Editorial: Not just skin deep

Chennai

This realisation, which came on the heels of a huge outcry against racism following the murder of George Floyd in the US, spurred Darren to demand an apology from his former teammates.

While Darren’s outrage is understandable and justified, the concept of racism in India is more complex. You see, despite their obsession with fair skin, fairness creams, and limited depiction of darker skin tones in mass media, Indians don’t see themselves as racist. Ask an average Indian, and they might admit to admiring fairer skin, but will always seem surprised when accused of discrimination. Much like BJP leader Tarun Vijay in 2017, when India came under fire for racism after a series of attacks in New Delhi against African nationals. When a foreign news channel spoke to Tarun Vijay about this, his defence on the subject opened an entire Pandora’s box of prejudice. “If we were racist, why would....all the entire South – you know, Kerala, Tamil, Andhra, Karnataka – why do we live with them?” He added, “We have blacks...black people around us.”

Though he withdrew his comments and apologised, with that one statement, it was apparent that discrimination was not based just on colour. Tarun Vijay had unwittingly laid bare the latent north-south divide too. The year 2017 also saw another BJP leader take on racism, but this time, from the other side of the fence. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju demanded action against a tony club in New Delhi after they asked a woman from Meghalaya wearing traditional Khasi attire to leave the premises. They reportedly said her ‘jainsem’ looked like a maid’s uniform. Rijiju called it a “clear case of racial discrimination”. More recently, at the start of the lockdown, when India was still grappling with the concept of coronavirus, there were multiple reports of discrimination against people from the north-east, accusing them of being ‘from China’ and carrying the ‘Chinese virus’. A Manipuri student was spat on by a middle-aged man who shouted ‘corona’ at her and drove away.

Racism in India comes in many guises. Casual racism in the form of name-calling, nicknames (kalia, chinki, cheeni), to cultural stereotyping where opinions are formed based on physical appearance, dressing, and gender. However, most Indians are still in denial about the existence of racism. This repudiation probably stems from the belief that in India, people have not had to fear for their lives because of skin colour. However, it’s time we wake up to the fact that India’s ‘Floyd’ moment is not too far away, and when it happens, it may not be sparked by racism, but the other ‘R’ – religion. An issue that is far more deep-rooted, leads to more discrimination and is definitely not just skin deep.