Recently, when I saw and read about hate crimes and racist attacks, my heart went out to the college kids who bore the brunt of attacks. It must have been traumatic for the parents who saw their kids on television with horrific injuries! Punitive action should be taken against the attackers – no doubt!

But, if you think a little deeper, what we witnessed was just another case of random violence which went terribly wrong, and the ramification was severe because the attacker and victim were of a different skin colour!

Why do people with darker skin need to feel that they are facing “racial” discrimination? Do dark skinned people implicitly admit that fairer skinned people are superior? Are dark skinned people not racist or discriminatory as well?

Consider the following situations…

1. A trader at a tourist location charging more for a bottle of water from a “foreigner” than he would for a fellow country man.

2. Our own Indian government which charges different rates for foreigners and citizens to visit Taj Mahal. I am quoting this as an example because, if our government had built the monument and is collecting a toll to recover the investment, it would be absolutely acceptable to have a two-tier admission fee. But, we invited the tourists and encourage them to travel to India and see the best of it, didn’t we? Why discriminate against them?

3. In India, it’s a common sight to see “chinkis” (someone please sue me for using this word) from the North Eastern states waiting on us or cleaning up in restaurants. Why? Do we secretly believe that this is their core competence?

4. “Sardarji” jokes are the most popular e-mail forwards!

5. We all love making fun of “Madrasi” accents when Indians from the south speak Hindi!

6. Reservations for “SC/ ST / OBC / MBC / BC” – Oh my God! What s blatant admission of our racist or discriminatory behavior!

7. Why on earth is “Fair and Lovely” running ads that encourage people to become fair? Isn’t this the most racist advertisement and product ever? Or are the products catering to a need in some of us who prefer to have lighter toned skin?

8. The so-called representatives of the oppressed class – the political parties, spreading messages like “Tilak, tarazoo aur talwar unko maaro juthe chaar” – which means “Hit the brahmins, businessmen and warrior class with shoes”!

9. Imagine the innumerable situations when we have made fun of foreigners. Think of Incredible India – a campaign run by our Indian government which strives to persuade natives to treat foreigners with respect. Why does the government have to do this if we were not already differentiating people based on color, ethnicity, religion and nationality?

10. After conference calls in IT companies, when we get together to discuss smugly how Americans or whites in general cannot do mathematics and how they are unable to understand a simple concept or design, are we not being racist?

11. How many times have you seen a dark skinned male in a marketing and sales team in our new age IT companies?

12. Let us go a little international.
a. Rwanda – An African country torn apart by civil war between two clans: the Hutus and Tutsis. The only physical feature that separates them is one has a longer nose than the other, nothing more.
b. Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka. Both are dark skinned but there is bloodshed.
c. I am sure an informed African would be able to make a laundry list (Senegal, Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia etc) of the brutalities committed by his own people against his own people in his own continent!

Given these examples, I believe that dark skinned people are just being hypocrites by calling the fairer skinned ones “racists.”

Come to think of it, I believe the term “racism” is used only in cases where a lighter skinned person is the attacker and dark skinned person is the victim. We as humans, by nature, differentiate ourselves on the basis of skin colour, the language we speak, the religion we follow and and so on. But why do we see such rage and media coverage only when we experience discrimination based on the colour of our skin?

I believe that racial discrimination is no bigger evil than any other form of discrimination!

Furthermore, all forms of discrimination we see, hear, do and experience in our day to day lives, eventually culminate in racial profiling and hence I tend to believe that, probably, there is a racist in all of us. It is simply that most of us don’t go around wielding weapons and attacking people. However, we do certainly hurt people, especially those different from us (socially, economically and in any other way less fortunate than us) in many subtle ways (knowingly or unknowingly) in our day to day lives.

There is only so much one could contain using laws and legislations. Humanity has come a long way on the issues of slavery and human trafficking. Beyond these, there are certain human tendencies, which, cannot be overcome but have to be endured. The best we can do is to strive to avoid confrontations or to level the playing field!

In the recent case in Australia, what could we have done differently to avoid confrontation?

Simple: “Be a Roman in Rome”!

When we travel to a foreign land for any purpose, it is our responsibility to integrate as far as possible with the society. We should respect the local customs, culture, values and belief systems. We should accept that we are an alien in a foreign land and should make an effort to understand and adapt to their way of life.

To understand how we can overcome subtle forms of discrimination at the work place, let us take another example. The world has become a “flat” and a multi-cultural work place. There have been stories in the past where racial discrimination formed a glass ceiling for many talented individuals. Today, an Armani suit, a game of golf and standardized wine and dine etiquette, seem to level cultural disparities and have allowed people from a different ethnic backgrounds to take charge of large multi-national companies. Again, the underlying theme is to be a Roman in Rome and immerse oneself in the corporate culture where ever in the world the company might be located.

Let me clarify one thing. When I say “Be a Roman in Rome”, I am certainly not suggesting that you to compromise on your fundamental value system. All I am suggesting is work towards integrating with the alien system instead of standing out. Take the example of a metal plate. When we fix a fracture with a metal plate, the device is designed to integrate with the human body – or at the least not to be allergic to it!

We humans will continue to have our own perspectives, prejudices and in some way or the other discriminate against others for all kinds of reasons. Think of this world as an ecosystem. There is a certain hierarchy and an inherent flow of energy one level to another. This flow is the essence of life. Ups and downs, highs and lows, good and bad, right and wrong, superior and inferior are the prime movers of material life on this planet. So discrimination or to put it positively, “preferences or preferential treatment” will always exist! The only way to overcome discrimination in any facet of life is by being a “Roman in Rome”.

So, let us not make much ado about nothing! The latest incidents are typical examples of certain natural human tendencies which were blown out of proportion by middlemen like the media and politicians who thrive on sensationalism and cheap publicity. We need to understand that no one is better than the other and that it is natural for humans to differentiate and react.

I am sure that the examples I shared with you might have sparked off a debate in your minds or at least provoked some thoughts. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the same!

Recent trends in the US and Australia have brought home a fundamental aspect of human nature. In times of trouble the atavistic tendencies that are inherent in us come to the surface. The veneer of civilization vanishes once we see a threat that is perceived as existential.

Let me explain.

I need hardly remind readers of the many incidents of violence against Indians in the US. Now as if to remind us all of what human beings can be, we hear of reports of brutal attacks against Indian students—one such student is at this very moment fighting for his life in Australia. There have been reports of several such attacks in the last fortnight. Indians at home have reacted with understandable rage calling them “racist.”

The evidence of racism, a charge that the Australians predictably deny, is that at least on one occasion the assailants shouted at the victim, “Don’t touch me!” Racist people consider the ‘others’ to be unclean. It is interesting to note that the dalit leaders in India have also demanded that the United Nations declare our caste system as ‘racist’ since forward caste people often dislike being touched by dalits.

The point I seek to make here is this: in times of existential threat like the recession in the US, Australia and elsewhere, human nature regresses to its pre-civilized state and all norms of humanity and pretensions of tolerance are jettisoned in favour of the rule of the jungle.

Ordinarily calm people turn violent.

This may at least partly explain the assault on Indians in Australia where the ongoing recession has naturally led to the locals to perceive Indians as foreigners who are taking away their livelihood.

That brings me to the next point: If during times of distress, Americans and Australians can behave in a violent manner, is it any surprise that there is violence and the Shiv Sena type of chauvinism in India? I may even go as far as saying that considering the extent of deprivation, Indians are admirably non-violent.

Believe it or not, the number of Americans in prison for every thousand of population is more than the proportionate number in Indians in jail .

And India has been on permanent recession.