Friday, May 13, 2005

Racism...

...now what would I have to say about it? Well get there but check this out first. This is an ad that ran in our university's local newspaper about 3 weeks back. The ad was printed by a group called the American Renaissance and it showed a pciture of a white (caucasian) baby with the heading "Will she be a racial minority by the time she turns 40?"
The ad then goes on to say this:

"Third World Immigration- both legal and illegal - is now running so high that whites are expected to be a minority raceby mid-century. Will this be good for America? Everyone tells you to "celebrate diversity," but for whites to "celebrate diversity" is to celebrate their dwindling numbers and declining influence. Would Mexicans "celebrate diversity" if whites were pouring across the Rio Grande, threatening to reduce them to a minority in their own country?Diversity is a weakness, not a strength. Just take a look at your campus. Are different racial groups a source of joy or a cause of friction? Dont just swallow slogans. Think for yourself."

This got me thinking...not angry...just thinking and I put the paper aside. Of course it was the next day that I found out about the ruccus this ad had created and how there were many angry people and for the rest of the week the newspaper issued many apologies (including a personally written one from the editor who said that the ad had slipped thru them and if they had realized it they wud never have printed it). Many people wrote in articles that I followed with close interest. All that has helped me give shape to my thoughts. I came across so many opinions and here are mine:

1) There is nothing wrong in a community trying to preserve its culture (and jobs). In fact I wouldnt be very surprised if there is a serious backlash from the indigenous american community about how the profit looking companies give their jobs to cheaper labour pretty soon.
2) I would say that Mexicans (in fact any community) would definitely not celebrate if something as suggested in the ad would happen.
3) I still think diversity is a strength not a weakness at all. And different racial groups are a source of making life interesting.
4) These guys assume that all those who disagree with them are people who cant think for themselves and are just swallowing slogans. Thats plain bigotry.
5) I didnt think there was really any need for the newspaper to apologize so much and say that if given a second chance they wudnt run the ad...Do newspapers always have to agree with everything that is said in their ads. I am not familiar with the way things work but a strong letter frm the editor saying that "she (and if need be on behalf of everyone at her press) does not agree with the content of the ad" was all I would think is enuff! And that too only if she means it...I am not saying I have the balls to always stand up for my beliefs but obviously doing something like that makes more sense than resorting to mass appeasal.
6) I never really could figure out 'racism'. I do have a few prejudices but I try to supress them as much as possible. And these prejudices never affect me once I get to know a person and like him/her. But does having those prejudices still make me a racist? I find it hard to believe that people can like everyone equally without having any preference to people of their own kind. And I dont see anything wrong in it! So doesnt that make the whole world a racist place to begin with? Of course its wrong to harm (and stupid to hate) others because of your prejudices. So do we call only those people who resort to such wrongdoing (and stupidity) racists?
Ill have to see more of the world and meet more 'racists' to figure this out! ;)

And to conclude...the only reason why I feel they shudnt have run this ad is to avoid putting thoughts of murdering all international students into some random psychos head!
I cant help thinking of the line "Jeremy spoke in class today" and recalling the end of the video :)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that you are misinterpreting jeremy as that he shot his classmates. He shot himself and its his blood on them. This is partially based on a real incident which happened about a decade earlier than columbine. Infact the video was banned because they interpreted this as a sort of justification for columbine. It is not even remotely related to the columbine tragedy.

Anonymous said...

Oh yaa of course!
Thanx for pointing this out...I probably messed this up cuz after watching the video I believed for a long time that Jeremy shot his classmates and though someone pointed out the fallacy later it somehow got stuck in my head!

Karthik said...

Hmm.. My take on the Editor thing. Yes, they definitely had to apologize their bloody asses off.

It is a no-brainer actually if you think about it. A newspaper does not subscribe to all the things it advertises. However, it is still responsible for all the content. Which is obvious as who else is responsible if not them.

And content as racial as this should have been caught by the lightest screening. It isn't layered or anything. I still can't believe it happened inadvertently tho. I am pretty damn sure the editor or whoever read it and approved in some strange way. And now it all is a coverup

Anonymous said...

Hmm...thats a possiblity that did cross my mind duh....and thats mississippi for u I guess ;)

Anonymous said...

isn't racism a crime? the editor of the newspaper would have been taken to court if he hadn't apologized profusely.

kaa said...

hey ro...i wonder how i did not find your blog earlier...guess net is not so small after all....
and i have problems understanding racism too..a few points
1) what is a race, is it a social or a genetic thing ?
2) even if it is genetic, still all races would be classified under the same species (homo sapiens)...what if that was not the case...or in other words what if gorillas had far more brains then they have now and could talk and all, or maybe dolphins...would we consider them our equal?
3)personally i find the jain philosophy the best, though literally impractical, as it regards all living beings as equal. because wherever we draw a line, be it over species, or genus (or whatever would come in the pyramid) it would still be subjective.

Golu said...

50 bucks says the anonymous posting is by champu.. because i remember him reading abt jeremy linking to columbine in his sophie year :) plus the anonymous funda

Anonymous said...

LOL :)

duhcreaturewithdrumsticks said...

ro i thought you had more understanding of Pearl Jam . though i do agree with golu on the champu effect!!
anyhow - i guiess both the points i wanted to make have been taken up by moron duh and anon dude.
just to add to duh's point - ro if you think properly, it isn't entirely so easy to stand for your beliefs nowadays - and moreover media is such an entity, especially in our age, that we trust it all we can without much real thought. Fact is we do not have another option. Just for this reason, it can have mind-twisting effects on people and i mean masses - not some small group. As duh said - this thing shouldn't have come out.. and if you speculate - the paper ad intentionally/unintentionally has already spawned a thought process. The apologies were for us - the aliens not the natives. The deed is done - as the devil might say(dont know wht movie or maybe sabbath song). Anyhow, who's new in your international liaison book? :)

Anonymous said...

hmm...interesting viral :)
And this time its not an international attempt ;)

duhcreaturewithdrumsticks said...

bloody this anon guy is either golu or ro trying to act pseud!
ro - go jump into mississippi river and dont swim
golu - you .. ditch! no point! you're as dumb as ever! :D

Anonymous said...

Cheap Ro!

When I saw the first few paragraphs of this post yesterday, I didn't bother leaving my first thoughts in a comment, as I was sure that either you would have gone on to make the same point yourself or that someone else would have obviously mentioned it in a comment. As it turns out, however, nobody did.

What I have to say is really quite simple, and I remember we talked a bit about this at the PATH station in the winter. The whites themselves came here and decimated the race that used to inhabit this land.

If they have the nerve to imply this is their land and that the third world immigrants are any more 'outsiders' than they themselves are, we shouldn't condescend to respond.

Rahul aka Maddim

duhcreaturewithdrumsticks said...

nice point here :)
in fact i had kinda similar thought - but you put it across pretty nice
in simple words - ro dont bother thinking - it's not your forte!

Anonymous said...

Dear maddim...
Nice to see u here :D
I did have this thought in my mind when I wrote this...somehow I dont feel very confortable using that point! Dont know why!

Aswin said...

Hi there ... me is kram's long-lost-friend-whom-he-has-now-gotten-back-in-touch-with-since-he's-bored-to-death-and-did-i-mention-single ? been following many of u guys' blogs and well this is my first comment on any of them.

Firstly, I agree with you that the underlying concept of racism is quite understandable. You prefer your family first rather than other ppl. This isn't racism of course ? Increase this circle to a few millions who share a history and definitely an ancestry, and you have an entire community , who very understandably , put themselves first.

While we can all crib about being mistreated and not given equal opportunities in the States, I wonder how many of us wouldn't raise a hue and cry over an influx of srilankans entering india and stealing away (our?) jobs because they agree to a lesser pay ?

as all of us would thoughtlessly do, we'd provide for our family before looking towards charity and donations. I guess when there are unemployed americans biting the dust in their own country, it must be quite a bitch to see a corporate desi like kram zooming away with his new nri hairdo . And that's where the tolerance level takes a beating !

And yeah, the newspaper needs to apologise since it has an international audience, not a private american one... me sure am gearing up for taking a lot of crap in Texas in the months to come.