Is it 'cause I is black?

~By Tarquin. A few days ago, I had to renew my Indian visa and found myself standing in line in the appropriate Delhi ministry behind a Nigerian.  When it came his turn to approach the ‘incharge’ and make his application, the treatment he received was shocking.  The lady official’s demeanour changed from moderately friendly to downright hostile.
    Her face took on a contorted expression of someone who’d smelt a whiff of something rancid.  The Nigerian spoke English with a heavy accent and she told him to come back with a translator.  An argument ensued which culminated in the ‘incharge’ shouting at him to, “Go back to your country!”
    Afterwards, the Nigerian, who is studying at an Indian university, told me that he has faced virulent racism here.  ‘People often shout monkey at me in the street,’ he said.  ‘I’m always being harassed by the police.  Many times I’ve been asked if I live up a tree.’ (Photo: Shilpa Shetty, Bollywood actress)

It’s hardly the first time I’ve witnessed Indian racism. A few years ago a Punjabi friend who came to stay with me in Hackney was visibly shocked to find so many ‘negroes’ living in my neighbourhood. He asked me in a loud voice in the middle of Broadway Market if they were all ‘prostitutes’. On countless occasions, educated, well off Hindus have made highly offensive remarks to me about Muslims and talked darkly of their presence in Indian society. Just recently, a businessman I interviewed told me that he would never hire ‘one of them’ as a servant because ‘they are dirty’.
    A Kashmiri friend who works for an international news agency and recently relocated from Srinagar to Mumbai tells me he’s having a hard time finding a flat. Apparently, several prospective landlords have told him to his face that they will not rent to a Muslim.
    Another good illustration of colour prejudice here comes from my wife's cousin, Shikha, who is in the market for a husband at the moment. She went to Goa for the New Year, spent a lot of time in the sun and her skin went 10 shades darker. When she returned home to Jammu, everyone told her that she looked like a 'South Indian' i.e. black. Since then she's been using 'Fair and Lovely' cream on her face, which contains bleach. Look at the matrimonial advertisements here and you will find that everyone is looking for a bride or groom with 'wheatish complexion'.  No one ever advertises themselves as beoing as black as coal.
    Perhaps all this helps explain why the reaction here in India to the awful way Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has been treated on the Channel 4 reality show Big Brother in the UK has been fairly quiet. Sure there’s been reaction on the front pages and the airwaves. Indian ministers, always the first here to wade in on an issue where they can easily take the moral high ground at no risk to themselves, have talked of the nation’s sensitivity to ‘discrimination and racial abuse’. Meanwhile a number of Bollywood icons have vented their outrage at how Shilpa has been treated and vocalised support for their girl.
    There’s also been talk of what is perceived as an intrinsic racial prejudice that runs through British society. The UK might project itself as a multi-cultural, but the intelligentsia here aren’t buying it. ‘It is no surprise that white people are racist,’ documentary maker Tanuja Chandra told the Hindustan Times. Director Anurag Basu echoed her words: ‘Everyone knows that there is racism in the UK.’
    Given India’s colonial past and the harrowing experiences of many of India’s émigrés to the UK, their views hardly seem surprising. But there have been many voices of moderation speaking out as well.
Farrukh Dhondy, a former commissioning editor of  Channel 4, wrote in the Times of India that the conflict in the Big Brother house is fairly mild compared to, ‘what I know of the bitchiness, back-stabbing, petty and meaningless rivalry, casteism and racism of Bollywood.’ Thursday’s editorial in the Hindustan Times pointed out ‘that we are no less racist in this country. Discrimination on the basis of colour is ingrained in the psyche of most Indians.’ Friday’s cartoon in the Times also featured a middle class Indian woman telling another, ‘Shilpa’s not a non Agrezi [English] speaking, dark skinned…type from a village. Shilpa’s just like us -- and how can anyone be racist about us!’
    Does the fact that racism is a reality elsewhere mean that British Asians shouldn’t speak out when they see injustice? Of course not. But the fact is they have a voice in today’s Britain. A motion against Big Brother has already been tabled in Parliament. Car Phone Warehouse has withdrawn its multi-million pound sponsorship.
    That’s clout that the vast majority of Indians can still only dream of.
    Take for example the labourers breaking down one of the old buildings in the wealthy Delhi colony where I am living. They spend their days hammering away at roofs and walls with sledgehammers, prepare their meals amidst the rubble, and sleep out on the pavement on hard paving stones. For one day’s work they are paid less than the cost of a Starbuck’s cappuccino.
    I went to ask them today what they think of the Shilpa Shetty controversy and discovered that they are Muslims from the state of Gujarat. Many of them fled their homes after fanatical Hindus slaughtered thousands of their co-religionists during the riots of 2000. These labourers know as well as everyone else that the families of the victims are not likely to see justice.
    At the mention of Shipla Shetty, their faces lit up and there were murmurs of lustful approval. For them Shilpa is a wetdream cellular goddess whose ample bosom, slim midriff and swaying hips is guaranteed to pack 10 rupee-a-seat cinema halls across India. Trying to explain the concept of Big Brother to these illiterate labourers brought home just how surreal reality TV really is. But I was able to convey to them that Shilpa had been badly treated in my country.
    They seemed surprised to hear this and said that a guest should always be honoured and cared for.  But when I mentioned that she wasn’t technically a guest and was being paid about £300,000 for her appearance, they looked stunned.
    ‘For this amount, people can call me whatever they like!’ laughed one.

Comments

[Sentry]

I potentially have an opportunity to work in India, Bangalore to be exact. But, as an African-American, who has Indian co-workers here in the U.S., I'm hesitant to go. While we are polite at work, I've sat next to some on the train who make racist remarks about blacks and who constantly brag about how Asians will rule the world. So to consider spending a large amount of time in India is something that even if it negatively affects my career, I will probably not do. It is sad in fact that even those who were subjugated by others in their history, perpetrate the same behavour as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

[Jacob]

Im Afro-American and I was dating an Indian young lady and her brothers with the exact same skin complection often made comments regarding my being "Black". Although her brothers dressed in Hip-hop clothing, listened to Rap, and on most levels seemed to identify with Afro-American Culture. Also they knew I treated her like a queen. I tried to make it work until I could not long deal with the negative racial perspective of her family.

[an india]

ya. there are some idiot US ppl too. I am in US and have faced the same problem, people shouting at me as Paki, though am an indian. but i think they are blind. I simply call cops and complain. I tell them the license num and police arrests them. These americans dont know that we have the gift of brain. and thats the reason these people just live in a country like america & ruin & insult their country by abusing the visitors like us.thye dont have anything to contribute for their country just eating up the resources.I hate ppl u do such activities. If god sent me to a part of the world which is called india, that doesnot mean i dont have right to live in america. as a human i have all the right to live in any part of the world and i will make sure that nobody can do any harm to me.

[Nkem]

It's a shame that a Nigerian is treated in this way in India. Then again, I do remember visiting India as a seven-year-old, and saying "mummy, I thought they'd be more civilised" when confronted with hordes of beggars outside the airport in what was then Bombay. I was too young to understand that an exotic land like India would be beset by the very same problems as Nigeria. Racism is universal, and bleaching creams are very popular in sub-saharan Africa, a place where dark skin is inevitable and where one would have been assumed it to be celebrated. Martin Jacques's Global Hierarchy of Race is the best analysis of global racism I've read: http://www.guardian.co.uk/race/story/0,11374,1046113,00.html

I have only experienced outright racism once, some boys in a car shouted "nigger" at me in cosmopolitan Birmingham. But it's the more insidious types which are always difficult to pin down as racism, and by its nature more upsetting. How do you explain that you were easily the best performer at an audition, yet you were only offered the cow's hind legs in panto? How do you explain that someone always ignores you, yet is incredibly pleasant with everyone else who is white?

The CBB thing was easily racism intertwined with class. The subtext was simple: you're only an Indian, how dare you rise above your station. The classism is as British as Lancashire botpot, and the racism is as universal as global warming.

I'm glad you guys are enjoying India, and also glad to have discovered your blog.

[Sudeep]

Its true, many Indians are racists.. thankfully, we havent had much chance to inflict it upon others yet.

otoh, not all references to skin colour in India can be automatically presumed to be about race ! Indians come in all colours, and the preference for fair skin among other Indians is not about race at all, its merely a cutural preference [like say, a preference for large breasted women in USA or a preference for fat women in Sudan(?)]. In my family, my dad has the darkest skin, I am next and my mom has the lightest skin with my sis somwhere in between. I have been teased about my skin colour among other things like say height in the extended family but its definitely not racism. Even in racist, bigoted India, Skin colour is just one thing among many others that decide how attractive one is, unlike other places where ones' race decides completely where in society one stands.

In short, skin colour may get you a hot date or help you in a job where looking attractive and presentable is a job requirement, but *will not* affect your chances of success in your engineering/medical/accounting/.. career, will not affect how popular you are with your friends, will not affect where you sit in the bus, where you live, what table you can eat at in a restaurant etc. I should know, I have been a kala Indian for the past 30 years :-)

Do you still think that fair and lovely sells in India because its racist ? Its just a canard man.. :-D

[witnwisdumb]

Great post. I agree with you when you say there are several racist Indians, I have come across countless myself. But I'm a bit doubtful whether some of the things you describe would qualify as 'racist'. Not renting a house to a person based on religion has more to do with religious bigotry than racism, I think.

But the sad thing about racism is that it's not exclusive to any particular culture or nationality. Having lived for many years in Africa, I have personally witnessed Africans being racist towards people of Asian origin. And I've also observed Asians - Indians, Chinese, Malays, Filipinos - being racist towards Africans, Caucasians, and even each other.

Discrimination and segregation is a deeply ingrained human tendency. In a class where all the students share the same racial origin, discrimination still exists - based on gender, physical stature, mental or behavioural traits. And the fact that it is behaviour exhibited by children, spontaneously, goes to show that it's an inherent characteristic of human behaviour.

[Karthik]

Funny, I was talking about the same thing yesterday.

http://uberdesi.com/blog/?p=194

[ayesha]

a couple of other blogs i read have been discussing this very thing... the sort of worldwide preference for "fair" skin. i've been thinking about it since i just finished rereading lord of the rings, and sensed again how clearly a character's looks defined their, well, character - tall, grey eyed, fair skinned, are like the race of numenor because they have some elven blood, and of course the elves are fairer than any, while the "swarthy", "squint eyed" southerners are just naturally bad.
although my mother has always told me my left eye squints a little (i managed to marry a fair-skinned punjabi anyway), it's more my swarthiness that would prevent me from enjoying a respite in rivendell as much as i would like to. but, it's sad that this racist preference is SO ingrained even within non-white cultures. the first thing my father-in-law asked after i delivered my son last year - in the hospital, while i'm still being stitched up - was "is he fair"? (turns out he's somewhere between my husband and i ) :)
i think the most poignant part of your post was the very last quote... and the point about the surreality of reality TV. it just makes me feel icky to think about it!
i've linked to your blog, too, hope you don't mind...

[MumbaiGirl]

I'm linking to this if you don't mind.

[Aliefya]

Hey Tarquin
Agree with you there....racism in India is wide and rampant....was born in Bombay and lived there all my life...5 years ago when i decided to move out of my parents home and rent a flat on my own, I went around hunting for a flat...well, in addition to uncovering several ugly layers of the steaming metropolis I call home, I also discovered that despite its glitz and glamor, the underbelly of the city was putrid far beyond my wildest imagination. I was repeatedly refused apartments I liked because I was Muslim...the city skyscrapers were suddenly divided by these invisible gates which allowed entry to only their "type"...after a while, I would straight off tell the brokers I was Muslim even before I told them what my budget was! Then they had the audacity to say that I would have to pay more because searching for a good house for Muslims in decent localities was very very difficult!!!
At times like these, I would go to the Haji Dargah and to the Mahim Church and to the Siddhivinayak Temple...just to see if any of the gods had any objection to the religion I was born into. Thankfully, they couldn't care less...they all offered me warmth and food...
But yes, we Indians are as prejudiced or as un-prejudiced as the next person I meet on the streets in London...last weekend I was coming back from Richmond and decided to take the National Rail instead of the tube...the compartment was packed...every available seat was taken and there were several people standing...I was the only 'colored' person in the compartment...the seat next to me was empty...and it remained empty till the train reached Waterloo and everyone got off...
Hope to catch up with you and Anu when you guys get back...
:)

[Roberto Alvarez-Galloso]

I consider Shilpa one of the best Bollywood Actresses. The way she was treated at BB reinforces the fact that I prefer Anu's Blog and BBC to mindless stupidity in Reality TV. Those who promoted Big Brother [including Jade] should be punished with a Pie In The Face.
I'm also using my blog to tell the truth about Reality TV especially after the death of a contestant during a water drinking contest in KDND "The Morning Race" [A Reality Radio TV Show in California].
I'm also adding your blog as one of my favorite blogs. Cheers from Miami Florida Roberto