Racial disharmony seems to have been the flavor of the times during these past few months. Sunil Laxman wrote about his personal experiences sometime ago. I wanted to post on it first, saying that in my four years here in the US, I haven't personally experienced anything like this (even at the height of the post 9/11 xenophobia), but for some reason the post did not materialize. However I did forget that I had been living in idyllic Athens for most of these four years.
My views started changing when a couple of weeks ago, Meghna and her roomies were yelled at by a passerby because they were "Indian". She also adds that a few days earlier, someone that she was talking about their used car, hung up the phone on her after she replied in the affirmative to the question - "Are you Indian?"! Apparently he mentioned that he wouldn't sell his car to an Indian. But like Sunil, she feels no anger. She says she just pities such people, perhaps on their misguided thoughts, I think.
And then, last week I joined the club too. Twice, I was subjected to a few choice slurs from people driving by as I was waiting to cross the road! I observed that in both incidents last week the parties dishing out the abuse seemed to be teenagers. Were they drunk? I don't think so, since they occured in the middle of the afternoon. Perhaps, the classic case of the devil inside an idle mind, with schools being still closed for the summer? I don't know..
But it would suffice to say that these has been one of those few moments of my life that I'd would rather forget and hope that in the broader sense, the world's much better than these few people.
11 comments:
Actually even in Athens I do remember walking down the road with a couple of Indian friends and being shouted at by some guys in a car as they drove past. Wasnt that idyllic! But I felt the burden (?) of my brown face most keenly at the columbus airport. Maybe I was too sensitive, but it did seem to me that I would be singled out for a lot of extra checking.
:))....
I have also done stuff quite similar. Though am brown faced myself ;)....seriously :))
Nilu: It's racism only when you insult people of other ethnicities...
I've been living in the Boston area for a year now and haven't had any 'racial' experiences.. But I've heard a lot of my friends talk about such incidents. Maybe I'm just lucky..
Out here in the Silicon Valley, where Indians seem to be a majority, there is not a glimpse of such stuff.
But I've been on the receiving side of this nonsense 6-7 years ago in Los Angeles. Went to a shoe store with 'chappals' and shorts and the sales person started talking to his buddy saying things like 'No shoes in Calcutta' and 'Wonder what its like to walk barefoot' etc.
I almost spat at him, but I did walk out immediately. I was going to buy a couple of pairs of sports shoes and unfortunately for the owner, they lost my business.
I had a friend who was beaten up for just being indian in canada. It is sad how pitiful some people can be. But as your friend said it isnt worth the time. Just be careful some of them can go over board.
Visithra: Where in Canada, do you know?
Most the times, these are "teen agers" and un-educated individuals. We should learn to ignore and move forward.
There are many reasons why idiots like this are prevalent in American society: poor schools, broken families, poor media, etc.
But perhaps the most effective way would be to improve the educational system. It is the things that opens doors to opportunity and thus reduces crime and uncivilized behavior.
This can be done by supporting school levies, reading about school board meetings, etc. Just generally maintaining an awareness of issues as they arise.
I am a sikh and wear turban. I get the comments sometime and I yell back "Go back to russia you f***ing commie" It just confuses those guys. One even explained to me that he is not russian.
Anon: I am not sure whether reacting to such abuse with something of your own would solve the problem. Essentially in doing so, you are going down to their level as well and as much as you get the satisfaction of giving back some part of what you get, you are also giving THEM the satisfaction that they got under your skin, which probably was their intention anyway. But its funny that someone actually stopped to convince you of their ethinicity and ideology.
Westender: Good point. After interacting with my American class mates at school here, I find that what I initially thought was a very positive point about the American school system (the ability to choose what to study), is probably also a reason. Some of the students end up with a lot of free time on their hands as opposed to others. But this is probably an uneducated guess. That might be the reason. In anycase thanx for your comment and keep visiting, though I don't know how I'd keep satisfying your interests on this blog. However I can try :)
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