Unintentionally racist ...

Overheard this in the street:

“Noooo. You don’t want to see my father. He’s dark, you know. Like an aboriginal… Lucky I skipped the genes”

I gasped … the world came to a sudden halt …

What the ****!

I suppressed the urge to stop and say:

“Hey lady!… That’s racist… .”

Nothing is wrong with dark skin. Nothing is wrong with being an Aborigin. Woaaa… woman … you’re too far with your ‘politically incorrect’ statement. We’re in Australia for God sake … it can really hurt people, the Aborigins for sure… Don’t you know that they (the Aborigins) have suffered a lot from discriminations in their own land for decades????

But after stealing a closer look at the woman… I kind of understand … not to forgive what she said but to understand her statement for what she is. She is someone I saw a couple of times before… knowing her best friend, I guess (99%) that she is Asian (I am not going to disclose her nationality here … for it might make you think that I am racist as well… ).

So what is wrong with being an Asian? Are Asians racist?

Nope. It’s just that Asians especially those who came to Australia when they were an adult…might not really care about the tension between (White) Australian and the Aborigins. Even if they know the history, they can’t really relate themselves with the pain, with the discrimination, with the oppression with the context… So, this woman stated the words in her own simplified understanding that Aborigin has dark skin, so does her father. That’s it, nothing else. No ideological context… no racism involves…

It’s just like when my mom refered to burnt (overcooked) meat by saying:

“Waaahhh… daginge negro.” (trans. Waaahhh … the meat is “negro” = nigger)

I can never say:

“Ouccchh mom… that’s racist…”

Because she’s gonna look at me in a strange way implying:

“What??? What’s so racist about a piece of meat???”

:D

And I don’t think that I can start lecturing her about how politically incorrect it is to say “negro=nigger” because it will break her heart … sure… she doesn’t have any intention to be racist… (I just need to take a precaution not to let her make a comment like that in the presence of Black people … hmmm “no burnt food when Black people are around…?” …)     

What about me? I often unconsciously make inappropriate statement by saying: “Lagi autis…” (trans. I am doing what autistic person does) without really considering how it is like to be autistic people… their struggle… their misery…

It takes a lot of efforts to behave and say things correctly… in the right contexts … I guess… We may fail sometimes but we should always try …