Is ‘white’ less of a colour than ‘black’ or ‘brown’?
“Communities of colour” — this itself is a deeply offensive phrase!
Understanding Racism
As a context to this post, first let’s understand how ‘racism’ is defined.
“prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.”
“the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.”
Basically, they are saying that any antagonism or discrimination towards another race based on superiority of your own race is termed racism.
Let’s understand how ‘race’ is defined.
The most widely used human racial types are those based on visual traits (such as skin color, cranial, facial features, or type of hair). ~ Wikipedia
American anthropologist Carleton S. Coon, in the twentieth century, divided humanity into five races:
- Negroid (Black) race
- Australoid (Australian Aborigine and Papuan) race
- Capoid (Bushmen/Hottentots) race
- Mongoloid (Oriental/Amerindian) race
- Caucasoid (White) race
So basically, industrial era caucasian-led western world distinguished itself based on their facial features, etc. and also classified themselves as superior to other races of the world. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_intelligence
Understanding “The White Man’s Burden”
Take up the White Man’s burden —
Send forth the best ye breed —
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild —
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.~ An excerpt from “White Man’s Burden”, a poem by Rudyard Kipling
Kipling here was exhorting the ‘superior in race’ white man of America (or Europe, as the idea of white superiority is has its roots in Eurocentric racism) to invade and civilise the Filipinos (natives of Philippines) and reminds them to do so even at great cost and personal sacrifice, as if it is a moral obligation that they carry to civilize the world.
With this context let us now move to the next part of my post.
Good Intent
Amidst the George Floyd related riots and protests in US, Drupal Association issued this statement:
There can be no wrong in the intent of this statement issued. And such statements must have been issued by many progressive American companies at this point.
Why is white less of a colour than black?
But let’s look at the words again. “…stands with communities of colour”.
Please help me here. How is ‘white’ less of a colour than black? Or brown? Isn’t white as much a “colour” as “black” or “brown” are?
All these definitions of what is colour, has its roots in the mid-twentieth century continuity of ideas of superiority of the “caucasoid (white) race”. It seems to suggest that the white man is ‘not coloured’ and the natural divinely-ordained race, while the rest of the populations of the world are somehow ‘coloured’ and therefore a distortion.
After centuries of persecution of native populations around the world egged on by White and Christian supremacist ideas, slavery and third rate treatment of human beings (sometimes even as zoo animals), a wave reformation set in which gave way to new ideas of universal brotherhood.
However, the white man’s burden has remained.
Persistence of the “White Man’s Burden”
With no offence to the Drupal Association for the words used, i find these words extremely offending.
Firstly, they reek of Eurocentric racist ideas rooted in division of the world into superior and inferior races.
Second. I have a serious problem with forced inclusionary practices. They actually create more division by putting into practice the idea of ‘us’ including ‘them’.
Minorityism
This is also my problem with minorityism. It creates an unequal other and the burden of eradicating the inequality is to be borne by the more privileged, majority — even if that majority has only a small minority which is privileged.
A merit based world is far better.
How do you create a world with equal opportunities?
This then begs the question, how should communities or countries which are at an advantage of having a better quality of life than others, create a more inclusive world?
This is a big topic and i must acknowledge i don’t have all these answers.
But i will still not shy away from asking the Drupal Association to urgently throw in the dustbin, the phrase “communities of colour”. Alongwith the words, all forms of action to ‘include’ communities, even at the cost of raising the bar on mediocrity, must be junked.
Instead focus all energy on creating an equal playing field for all organisations and people from around.
Brilliant job done by Open Source, Drupal and Drupal Association
In this, Drupal, and the Drupal Association, has done a brilliant job.
When at any Drupalcon, especially in US, one always feels like an equal. One feels welcome.
It has created opportunities for people around the world to sit on their board, for instance, which puts Indians on its board — not because of practice of minorityism or socialism, but simply by the power of democracy — voting.
The systems of code contribution and recognition in the Drupal community are based purely on merit.
Keep doing all of this.
In general, all open source projects around the world promote meritocracy.
But please don’t go overboard in making special concessions. It feels truly un-special to be given speaking slots at global conferences because someone is a woman or because someone is an Indian or Nigerian.
The beauty of American capitalism
American values of liberty, free markets and capitalism by default create a wonderful level playing field and an opportunity for companies and people to rise to the top.
Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai are examples of this. So is, in our own small way, Srijan. We were a ‘nothing’ in 2010 when we really got started with Drupal. In 2020, in less than 10 years, we’re among the top Drupal companies in the world. This is a pristine example of American capitalist values which enable access to wealth based on smarts and hard work.
Equality of Yoga
Treat everyone as equals in the true Indic spiritual spirit of ‘Yoga’ (that we’re all Divine and that our destiny is a union with the Divine) and let them all work out their lives upwards — not only spiritually but also economically.
We’re all on our respective paths of evolution of the soul over multiple lifetimes. A richer life is surely not the sign of higher evolution and neither of greater happiness.
Let me leave you with a wonderful composition in Sanskrit from the Vedas (Hinduism) by Tina Turner:
ॐ सर्वेशां स्वस्तिर्भवतु ।
सर्वेशां शान्तिर्भवतु ।
सर्वेशां पुर्णंभवतु ।
सर्वेशां मङ्गलंभवतु ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥Om Om Om
Sarvesham Svastir Bhavatu
Sarvesham Shantir Bhavatu
Sarvesham Poornam Bhavatu
Sarvesham Mangalam Bhavatu
Om, Shanti, Shanti, ShantiMay there be Well-Being in All,
May there be Peace in All,
May there be Fulfilment in All,
May there be Auspiciousness in All,
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.
