Racism works
in strange ways. Often, it goes undetected. Prejudices can be so ingrained into
your personality that it’s hard to point them out, let alone get rid of them. I
can’t count the number of times I’ve corrected someone’s English, even though I
can barely speak Hindi. I know that Obama has two daughters and that one of
them is going to Harvard, but I don’t know who our own vice president is. Yesterday
I was speaking to a girl from France, in an effort to improve my French. She
asked me if I read Hindi or Marathi literature, I replied that I didn’t, and
she said, “but why not?” I didn’t know what to say. None of my friends here
would ever have asked me that. For some reason we have an unofficial agreement
that Indian culture is to be rejected. Of course, the reason I don’t read Hindi
and Marathi literature is that I would barely understand it. I don’t take
enough pride in being Indian, and that’s terrible, because I will always be an Indian, no matter how westernised
I try to become. There are a lot of things about India that I don’t like, that
I think we should criticise, but I’m
tired of trying to escape my own heritage. I’m tired of obsessively trying to
emulate western fashion ideals while ignoring everything about Indian style.
I’m tired of looking down at people who watch Bollywood movies every week. And
I’m not going to do that anymore.
Sumana
Ramanan, an esteemed journalist and former editor at Hindustan times, thinks we
should try to get back in touch with our culture. She says “because of our colonial
past English has become the main medium of thinking and reading for a certain
section of the Indian elite, which is fine. I don’t think we can turn the clock
back, nor should we try to. English also happens to be an economically
advantageous language right now. We shouldn’t try to deny or run away from it;
embrace it and enjoy it. However we should realise that we’re completely cut off from a
very rich, varied and diverse culture, because we aren’t engaging with
literature, thought, music and other modes of knowledge in Indian languages. We
should start reading at least translations of Indian works because it would
free our minds in a way. To learn in the
language of the coloniser has a lot of other implications.” Literature is
an excellent place to start, since words reflect the beliefs and traditions of
a particular place or time.
The sad part
is that a lot of people don’t even realise that this is happening. The British
did something that’s almost worse than killing millions of people. They stamped
out our culture, they weaved an air of superiority around their own society,
they made sure we understood that white
is better. And we accepted it. Towards the end of their rule, the most
prosperous and respected members of Indian society spoke impeccable English.
Their sons had been educated in England. They hosted tea parties and wrote for
English newspapers. That sentiment is still around today, and it’s time to get
rid of it.
According to
Amrita Singh, an Indian student currently pursuing a PhD in neuroscience in the
USA “When you come abroad, you suddenly start to cherish speaking Hindi. Eating
Indian food and wearing Indian clothes also feels very emotional. I feel that
that helps with my internalised racism at least a little bit - you see white
people in real life and realise that what gets portrayed on screen is very
different from the average white person. You also begin to feel proud about
being Indian because you stop seeing the everyday dirt and pollution and things
and start seeing only your family and TV shows/movies. Which again portray nice
things. This showed me that racism has a lot to do with ignorance. Also in
India we have so many cultural groups within the country that it's hard to
embrace everyone in it as your own. It's easy to be proud of your country when
you perceive everyone in it as your 'in group' and everyone outside as your
'out group'. In most western countries they have just one language, one culture
throughout the country so it's easier to get people to be patriotic.” Amrita
was born and raised in Mumbai and has a bachelor’s in technology from IIT
Kanpur.
I’m not
trying to place blame or pass judgement. I simply want to acknowledge that
internalised racism is very real. When I was younger I dreamed of being blonde
and Caucasian. Barbie tried to promote diversity by producing people-of-colour
dolls, but I didn’t even want one. In the third standard some of my friends and
I were trying to impersonate a popular girl band, and I remember hearing a
chorus of “I wanna be the blonde
one!” Obviously that attitude can be extremely harmful, and you end up with
teenagers who hate their naturally frizzy hair (that’s mostly just me) and who
would rather celebrate Halloween than Diwali. Not that that’s a terrible thing,
it’s just sad to think that in a few decades our festivals, stories, skills and
traditions could be entirely forgotten. To me, internalised racism is closely
related to self-esteem. Growing up surrounded by western media and pop culture,
I had a very fixed notion of beauty and success. It’s incredibly difficult to
break away from that mould, to see myself as Indian and to then feel happy
about being Indian. But at least I’ve noticed what’s happening, and that’s a
start.
When I
visited Belgium, almost everyday someone would be telling me “Belgian beer is
the best” or that they had the best
chocolate, football team, music, you name it. Basically, they love their
country. And they love being Belgian. That being said, it’s important to note
that India is a developing, third world country. And the USA, UK and the rest
of Europe are global superpowers, so naturally they invite admiration. But we,
as people, don’t need to be more like them, as
people. What we need to emulate are their principles and work ethic, not their appearance and culture. It’s
hard to be proud and nationalistic when the most powerful people in the country
are ridiculously corrupt, and it’s easy to convert a lack of respect for our
current leaders into hatred for the entire country. So where do you draw the
line?
Don’t be
ashamed of who you are. Don’t let anyone tell you not to wear ethnic clothes.
Can you imagine how boring things would be if all the countries in the world
were like the USA? Celebrate Indian culture, explore Indian music and dance and
traditions. Read about Indian people. Read
about Indian issues. The next time you share a post about Black Lives Matter,
think about the Dalits in our own country. Don’t bully people who can’t speak
English. Love your frizzy hair and brown skin. There’s a lot we could learn
from the western world, but there’s more for us to relearn about India.