what's race got to do with it?
2004-01-16

"O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other).
[Quran 49:13].

Rocket of TD.org recently wrote on the topic of the sensitiveness of the �race� issue, a very real fear in Malaysia. She made some very astute observations, and the comments that her post elicited proved that many are still grappling with the issue of race and equality.

My bunch of (Malaysian) multiracial friends blatantly use racial stereotypes in our daily conversation; anyone who�s tardy is a �Melayu� while a genius at differential equations is quickly labeled �Cina�, regardless of his or her actual ethnicity. An Indian friend is now oblivious to the jokes made about his dark complexion after uncountable puns made on his expense.

I don�t know if this not-mean-spirited banter is good or bad. I believe the fact that my friends and I are on foreign soil helps dissipate the tension; should we act the same way back home we�d all be arrested and thrown in that ISA hellhole in Kamunting.

I�ve noticed that some of my friends, when aggravated, can turn hideously racist AND sexist. They start saying things like, �Well, he is [insert whatever ethnicity/sex here].� I was raised in such a way that I can never judge a person by the color of his/her skin, no matter how angry I am with that person I can�t say, �He�s a fucking retard because he�s �whatever-.� I don�t believe a singular race or ethnic group has sole ownership of any given trait.

Racism is a learned behaviour. It is much like sexism, although I would argue that sexism is a worse form of discrimination. Jane Elliot in her �Blue Eyes Brown Eyes� exercise proved how easy it is to learn racism. By the way, Jane Elliot was a grade school teacher back in the 70�s, in the predominantly white state of Iowa in the United States. She conducted an exercise on racism to expose to the kids in her class to discrimination, and how it feels like to be on the receiving end of it. Click here to find out more.

Since it is a learned behaviour, racism can be unlearned or not learned at all. There isn�t a more effective way to combat racism than teaching kids to be color-blind, the earlier the better. The question is, who�s going to teach them?