As Barack Obama's historic inauguration is right around the corner, I couldn't help but remember all the political propaganda that was being put out this election season, fear of "the black" taking over, mistrust of Obama's religion, heritage, etc. This led me to think about the role of race in my psyche and the impact it's had on my life thus far. One particular topic that keeps coming up is the "all you people" mindset. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
Five years ago, I had a minor car accident in Baltimore. While I was making a left turn from the middle turn lane at an intersection, the person to the left of me, in a left turn only lane, decided to go straight. We both got out of our cars, and the other driver, who happened to be black was screaming at me. No matter what I said to him (including pointing out the sign that said "left turn only") he wouldn't calm down. Across the street, a security guard saw the commotion and started walking over. Now, the security guard also happened to be black, and I began to have reservations about whether he would be fair to me in his account of the situation, because the other driver was also black. When he came over, he calmed the guy down, made him realize it was his fault, and managed the situation quite nicely.
It bothers me to some degree that I allowed myself to feel the way I did when the security guard was walking over. I know that had the cop been a different ethnicity/race from the driver, I would not have had any qualms about his/her judgment. Alternatively, had the cop been Indian, like me, then I would have had more trust in his ability to see things my way.
As an Indian in America, I have always been a minority everywhere I've lived, and I grew up in a predominantly white area. Despite my exposure to different cultures and people, at some level I can't help but group a race of people together and assume that they have biases which would cause them to forgo their better judgment and support someone from their own race. In other words, in a situation when I am in the minority, surrounded by a group of people predominantly from another race, I expect them to be racist.
This ends up being my mentality when I am in other situations as well. For example, as an American-born Indian, Indian immigrants tend to not respect my values, or sense of Indian culture. If I am in a group of Indian immigrants, I expect a degree of bias against me. The same could hold true for religion, and numerous other types of categorizations that our society places on people.
However, race is such a sensitive issue in this country, this type of thinking has actually been criticized very publicly in the past. If any of you are tennis fans, a few years ago (around 2001), Lleyton Hewitt was playing James Blake, and was unhappy with one of the line judges who happened to be black. He shouted at the chair umpire, and claimed that the line judge was favoring James Blake with his calls, because of his race. Hewitt was blasted in the media, in newspapers, etc. for thinking that way, and was portrayed as ignorant and racist.
I want your opinions on this issue: Do you feel the same way when you're "outnumbered", so to speak? Is it specific to one race of people, all races of people? Would you trust one race of people more than another race? What roles do you feel stereotyping plays in all of this? Do you think this mentality is unique to race for yourselves? Is this type of thinking actually wrong?
Cricket deserved better.
2 weeks ago
4 comments:
My racism levels tend to be based on color levels. The lighter your race is then I'm more prone to have higher levels of racism (i.e. whites). But if you are Indian, then my racism won't be as high...its wrong, but it somewhat makes sense to me.
It probably stems from the fact that people are afraid of the unknown and the fact that we use our eyes (blind people can't always tell race :) ) before we give anyone a chance. Also, you are more likely to feel comfortable around those that are most like you. Its sad, but its true.
Good Read. Racism in the country has once again bubbled to the surface (which I sometimes view as a good thing) with the election of Obama. Frank discussion and truthful observations are the only way we are going to be able to beat this cancer.
Theo, I think fear of the unknown is a big factor, and plays a role in many other types of biases we feel based on groupings (e.g. religion, political affiliation, geographical location). For many reasons, discrimination based on race is an EXTREMELY taboo issue, no matter how natural or even innocuous the discrimination may be. I find it interesting that certain emotional and psychological responses can be shrugged off as "social anxiety," or "understandable reactions," in one scenario, but lead to entirely different, much harsher responses in the arena of race, and probably also religion. Maybe this has to do with our history, or maybe it's just a natural psychological response, or both.
I agree with all of you. It is a matter of fear of the unknown, or rather, comfortability with the known. It's that lack of comfort that breeds the fear. Anyway, I've grown up surrounded by black people the majority of my life. Coming to Michigan is my first experience being so utterly "surrounded". It's not to say that I don't like white people. Skin color, as it turns out, has no correlation to the "cool factor". But there is still an inherent uncomfortability because the jokes are different and the style of dress has changed somewhat. In getting accustomed to where I am and the people that surround me everyday, I have had to open my mind much wider than I ever thought I would initially.
I'm sure the same thing is true for many of the students in this program with me. The best example I can give is the fact that when I got here, no one spoke to me for about 3 months. There aren't many African Americans in the Organic Chemistry program at Michigan State University and I'm the only one with braids and a go-T. I'm also 6' 3" and about 200 lbs. Of course this has no baring on my temperament or demeanor, but for all of us, there needs to be a grace period wherein we can escape what the media has been feeding us to reach true personalities.
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