Growing up as a child in the nineties, I was, rather
unknowingly, subjected to acts of behaviour by my peers that I truly believe
would, by today’s standards, be considered as none other than racist. These
were not isolated events, and I do not assume I was alone in this, but rather,
that I found myself in a situation quite ubiquitous where any non-Caucasian
child were to be considered.
By myself and also, my peer group, these acts were never
until later conceived as being ‘racist’, because the acts had occurred for so
long, and often, so subversively, that any ideological alternative (that is, to
be free of such queries, accusations and belittling) was, itself, never
conceived. An example of this behaviour would be that once, in my youth, I was informed
that I was sure to have to marry a near mute (by her own choice- and one she
could hardly be blamed for) Indian girl from another class, because our skin
tones were the most alike. The other children were all curious- I suppose, and
mis- or rather- never informed otherwise by their parents, (and we were failed
by the establishments supposed to teach and protect us) because it was taken
much for granted that they were at an age, or a destination in life, where such
information was necessary or relevant.
These children, and their misdemeanours in relation to
others, were all products of a supremely racist society that had tried (often
in vain) to hide its feelings. The children were a product of the up-bringing’s
of adults- now parents- who, when they were children, were the product of a
racist, or otherwise ignorant (which is the true origin) parentage. And so on,
and so on, and so it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment