‘Brown’! When I first heard the term in reference to me and my people, I was amused, to say the least.
It’s not that we citizens of third world countries are living in denial. And in the undercurrents of tension between the ‘Blacks’ and the ‘Whites’ (your terms not mine), we ‘Browns’ had so far been left out. We were the doctors, engineers, accountants and scientists that you tolerated. The exotic ones who brought you yoga and Ayurveda.
Of course we weren’t unfamiliar with racism either. We felt it in the passive aggressive air of superiority that you exuded around us, and in the surprise that you felt when you asked us, “How is it that you speak such good English?” Cliche!
I still recall on one of my trips to New York, almost two decades ago, I was browsing for a gift for my mother in an exclusive department store, when the salesperson there walked upto me and said, “you can’t afford anything on this floor, honey!”
Her ‘assistance’ was uncalled for. Nor had I asked for her advice. And had I not been rendered so absolutely flabbergasted and momentarily tongue tied by it, I would have humbly informed her that I, in fact, could afford more than one item in that aisle. Well, she lost the sale!
But what left me most gobsmacked was the fact that she herself was African American and hence I would hope that she should know not to put human beings in discriminatory, coloured boxes.
Had the incident not left me feeling a kinship with Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, I would have been totally humiliated.
Well, alot has changed since then, I admit. India is now being recognised as the fastest growing economy. Our Prime Minister has made some strong allies and our economy has developed. What that means for us ‘Brown’ travellers is that we feel more welcome when we visit your land. Your sales personnel have been trained to extend their full courtesy and to flash their grins at all paying minorities, leaving us no longer feeling intimidated.
So we’ve grown, you’ve matured. Things were going well. We were getting along….. And then came the devastating news of the merciless and senseless killing of one of our own in your country!
A family lost their son, a wife – her husband, the home he painted will never hear his footsteps again.
Well, let me be honest. It’s not like we are sheltered from all violence here in India. We are no strangers to religious fanatics, intolerance, discrimination, war or terror. That we are constantly under threat by our neighbour, is no secret. In fact, and I don’t mean to gloat, because it isn’t something I am proud of, but we’ve become quite adept at coping with terror.
At the senseless loss of innocent Indians who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and periodically became victims of sadistic, deranged, demonic minds. Unsuspecting families, living ordinary lives who will now spend an eternity trapped in a maze of ‘what ifs’ and ‘if only’s’.
And in the aftermath of every brutal attack over the years, I imagine, several Indians telling their friends and family now residing in the first world, that they were fortunate to not have to live with this fear!
I know I once did. To which my friend replied, “each day my child goes to school I live in fear because of the lack of gun control policies”.
Well, the grass is always greener on the other side, as they say. Except now, it feels like it is winter world over. All the grass is gone. And a sinking feeling of cold, dark despair is beginning to creep in. The first world countries are regressing.
Resorting to racial intolerance may not be a new sentiment for you’ll, but being ‘politically correct’ no longer being a prerequisite is novel. And the license to express your hatred openly and violently towards people who simply possess abundant pigments in their skin, seems to be handed out along with the licence for the gun. Ironic, coming from people who invented tanning beds.
So what does this changing scenario mean for the ‘Browns’….well stories are pouring in.
Stories of racial slurs in supermarkets, and on the streets, vandalism of Indian homes telling them to go back. Of people deliberately instigating fights in order to have an excuse to shoot.
But the fact that I’m venturing to write to you on a predominantly ‘white’ portal is proof that I have tremendous faith in your goodness and humanity. As is evident when you’ll champion causes, protest for equality, and march for women’s rights. I respect your ability to see right from wrong and good from bad and I appreciate your endeavour to set things right and bring summer back. But take it from a country that has been there, done that and never fully recovered. Learn from our mistakes. Don’t let the sentiments of a misguided section of society escalate and forever ruin it for all.
So let me break this down for you:
All ‘Browns’ are not the same.
All ‘Browns’ are not illegal immigrants.
All ‘Browns’ are not responsible for 9/11, Paris and Istanbul.
All ‘Browns’ are not even from the same nation any more than Europeans, Australians or Americans are.
In fact a lot of us ‘Browns’ are now wary of travelling to your countries due to your uneducated, uninformed violence. Which means we have to spend our fastest growing income someplace else.
Well, Justin Trudeau seems nice! And he’s hot!!
(This blog post first appeared on Mogul.com)
Sunset Effect - Nitya Satyani 