Anti-Blackness: resistance or antagonistic behavior towards black people or their values or objectives.
Many South Asians like to claim that they are not racist and although the South Asian community has grown to become more accepting, there still exists a deep rooted concept of anti-blackness that stems from the caste system.
The caste system is a class structure that is determined at birth and unable to be changed. The caste that one is assigned to is heavily determined by the color of one’s skin as well as the privilege that they have. The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Outside of the main categories are the Dalits- or the untouchables.
The fairer your skin, the more money you had made you more desirable and therefore a higher cast. Brahmins are considered the highest caste and “superior” since they possess all of these qualities. Dalits are considered the least desirable because they have darker skin and are economically disadvantaged due to the stigma society has placed on them.
If you haven’t noticed already, the caste system is based on colorism. The idea that lighter skin makes one admirable has been ingrained in countless South Asian generations. Colorism is a problem that has existed in South Asian society for so long that it has led to the issue of anti-blackness in the South Asian community.
The immediate superiority that a South Asian feels when they see anyone with a skin tone darker than their skin tone is absolutely disgusting.
This is not okay.
This is not acceptable because it has led to racism towards the black community. There are several false stereotypes about black people, that we will be discussing later on in this post, that are extremely harmful to the black community.
When most people think of Mahatma Gandhi they think of the individual who was a leader of India's non-violent independence movement against British rule and a leader in South Africa who advocated for the civil rights of Indians. However, what most people don’t know is that Gandhi was an anti-black racist.
According to Merriam-Webster, “In South Africa, the use of the term Kaffir to refer to a black African is a profoundly offensive and inflammatory expression of contemptuous racism that is sufficient grounds for legal action. The term is associated especially with the era of apartheid, when it was commonly used as an offensive racial slur, and its offensiveness has only increased over time. It now ranks as perhaps the most offensive term in South African English.”
Here are five racist quotes by Gandhi:
“General belief seems to prevail in the colony that the Indians are a little better, if at all, than savages or the natives of Africa.”
“Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilised - the convicts even more so. They are troublesome. Very dirty and live almost like animals. The reader can easily imagine the plight of the poor Indian thrown into such company!”
“Some Indians do have contacts with Kaffir women. I think such contacts are fraught with grave danger. Indians would do well to avoid them altogether.”
“About the mixing of the Kaffirs with the Indians, I must confess I feel most strongly.”
“It was a gross injustice to seek to place Indians in the same class as the Kaffirs.”
(Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBEHnzygoe9/ - Please check it out for more information!)
As mentioned in our Interracial Relationships post, the South Asian community is not that welcoming when it comes to interracial marriage, especially marrying a black person. A wonderful example of this is Gracy & Rob: a popular interracial couple on TikTok. Both Gracy & Rob received multiple death threats, and Gracy was told that she should be ashamed that she had stooped so low that she had to date a black man. The South Asian community tends to stereotype, and it tends to stereotype the black community similar to how the United States does. They assume that all black people are dangerous, criminals, and part of gangs. This of course is only because of movies, and how the media portrays them to be. Just like how the majority of South Asian people are not terrorists, the majority of black people are not dangerous.
We have to remember that education in South Asia is different from education in the United States. A huge part of the Social Studies curriculum across USA schools is slavery and segregration. Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, MLK Jr., Ruby Bridges: these are all important figures when it comes to discussing equality in America. But, if you were to mention Harriet Tubman to a random person off the street in India, do you think they would know who she is and what she accomplished? Probably not. Because it is a different country, there is definitely less emphasis on this topic in their education system. Students in South Asia now have access to more movies and books about slavery if they are interested, and they overall understand the concept of racism much better. However, our parents probably don’t because it’s likely that they didn’t learn about the history of African Americans as in depth as we did in school. Additionally, segregation came to an end in the 1960-70s: around the time when our parents were born. Because of this timing, they were less likely to learn about this topic, since this event was so new.
When the BLM protests took place in our country, many of us had to have conversations with our parents about racism and politics. Many of our parents simply did not understand why people were making these protests such a big deal, and did not understand why black people should be given “special treatment.” This again is because they didn’t grow up learning that much about the oppression of black people, and on top of that, they most probably didn’t grow up with black people, therefore, not hearing their stories of discrimination.
A video went viral of actress Kajol saying the n-word. Kajol most probably heard this slur in a song, and thought it was okay to use, and doesn’t understand the real meaning behind it. This of course in no way is justifying her saying the n-word, but because she probably does not know too much about the history of America, Kajol might have assumed that it was a harmless word.
This of course is an assumption, and we don’t know if Kajol truly knows what the n-word means.
There are many stereotypes that South Asians believe about many races that are simply untrue, but because of the lack of education on racism in schools they grow up thinking these stereotypes are true.
South Asian media often feed into these false statements. The Bollywood film industry perpetuates the racism that has been internalized in Indian society for several centuries. The recent Bollywood movie, Khaali Peeli, that was released in October of 2020 faced immediate backlash for the song that was released one month earlier, Beyoncé Sharma Jayegi. The lyrics “Tujhe dekh ke goriya, Beyonce sharma jayegi” translate to “After seeing you, a fair woman, Beyonce will feel ashamed.”
This is colorism at its finest in the Bollywood industry.
The industry felt extremely proud to promote unrealistic beauty standards by saying that fair skin will make you more successful than Beyonce, a black woman who has fought racism for years.
The lyrics of the song were later changed to “Tera dekh ke nakhra, yeh duniya sharma jayegi.” The title of the song was also changed to Duniya Sharma Jayegi.
How come it takes backlash to realize that these lyrics were wrong in the first place? We have to stick up for what we believe in and continue to call out the industry and other brands and companies when we see comments that deeply affect other communities.
According to the Takshashila Institute, in a survey with over 1,000 Indian participants, 48.7% of people blame COVID-19 completely on China, and 52.8% of people believe “Wuhan Virus” or “China Virus” is not racist.
A common slur used by South Asians, mostly those that are our parents age, is “Chinky.” East Asians have expressed this as an insulting slur, but again, our parents are not as educated as us when it comes to racism. Whether it’s using this slur, or considering all East Asians as Chinese, our parents were not brought up with the same principles as us because most of our parents did not grow up in a diverse environment.
Vice President-Elect, Kamala Harris, is a woman of Jamaican and Indian Descent. After, at the time former Vice President, Joe Biden selected her to be his running mate, many South Asians were excited to see representation while some had mixed emotions. Some South Asians started referring to Kamala Harris as “Kamala Aunty” while others were critiquing her for neglecting her Indian roots.
How can we call her “Kamala Aunty” without confronting our own Anti-Blackness?
South Asians are told not to bring home a black partner because many South Asian parents believe all the false stereotypes about black people. This is just one example of anti-blackness in the South Asian community but there are many more.
In an NBC News article by Sakshi Venkatraman she says “Though South Asians might be hungry for representation, celebrating only her Indian heritage is an erasure that feeds anti-Blackness and the model minority myth.”
If we want to properly accept Kamala Harris and refer to her as “Kamala Aunty” we must confront our own Anti-blackness and actively educate ourselves. It is important to learn how being black affects someone’s life in the United States.
What we can do is try to educate our parents on important matters like racism. It’s okay to call them out when you hear them saying something inappropriate, just make sure to do it in a respectful manner. Like us, they cannot grow unless they learn.
As we’ve mentioned in many of our posts, it is truly up to our generation when it comes to shaping our future. We must listen to the stories of our black friends, and learn what they have gone through. We have to take time to understand the fight that they have been fighting for so long. And, we must pass on these values to our children and the future generations in order to combat racism.
Thanks for reading! Stop by our Instagram on 01/13/21 to check out our Colorism Series: The Wheel of Brown, and check out our first participant’s, Anu Vasireddy, experiences with colorism! Come back next Sunday to read our post on Sankranti!