Racism on an international scale

[oyceter]

This is directly related to several comments seen lately regarding racism on an international scope, most of which have been a part of the conversation about racism and Martha in the New Who. But I'm also writing this because I've seen these arguments come up before in the past as well, only I am too lazy to find all the links.

(From last I saw, there was a lot of dialogue going on in all of the threads, so I am pointing people there as reference and not as an invitation to pile up. The link above are also just examples that were fresh in my mind; again, I've seen this many other places as well.)

I was going to save this for Intl. Blog Against Racism Week, but hey, why not kick things off early?

Disclaimers like whoa!

Despite having largely grown up in Taiwan, I've spent a lot of time in the US as well, and I went to a school in Taiwan in which most of the English teachers were American and many of the students moved there from America, like me. So my worldview is very America-centric, and I am probably going to say some stupid things. I say this not to excuse myself, because really, there is no excuse for ignorance, but to just say I know I have blinders on.

I also in no way support American cultural imperialism, which is alive and well, and I fully agree that the fandom circles I have experience with are largely American-centric and that being American carries a ton of power and privilege that is often ignored by those who have it. That said...

I'm incredibly disturbed by this trend of white British people either denying that racism exists in the UK or protesting that other oppressions are more important and serious than racism. I've also seen this coming from Australians and Canadians, and I'm sure it has come from basically anyone living in a non-US country as well.

I fully support and agree with the notion that racism manifests itself in different ways, shapes and forms in other countries. I also fully support and agree with the notion that racism in all countries is complicated by oppressions of all sorts, particularly oppressions of class, nationality, and religion.

BUT.

None of this means that racism doesn't exist in [insert country here].

Last year, I think coffeeandink asked me about racism in Taiwan. This was after the Great Cultural Appropriation Debate of DOOM and after I had been thinking more about racism and and race. I flippantly said something about there being none, probably thinking in the back of my head that white privilege didn't exist in Taiwan because white people were the clear minority, and that Taiwan was monoracial, and that for me, Taiwan's most important political issues had more to do with sex, class and China. And I'm sure when I said that, I fully believed it and didn't think I was oppressing or denying anyone.

Of course, I believed it and was able to not see racism because in Taiwan, I am a member of the race in power. And in Taiwan, people of other races are made nearly invisible because they are comparatively few in number, because they have basically no visible positions of power in the government, and because, surprise, surprise, their issues are seen as "marginal" and "unimportant." My not seeing them didn't mean they weren't there. It just meant I was blind to them, because I had the privilege to do that.

Perceived invisibility and actual non-existence are two very different things.

For a long time, I believed it when people in the UK and Australia and Canada and etc. told me race wasn't an issue there.

But you know what? Most of the people telling me race wasn't an issue were members of the privileged race there. And a very short time reading around anti-racist communities showed that there were lots of vocal, non-American POC and allies who talked about racism in their own countries. Five seconds on Google pull up lists of anti-racism organizations around the world, and, yes, in the UK. Reading through them, many of the details are different (ex. British Asians vs. Asians in Australia and how the term "Asian" calls to mind different groups of people and of course how the experience of British Asians and Asians in Australia are different). But the overall framework of oppression and privilege has a striking similarity to that of racism elsewhere.

And quite frankly, when I hear from a set of people with privilege and power that racism doesn't exist, and then when I hear from another set of people who are living as POC in those very places or are speaking out as anti-racists, I believe that second set of people more.

I do not think the first set of people are willfully lying, just as I wasn't deliberately deceiving people when I said there was no racism in Taiwan. But I do think that they have the privilege to not see the oppression that they are benefitting from, just as I was blind to oppression of people-who-were-not-like-me.

The lack of racism is a lot more than the non-existence or scarcity of racial minorities, particularly when historically, the lack of racial minorities can usually be traced back to genocide, colonization, deportation, and racially-based immigration policy. This, by the way, also applies to people claiming that their city/state/province/region isn't racist, though then, the reasons are probably compounded by income disparities and white flight (yes, US term I am using as a descriptive shortcut).

Furthermore, I think people who say that racism in their country is nowhere near as important as another ism are perpetuating a false dichotomy. There is no hierarchy of oppression. They intersect and feed off each other. So anti-Muslim sentiment is a huge issue where you live (and probably in a lot more places as well). That doesn't mean that racism is not important. And I don't think saying racism is an issue means that anti-Muslim sentiment is not important, particularly when the two often intertwine to devastating effect.

Also, to take this from a country-specific POV to an international POV, racism is an international issue and internationally, white privilege is a problem. Look at the division of wealth among nations; look at the political power. But over a century of white imperialism takes a long time to erase. (And no, citing Japan as the exception doesn't actually prove anything, save that it's an exception.) Yes, a white person abroad in a non-white country will very likely experience racial prejudice. But within the global framework, I'm also betting that overall, that white person is seen as having more power and money than a POC.

Bringing up how your country isn't racist in an argument about racism looks a lot like other tactics for derailing discussions about racism, particularly when other people of your nationality have been actively participating in anti-racist activity for quite some time. It looks a lot like someone popping into a thread about sexism in your country solely to say that their country has no sexism and that sexism is a concern of your country, and your country alone.

Which is to say: I (and I suspect most people blogging about this) welcome comments on how racism differs in various countries and on a global scale. But not on how racism doesn't exist or how talking about racism (particularly complaining about racist representations and stereotypes) in and of itself perpetuates racism.

Links:
- delux_vivens on the African diaspora
- spiralsheep on "Mammy" in Britain
- rydra_wong on racism in the UK
- shewhohashope on color-blindness in the UK
- Links to international anti-racist sites here and here
ETA:
- The Global Hierarchy of Race
- Stop Trying to "Save" Africa
- Racism in UK media
(More useful links being posted in comments as well)

NOTE: I am screening all anonymous comments to this entry, and I will be freezing any threads that look troll-y.

Comments

(frozen) (no subject)

[jennifergearing.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I mean, hell, even if we let alone the 60s/70s, we've got stolen Indigenous wages which went on until the early 80s, Pauline Hanson in 1996 (and last I heard, she intends to take time out from her busy reality tv schedule to run for Senate next election), the continuing obsession with illegal immigrants in leaky boats, the snafu that was Cronulla, and the latest federal government 'let's invade the Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory because They're abusing teh children.'

Urgh. Honestly, the next Australian I see trying to say Australia isn't racist gets a metaphorical brick to the face.

(frozen) (no subject)

[oyceter]

Ugh. Yeah. The tone of moral superiority in particular kills me.

(frozen) (no subject)

[justinelavaworm.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed.

Not to mention we've got John "racist arsehole" Howard RIGHT NOW. Though hopefully not for much longer . . .

(frozen) (no subject)

[jennifergearing.livejournal.com]

Oh don't even get me started. It's like they kicked Hanson out of the Party and stole her playbook. (Not to mention that even though they kicked her out of the party she was elected on a ballot that still listed her as a Liberal Party candidate - not that I have a Hanson-grudge from being an Asian teenager when she was elected or anything. *mutters*)

(frozen) (no subject)

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

'let's invade the Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory because They're abusing teh children.'

OK, that's a very complex issue, and I'd be very careful about throwing around general statements about this without knowing some of the facts behind why the Commonwealth is doing this. Noel Pearson supports this action, and has been calling for intervention for years, as have other indigenous leaders.

I'm no support of Mr Howard and his Government, but it's clear to me, and to other people who work in with indigenousu issues, that something needs to be done.

Have you even read the report that brought about this action?

(frozen) (no subject)

[jennifergearing.livejournal.com]

Why yes, yes I have. And if the proposed action (rather than the report, which has been cherry-picked for convenient details) actually supported working WITH indigenous populations and those already in those populations who are trying to get things done about the problems involved, rather than working ON indigenous populations, I'd be less sarcastic.

Please direct your privileged condescension at someone else.

(frozen) (no subject)

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

Well nice that you have read it. I don't see how you can justify the Commonwealth actions as racist per se, unless you believe that indigenous people who have been calling for that action, and supported the action currently are racist.

Of course there is a race problem, in that both State and Commonwealth Governments have been, on certain fronts walking softly on the issue, and not addressing some of the more appalling instances of child abuse, because they were afraid of being called racist, due to the legacy of the stolen generation and our pretty bad race history of how Australia is racist.

The fact that we have to do this action, shows there is a problem. A very complex problem that just can't be written off with one off the cuff statement.

(frozen) (no subject)

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

And legislating no alcohol and porn for Aboriginal commmunities only is just the way to do it--yes, paternalism is a form of racism.

(frozen) (no subject)

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

paternalism is a form of racism.

That anon was me (if it's accepted), and I also have to say, neglecting remote communities could also be seen to be racist.

(frozen) (no subject)

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

(I put in a previous comment, but it was put in as anon, so here is my latest response).

To give you an idea about the pornography (from what I gathered from sitting in on a policy meeting on the issue, and no, I don't work for the Commonwealth, FYI).

The Northern Territory has more allowances for explicit pornography then the easter States, Qld, NSW, Vic etc. The ban in the communities is the same as bans on the same materials in the eastern states for everyone.

The reason pornography is being banned in the communities is because (and I won't go into detail here) there are communities which have an huge problem with using explicit material to indoctrinate their children into practices for prostitution (you can find out more if you google, it's atrocious).

There is also an endemic problem with alcoholism. Which is not to say there isn't on in the general community, but in some areas the problem effects almost every member of the community, I think the last study has shown that one in three babies born suffer from Fetal alcohol syndrome. In some communities, especially in the cape, alcohol has been banned by Indigenous Elders because of the problems it causes, violence, domestic abuse etc.

So the banning of alcohol and pornography is a stop-gap measure to contain some horrific problems in the community, most importantly to protect the children from abuse that is happening now. You could say it's paternalistic, but it would be worst IMO (and there is agreement with Indigenous leaders here) to leave the situation as is, and allow child abuse and domestic violence to continue.

Of course, it's important to come up with ways to tackle the issue of why people are abusing alcohol, and inter-generational child abuse, but the immediate aim of the Federal Government (which is welcomed by the Northern Territory, because they don't have enough funding to handle the situation) is to protect the children now. And there is the issue of why alcohol effects Indigenous people more so then european Australian, partly social, partly genetic.

I believe it's Noel Pearson who said that if this problem was happening with white children in the cities, then all resources would be put to tackling the problem, but because it's in the remote communities amongst indigenous people, it's ignored. And it's been unfortunately, ignored for far too long.

(frozen) (no subject)

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

Isolated Aboriginal communities in Canada have been having problems with alcohol and drug abuse, depression, high suicide rates, and other physical and mental heath issues for a long time. I'm well aware that the situations in the two countries should not necessarily be compared directly because of differences in history, culture and political structures, and I am not particularly familiar with the Australian situation, so this is intended as a general comment.

One of the things that Aboriginal peoples in Canada have been fighting is the paternalism of the white settler government.

It seems to me that there is a difference between having a government impose what it believes to be the proper solution to certain problem being experienced in Indigenous communities - even if some or most of those peoples think that some or most of what that government would impose would be effective in dealing with some of the issues that need to be dealt with - and giving the Indigenous communities and their leaders the resources to make whatever changes are necessary. If the Elders of an indigenous community decide that something should be banned within their community, that is one thing, and they should be given the resources to do that. For a white settler government to say "this is bad for you, so we will ban it for you" is a different thing. Or at least is it seen that way in the Canadian context.

(Not that our government is actually willing to give up its paternalism and racism and acknowledge our Aboriginal peoples' rights to self government, but that also is the Canadian context in which this particular battle continues.)

(frozen) (no subject)

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

Damn, it's so easy to use white settler language when that's who you are. Of course, the Aboriginal peoples living in Canada are not "ours" - speaking as a white Canadian, we are their oppressors, they aren't our anything.