NEW AGE RACISM

NEW AGE RACISM

By R G Sripranav charan

Introduction

Among the major issues in India today, probably Racism tops the list shares with COVID-19. There are many imagination and speculations that arrive once the word 'Racism' is heard. Many of us hold different views on the same. Generally speaking the word 'Racism' is not restricted to an individual or group or a bunch of groups. In a narrow sense Racism shows the oppression by a specific individual or group of white to some other society or individual or group of non-white, however in a broader way the word holds much more than that of oppression. It is an India-wide issue that exists in all the states and districts in different forms. A dominant and dominant group, who are fighting over social rights, are largely found in racism. Racism had been geared off in ancient times when it was believed that the Ham, one of the three sons of Noah, was being cursed because he was black. Since then the concept of racism started as it was said that dark-skinned people are cursed whereas white-skinned people are good men in the World. Started off in the 3rd Century AD. the discrimination still remains the same even in the 21st century.

Racism in all over India

The type of racism in India is hilariously selective – they choose who to treat with disdain and who not to. When blacks go to the cinema to watch Hollywood movies I see Indians immensely thrilled by the performances of blacks. One very notable moment I remember 

is their excitement at the action scenes with Tyrese Gibson or Ludacris in Fast and Furious 

Similarly, when Barack Obama visited India on January 26, 2015, the world saw India at her best– the best hospitality they could ever provide was rendered to the president of the US – a black man. But when they see the same blacks in their country, they are contemptuous. Even though Krishna and many other Hindu gods are described as dark, or even black, that is not enough reason to cleanse them of racism.

Racial attacks in India due to COVID-19

While racial harassment and abuse of Chinese people have escalated in Western Europe and North America as a backlash over the corona-virus epidemic, such attacks have also occurred in India. In recent years, millions of people from the northeast have migrated to other parts of India to study or work. Although they have long suffered various forms of discrimination and prejudice, the spread of corona-virus has made things worse. For example, Cathy Akhropele, who works in a dental insurance firm in Ahmadabad, in the western state of Gujarat, hails from Nagaland in the northeast. She was recently taken by police against her will – along with eight other Naga colleagues -- to a hospital under quarantine to be tested for corona-virus, even though none had any symptoms. I noted that in India, northeastern people have long been subjected to racial slurs like ‘Chinese,’ ‘Momo’, ‘Chow mein’, etc., because of their facial features.“With the normalization of the term ‘Chinese virus’ and internet memes mocking Chinese people, it is but natural for communities like ours which have been at the receiving end of this racism for decades to also bear the brunt,” A journalist in Delhi who is of Assamese decent, wrote: “It looks like India’s latent racism has been unleashed with full force, exposing all the underlying bigotry and the desire to treat people from the northeast states as second-class citizens.”

Solutions of Racism

The government takes a lot of initiatives to remove racism in all over the nation. But the issue is way too controversial and complex to handle. Movements against racism based on sex, color, religion and other factors have been started to abolish the issue. Anti-racism groups and other social groups take steps forward to spread awareness in colleges, schools, and other organisations for not promoting racism in any form. Making children aware of anti-racism and promoting racism everywhere.

Conclusion

Racism is quite a complex issue to understand. Studies say it is not possible to get rid of this issue unless people change their mindset. Mostly racism arises due to psychological issues. Taking this consideration it is up to the people who can largely change the beliefs and society for betterment.