You told me
stories
Of Dark
forces and Dark Lords
And all the
while I thought
But…
You told
them to avoid the sun
For fear of becoming dark
And all the
while I thought
But…
You sang
songs
Praising the
fair skin of women
And all the
while I thought
But…
You came to
me for marriage
And looking
at my skin, turned away
And all the
while I thought
But…
You said
fair is beautiful
You said
fair is lovely
And all the
while I thought
But…
You told me
they were racists
Enslaving those
of darker skins
And all the
while I thought
But…
We, the Racists
I’ve been
trying to think of a more creative and subtle title for this post, but, really,
nothing seemed to sum up my opinion as well as this phrase. In case it’s still
not clear enough though, I’m just going to come out and say it directly:
I think
Indians are the most racist group of people I know.
The last
time I mentioned this in a class discussion, I was met by some horrified, angry
remarks. I get that they’re not easy to digest, but before you lash out in
retaliation, take a few minutes to process the words.
No, I’m not
saying Indians are the only racist people in the world. I grew up on stories from
the west of the dark evil queens and the fair innocent princesses. Even some of
my favourite sagas have built their entire plots on the basis of the dark side
of the force and the dark lord (though, to be fair, Harry Potter does also have
an extremely evil character that prefers pink and frills).
But Indians
take this obsession with fairness to such a great level that it’s ridiculous.
From the
moment we’re born, we’re judged on the basis of our skin colour (amongst
various other things). We’re told again and again to ensure that we either don’t
become darker, or else do everything within our power (and often beyond) to
lighten the skin. We spend half our lives watching celebrities sell us fairness
creams, and the other half applying said creams.
Why? Because
fair is lovely.
And this
doesn’t end in childhood. In their long list of “wanted qualities” in marriage
advertisements, the need for a “fair girl” will surely be in the top three
requirements – possibly competing with a particular caste and an intact hymen.
People who come to the wedding will often congratulate the groom’s family for
getting “a beautiful and fair bride.”
Why? Because
fair is lovely.
One argument
that these advertisers and fairness cream manufacturers make is that they’re
not creating the racist attitude – it already exists. They’re just responding
to the need of the masses and helping out the people who need such products.
It’s not
like they have the power to affect or shape minds.
It’s not
like people will care when their favourite celebrities endorse fairness as a
better way of life.
It’s not
like anyone will ever make the subtle connection from “fair and lovely” to “dark
and…?”
On the brighter side, it's not just "fair and lovely" anymore. Thanks to our extremely sensitive and considerate media and manufacturers, we now also have a ""fair and handsome"! After all, "mard ho toh mardon wali cream lagao!" [a whole other issue that I'll stay out of for now].
Granted, we
don’t exactly put people into slavery for having darker skin, but that doesn't mean we're not guilty of racism. Were just less overt about it. In India, the racist sentiments have been so
subtly (and often not-so-subtly) embedded in our minds since birth that we don’t
even feel the need to question them. It becomes a way of life, such that we can
comfortably watch advertisements on how using a fairness cream will ensure that
everything falls into place in our lives, while we condemn and criticize “those
racist American bastards” for their oppression of the blacks.
Hypocrisy,
anyone?
It’s amazing
how far we can go to convince ourselves that “we” are such a great nation who are above all that.
We, the
people.
We, the
Indians.
We, the
racists.
