{"id":36275,"date":"2024-02-29T23:57:04","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T07:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36275"},"modified":"2024-04-19T14:05:33","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T21:05:33","slug":"racism-a-worldwide-wicked-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/racism-a-worldwide-wicked-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Racism: A Worldwide Wicked Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo tell the story of one, we also must tell the story of the other.\u201d[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I began reading Kenan Malik\u2019s book, Not so Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics <\/em>as a fascinating history and social science text tracing the invention of equality, race, and white identity. I immediately noted the focus on the America and European perspective, history, and thought progression. Malik opens Part One writing of four interwoven narratives: 1. Retelling the story of race; 2. The resistance to racism and colonialism and how resistance expanded the meaning of equality; 3. The relationship between race and class; and 4. The emergence of modern identity politics.[2]<\/a> In Part Two he proposes the necessity of a universalist perspective.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Malik identifies the historical roots of identity politics stating, \u201c\u2026.it [identity politics] developed in the late eighteenth century and its primary expression was that of race.\u201d[4]<\/a> Noting the great economic and social changes of the sixteenth through eighteen centuries Malik highlights the significant shifts socially and intellectually during the Enlightenment which contributed to the cries for revolution and freedom.[5]<\/a> This reminds me of what Karl Polanyi described as the commodification of land, labor, and money.[6]<\/a> The commodification of which lent itself to abuses of power and inequality. As working class and immigrant populations became racialized, it wasn\u2019t just about skin color, but ability, intellect, religion, and social class which defined one\u2019s place in the world.<\/p>\n

Though fascinating, this historical account piqued my curiosity about racism in the rest of the world and particularly in Asia where I witnessed racism, gender and class inequality on a regular basis. No one ever talked about it largely due to the lack of free speech. This is not to say that people were in favor of such injustices, but possibly unwilling to address the issues, increase their awareness of racism in their context, or willing to accept that identifying and maintaining differences creates social stability along the lines of what Malik noted, \u201cImplicit in it [race] was the notion of progress, of certain peoples and nations and civilizations as having advanced and as being superior.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

These observations and reflections led me on a rabbit trail, that turned out to be quite interesting and may prove helpful with giving voice to an issue that is only recently being discussed in Asia. My impromptu research into racism in an Asian context barely scratched the surface, but I am pleased with my discoveries.<\/p>\n

Maybe a broader global understanding of racism is needed?<\/em><\/p>\n

Alastair Bonnett, author of Multiracism: Rethinking Racism in a Global Context, <\/em>argues that racism comes in many different varieties and is just beginning to be called out in Asia.[8]<\/a> However, because racism is defined and experienced quite differently in the Western world, it makes calls for debate more challenging. Bonnett notes, \u201cAmerican models of identity and difference continue to be globalized, pushing Asian realities to the sidelines.\u201d[9]<\/a> Sylvia Ang notes, that much of the debate revolves around a White\/non-White binary that may mask the issue.[10]<\/a> In other words, racism may be viewed as a western problem, easily denied, and the topic avoided. To make matters worse, Asian world leaders are resistant to hearing from Western counterparts about their human rights abuses of racial minorities.[11]<\/a> Given our slave and colonial histories, not to mention our ongoing struggles, this is understandable.<\/p>\n

Asia is equally complex when it comes to race, identity, and social injustice. Asia represents a unique blend of racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity, and long histories of migration, imperialism, and colonialism. Parvati Raghuram notes, \u201cAsia\u2026 has a different racial hierarchization, which has emerged sometimes in parallel and unconnected to Western racisms, but sometimes entangled with it.[12]<\/a> Below is a list of well-known events in Southeast Asia with possible roots in racism.<\/p>\n