One gentleman/ lady made a very interesting comment on my blog "What is Quality of Life?". And it has made me wonder how different things could be just if the color of our skin was different.
The comment states: "it was a simple question of someone overtaking me wrongly, and me honking - but we both stopped side by side at the next traffic signal, and he made a gesture to cut off my head. This was in the heart of Sunnyvale, CA. Would he do it if my skin had a different color - I doubt it."
The last italicized part is what caught my attention.
This is a very valid point that he has made.
Now picture the same situation in India. Lets assume any city in India. I have seen a lot of people giving stares/ looks and also showing middle finger and shouting abuses while someone honks at them while they wrongly overtake. Million dollar question is- would he have shown me the finger if the color of my skin was white? - Probably not.
That means, if I were white in US or in India, I would have been treated quite differently in any given traffic situation. For different reasons at both places though. In US because I would have been one of them and in India because I would have been superior (as most Indians treat White skin as a sign of supreme creed and race) to them and not one of them.
So is it the color of our skin that is the problem?? Or is it that we just make it a problem and see it as racism because we assume too much??
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Come on, you got some good points, but the conclusion is not so great.
ReplyDeleteIf whites are treated better everywhere, that does not make it right.
I lived in Paris for a couple of years in early nineties (yeah, last century). Did not feel for a single day that I was unwelcome. Used to work late, go out late, many times on streets way ... way past midnight. In those days, Paris was not the same, much less brown skin, and mostly white. However, as I said, never felt unwelcome or feel any racism.
However, US ... it has a lot of stereotypes. Unfortunately, most of them are true. Would you go into LA, Oakland or Baltimore downtown in the night? I think no one will (one who is not a specific color). This is not being racist, but hearing something, and when you see the place for the first time, you know whatever you have heard must be true. Same goes for the incident we are discussing. Although you can not conclusively prove it so easily, you know it when you see it. I do not think it was a question of any assumption.
To move to lighter stories on this ... race rather than racism ... this one is my copyright please ... you can quote me but if I use it in my book, do not complain. This happened when my son was in school studying black history, they teach this in early grades. Well, that got him thinking. One day he asked me - Papa, how come I am white, mom is white, my brother is white, but you are black? How did that happen?