been complex. “Ethnic relations” refers to attitudes, behaviors and opinions towards people of other ethnicity or races. India is one of the most ethnically diverse countries, with more than 2,000 different ethnic groups. There is also significant diversity within regions, and almost every state/province has its own distinct mixture of ethnicities, traditions, and culture. Throughout the history of India, ethnic relations have been both constructive with mutual cultural influences and destructive with discrimination against other ethnicities. In this research paper we will talk about the progress or the current scenario of racial discrimination in India and its various problems.

Racism is most commonly used to name a form of prejudice in which a person thinks that their “race” is better or superior over other races. This most often takes the form of believing that those with other skin colors especially darker skin colors are inferior physically, intellectually, morally, and/or culturally, and mistreating and discriminating against them because of this. Such a belief typically promotes the notion that white people are “the default” that whiteness is “normal” and that people with other appearances are the ones who are “different” (and “inferior”).Racism has existed in our society from ages right from the time of colonization of India.

According to local sources, unity in diversity has been growing in India, making the country more tolerant. One World Values Survey reported 43.5% of Indians responded that they would prefer not to have neighbors of a different race.

What is race?

To fully understand racism, we have to understand the meaning of race. Throughout history, the word race has been used to classify humans based on various physical characteristics, especially skin color, facial form, and eye shape. But sorting people into such races is truly arbitrary they’re not based on meaningful scientific differences (like, for example, those used to determine legitimate scientific classifications such as species and genus). The obsession with the difference in people’s skin color is one of the foundations of racism.

Biases related to the caste system

Racism is linked to the prevalent caste system which is hierarchical in nature. The broad orderings and the sub-orderings in India seem complex and confusing as classifications are often overlapping: region, religion, caste, sub-caste, Jati, Gotra, Kula, Varna and language. “Any effort to simplify them beyond a point can lead to a distortion of social reality.”

earliest classification, as found in Rig Veda, was not based on birth but on the hierarchy that was determined by one’s occupation; however, it is certain that at some particular point in history it became birth-based and rigid

The killing or discrimination was not rooted in color, which some scholars mistakenly believe it to be the case rather this was a time of constant wars and conflicts between the invader immigrants and the actual tribal population of the time..

Status of Racial discrimination in the 21^st century

The next part of this research paper will discuss how skin tone is still so deeply attached to the normal Indian psyche that it gets confused with the societal value system of caste, class, and religion
Skin tone also forms various strata of variables and acceptability in society. Beauty ideals are now governed by the media, which glorifies lighter skinned models–both male and female–who are chosen to advertise almost all products over darker skinned models

In the wake of George Floyd’s death the debate about colorism and skin tone in India has been discussed in several media outlets, and as part of the general critique a big Indian matchmaking website, Shaadi.com has removed a filter where people could use to mark skin color preferences for their potential partner

In the state of Maharashtra, a group of young tribalgirls trained to be flight crew through a government scholarship program that aimed to empower women; however, the program seems to have actually disempowered darker skinned women. The majority of girls were denied employment due to their darker skin tone. A few of those women obtained jobs, but only as out-of-sight ground crew.

Discrimination- Still a social issue

Discrimination is such a social issue that is prevalent in India from a long time. Though Indian Law describes discrimination as punishable crime under Civil Right Act 1964, we often see many cases of it. Why is this so?? Why even after so many years of evolution and development we see such social issues?? All the answers to these questions lies in our foundation and environment that we grow in.

From the very start of growth many children are not taught the difference between “leg pulling” and discrimination. Many young as well as elderly people discriminate people and remark it as a “joke.” For instance calling someone “black” just for fun seems funny but in reality it is a huge social drawback. This shows how much we lack education. Recent incident of “youtuber Paras Singh calling Arunachal Pradesh a Chinese Territory” proves the fact. Though he apologized and realized his mistakes , no one can neglect the fact that this incident would not have occurred if we were more cautious and educated.

There is a huge hole in our mindset and its needed to be filled before it eat us all. A discriminated person faces huge mental trauma and may have a severe impact. We need to be more sensitive while dealing with such topics. Educating children from the young age as well as educating ourselves on such topic may bring a huge change in near future. It is well known that discrimination have a long history and it will not eradicate instantly. But taking small steps today will bring major change in near future

RACISM IN THE FORM OF COLORISM

Our country has a history of being ruled by the whites, i.e. the Portuguese, the Dutch and French traders, the Mughals, the British. They were relatively fairer than the rest of the Indian population. This succession by the white people left behind the desperate desire of looking fair. Indians felt that only the light skin people can attain power, dignity and respect as they were the master race. The racial prejudice in our country has taken the form of colorism. The basic definition of colorism means that differentiating or classification of a person from another on the basis of the skin tone or complexion. Discrimination against the members of the same race due to their dark skin complexion is called colorism. The black people are generally considered of a lower status and they are included in the lowest strata of the society while the fair is considered the noble and intellectual. In our Indian society, the complexion of a person is given a lot of importance, fair people are believed to have positive impacts and the dark has negative impacts. This is how the stereotypical mindsets of the Indians work. The black is now hated upon, it is highly condemned by the people worldwide.

Racism and colorism are very closely related to each other. People with a lighter skin tone were considered as a rich of an upper-caste while people with a dusky skin tone is considered as a poor of a lower caste. Due to the color discrimination, the black people face problems all over the world. It brings down their morale, enthusiasm, self-efficiency to a great extent. They fear the world outside, the voices of the black people go unheard. They do not receive the right amount of appreciation, instead they face constant hatred and are subjected to brutality. The black people face harassment be it in either a physical or virtual form on any online platform. They are bullied not only on the basis of their color, but also on the basis of the structure of their lips or any facial attribute. The black color is the least preferred color in the entire human race. They are denied access to educational institutions, workplace or employment services, social services etc. There is no system which would act as a protection shield against the brutal and the inhumane bullying. The crime rate against the black has evidently increased, but people choose to be silent about it. If the same crime had been done to a white, then the public and the law would have done their best to win justice.

The social media and the advertising agency contribute to a great extent in favoring the notion of colorism. It is well known that the people would prefer a lighter skin tone than a deeper one and they would try their level best to reduce the tone of their skin color using any artificial means. People tend to follow the social media, their role models and hence in a despair to look fair. There are numerous cosmetic brands and skin lightening industries which came up as a solution to their consumer’s needs. In 1975, the “Fair and Lovely” cream was launched by Hindustan Unilever. This brand added a lot to the theory of colorism. It had become an indispensable requirement in the life of the young girls. It denoted that the deep complexion was not acceptable by the society anymore and how the dark people prove to be a disappointment. Only the fair people could achieve success and lead a happy life. Such fairness cream commercials promote the concept that how fairness is the only means of achieving success, dignity, honor and respect. Such products created an obstacle in the society by differentiating people on their skin tone. There was no actual appreciation of the natural beauty and color anymore. It led to the formation of biasness on the preference on the skin tone and color. Colorism really brings down the level of self-esteem and confidence in life of the people which in turn creates a confined status.

Black Man Shot by Police in Wisconsin, Protests Follow

Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man was shot in the back by the Wisconsin police in the city of Kenosha. The incident happened on Sunday, while he was walking towards his car and was shot several times in the back. His three young sons witnessed the shooting from the car and were screaming after seeing their father being shot. Video footage of the shooting was shared on social media, which was taken from across the street, it shows the father-of-three leaning into the car. An officer is seen grabbing his shirt after which seven shots were heard. It is unclear what had happened before the video recording begun. He survived the shooting and had a surgery. His father had told the newspapers that his son is paralyzed but the doctors do not know whether its permanent.

At night, groups of protesters defying a dusk-to-dawn curfew gathered outside the courthouse. They confronted law enforcement officers in riot gear outside the county courthouse which was blocks away from where Jacob Blake was shot. They were shouting and tossing water bottles after which they were responded with tear gas and pepper balls.

Despite the curfew, demonstrations erupted on Sunday night, which lead the authorities to close public buildings. Governor Tony Evers have ordered National Guard troops to be deployed in the city to maintain order. He has condemned the incident and “the excessive use of force” and called for a special legislative session next week in order to reconsider police reforms. Protestors marched on the streets from Monday night into Tuesday morning. Many commercial and government buildings and vehicles were set ablaze. The disturbances and protests had slowed down by early morning. According to a protestor, the police used tear gas, rubber bullets and smoke bombs to disperse the crowd. Protestors were marching peacefully but a small group suddenly got violent and started setting fires and breaking glass. The instigators who were seen were reported to be white. After the demonstrations ended, the police and demonstrators had worked together to clean the debris.

The incident occurred three months after the death of George Floyd on May 25. The Black man was pinned to the street under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis. The incident sparked protests, against police brutality and racism within the U.S. criminal justice system, across the country and abroad.

Black Lives Matter activists have demanded the arrest of the officers involved in it. Attorney Crump, who also has also represented Floyd’s family, said in a statement, “Blake had been trying to de-escalate a domestic incident when the officers first shot him with a stun gun. As he was walking away to check on his children, police fired their weapons several times into his back at point-blank range.”

Sunday’s shooting had been termed a “domestic incident’ which the police responded to. According to a police statement, they had immediately taken him to the hospital. Authorities have given no further explanation of the details of the incident or what had led to the shooting. The officers who were involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave. The Wisconsin Department of Justice said on Monday that the investigation is underway.

Harsh Reality of Our Society: Racism….

Racism describes virtually anything having to do with racial conflict. The declining significance of race, symbolic racism, colour blind racism, and unconscious racism missed the structural regressions brought on by the ‘Southern Strategy’ to mask indirect or covert ways to continue racial oppression. A reconsideration of the theory of Racism calls for a strategic approach to race relations research.

Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. Racial separatism is the belief, most of the time based on racism, that different races should remain segregated and apart from one another. Racism has existed throughout human history. It may be defined as the hatred of one person by another — or the belief that another person is less than human — because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes.

One important feature of racism, especially toward Blacks and immigrant groups, is clear in attitudes regarding slaves and slavery. Jews are usually seen by anti-Semites as subhuman but also superhuman: devilishly cunning, skilled, and powerful. Blacks and others are seen by racists as merely subhuman, more like beasts than men. If the focus of anti-Semitism is evil, the focus of racism is inferiority — directed toward those who have sometimes been considered to lack even the ability to be evil (though in the 20th century, especially, victims of racism are often considered morally degraded).

All of these arguments are based on a false understanding of race; in fact, contemporary scientists are not agreed on whether race is a valid way to classify people. What may seem to be significant “racial” differences to some people — skin color, hair, facial shape — are not of much scientific significance. In fact, genetic differences within a so-called race may be greater than those between races. One philosopher writes: “There are few genetic characteristics to be found in the population of England that are not found in similar proportions in Zaire or in China; those differences that most deeply affect us in our dealings with each other are not to any significant degree biologically determined.”

In North America and apartheid-era South Africa, racism dictated that different races (chiefly blacks and whites) should be segregated from one another; that they should have their own distinct communities and develop their own institutions such as churches, schools, and hospitals; and that it was unnatural for members of different races to marry. Historically, those who openly professed or practiced racism held that members of low-status races should be limited to low-status jobs and that members of the dominant race should have exclusive access to political power, economic resources, high-status jobs, and unrestricted civil rights. The lived experience of racism for members of low-status races includes acts of physical violence, daily insults, and frequent acts and verbal expressions of contempt and disrespect, all of which have profound effects on self-esteem and social relationships.

By the 19th century, racism had matured and spread around the world. In many countries, leaders began to think of the ethnic components of their own societies, usually religious or language groups, in racial terms and to designate “higher” and “lower” races. Those seen as the low-status races, especially in colonized areas, were exploited for their labour, and discrimination against them became a common pattern in many areas of the world. The expressions and feelings of racial superiority that accompanied colonialism generated resentment and hostility from those who were colonized and exploited, feelings that continued even after independence.

Despite constitutional and legal measures aimed at protecting the rights of racial minorities in the United States, the private beliefs and practices of many Americans remained racist, and some group of assumed lower status was often made a scapegoat. That tendency has persisted well into the 21st century.

Because, in the popular mind, “race” is linked to physical differences among peoples, and such features as dark skin colour have been seen as markers of low status, some experts believe that racism may be difficult to eradicate. Indeed, minds cannot be changed by laws, but beliefs about human differences can and do change, as do all cultural elements.

Refrences:-

http://www.britannica.com

http://www.adl.org

“Indians Against Racism, Brutality . The biggest Hypocrisy?”

“Living in this 21st centuries, with believing in the disbelief of discrimination or any act which divides humanity and differentiate one human from other. We believe that talent,wisdom, knowledge and sense of responsibility and respect for others is far above any individuals background be it a colour or gender or caste or anything. This all brings out the feeling of togetherness around the globe”.

But there are various scenarios and situation we come across in our day to life which shows a strong reflection of these brutal act of racism and discrimination. The true difference between the earlier times and present scenario is that people come up for their friends or any person against whom such act has been done, which truely is an act of humanity and harmony. The present case of death of African American name “George Floyd” in America has again brought the sense of brotherhood and people are standing for him to gain justice of the brutal killing.

Indians not apart from Americans are also standing for George who lost his life in the police encounter. They are also appealing for justice for this man. This act has drawn the attention of people worldwide and people from different countries have been coming in support to stop racism.

But in case of India, where not only racism but also police brutality has been seen and is still active in today’s scenario. We in general hear , how police has been brutal hitting people, especially those in today scenario of pandemic. Various cases have been observed from number of cities india, that how police men are hitting daily wage worker, those having stalls of vegetables, and many other situations. Death of number of people has also been recorded as an encounter with police.

Also the cases of racism and discrimination based on caste and especially gender has been seen widely around the country. So the point of concern is “Why such kind of Hypocrisy”. Before pointing out anything wrong being conducted in any country, one should watch out what’s going around their own surrounding”. It’s easy to point out wrong things and do protest against these things, but the power and wish to do Right matters the most.

There have been various cases of brutal killing of common man by the police force, but no actions have been observed in such situations. We say it’s bad to discriminate people on the bases of colour, and we only buy those creams and powder to make our skin glow. It’s not about that police is wrong in every scenario, we know they are doing their duty and are concern for the law and order to maintain, but any act of brutality should not be taken easily and strict action must be taken against such acts.

So we have to come out of these hypocrisy and work together to get rid out of these brutal acts of killing of innocent people and discriminating any one on the bases of their caste, religion, gender or colour

“We all are humans and we should respect the fact that, out of all, Humanity is the biggest and the most important factor which will help us all to survive difficult situations be it any pandemic or natural calamities, but all we need to do is spread around peace, harmony and sense of brotherhood as this world is full of difficulties but once we stand against them with hand in hand and stand by each other, we will win over them”.

Worst incidents of 2020 till date!!!

2020 is probably the year of histories to be created and to taught in the coming decades that how intelligent and cruel are the humans!!!

There is the series of bad events on it self starting of the year…again and again humans are proved that the level of damage can be upmost by them. We are taking ourselves to the path of destruction which might not have any end. Let us see what are the events that give us hint that 2020 will be written in history.

1- Australian forest fire

Australia encounters fires almost every year but this time it gave a new signal. Over 1 billion animals are believed to be dead and an estimated 2,000 homes were lost, the overall damage and economic losses would reach 100 billion US$.

brown open field — Photo by Matthis Volquardsen on Pexels.com

2- Flood in Jakarta- Indonesia

In Indonesia, flooding is common particularly during the rainy season of October-April, but this particular flood occurred in January and killed almost 70 people on Sulawesi Island and hundreds of people were displaced by heavy rain in West Java.

man pouring water from dipper on blue and grey house — Photo by hitesh choudhary on Pexels.com

3- Riots in Delhi

Riots in Delhi was based on anti-CAA protest in which violence, property destruction and also rioting that killed 53 people, most of whom were Muslims shot, slashed with kicks and set on fire by Hindu mobs in North East Delhi.

Image source: This week

4- The Pandemic- COVID-19

This is the worst situation till date of 2020 a 2 gm virus( research says that total molecules of corona virus from all over the world would weigh 2 gm i.e. equal to a coin weigh) it almost broke the economic condition of every country in the world.

5- Olympics & IPL- 2 biggest event of world brought to halt.

Due to COVID-19 outbreak 2 most popular event were called off which was very disappointing for the players as well as their supporter.

6- Brutal killing of Saints

This incident took place in Palghar were people of village mysteriously attacked the van on saints which was heading towards their senior saints funeral program. People on investigation said that they were informed that this van contain corona virus patient, it was more worse when police also joined people in this attack.

Man-Lynched

Image source: Siasat.com

7- Gas leakage- Visakhapatnam

This was a major gas leak in LG polymers chemical plant in Visakhapatnam which killed 11 people, 800 were hospitalized and many more faced issues like headache, ill, vomiting etc.

Image source: The Hindu

8- Justice for Blacks

The conflict raised when George Floyd, 46, died on May 25, after a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on his neck for almost 9 minutes.

crowd of protesters holding signs — Photo by Josh Hild on Pexels.com

9- Indian cinema lost 2 gems

Bollywood lost 2 precious gems Irfan Khan an Rishi Kapoor. Actor Irfan Khan were facing problem related to Neuroendocrine tumor which became the reason for his death where as on the other hand actor Rishi Kapoor died by Leukemia.

10- Brutal death of a pregnant Elephant- Kerala

This incident took place in Velliyar River in Kerela where a pregnant elephant came in search of food where local offered a pineapple loaded with fire cracker which exploded in her mouth, doctors tried to save her but unfortunately couldn’t save. Suspect was arrested by forest officials and was interrogated. This shows how cruel has mankind became over the years.

Image source: Facebook

Like, Comment and Share the post if you agree.

Nelson Mandela’s contribution

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

BLACK LIVES MATTER

“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.”

– Mahatma Gandhi, 1925

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Colorism

Colorism in India

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this:

Rate this: