Did Gandhi experience racism?
a) He was borne in a world of caste systems and among other things he fought to end it as well as fight the partition of India (both dreams he never achieved. [Although the partition of what was India into present India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was overtly due to religios differences, I believe the caste system was at the very core...I stand to be corrected on that] His philosophy throughout his life (including the way he dressed) was part of his quest to "reject" India's caste based socialization
b) He spent 26 or so years practising Law in South Africa and co- founded the Natal Indian Congress (a party that was to allied itself with others including the ANC in the 40s and 50s in the fight against apartheid)
Friday, 02 December 2005
On racism
I had an online discussion on racism with with someone whose points suggested that racism only happened to black people in Africa (an indvertent result of the examples he used).
His argument was, racism is "present when 'one ethnic group or historical collectivity dominates, excludes or seeks to eliminate another on the basis of differences that it believes are hereditary and unalterable' A purely academic academic challenge would require him to demonstrate how black people in Africa constitute one "ethnic group or historical collectivity" as his chosen defination suggests. In other words he may needed a "better" definition of racism
Additionally, his arguments seemed to suggest racism didnt exist before the transatlantic slave trade phenomenon. To counter I gave a few examples.
a) the Arab interactions with the Shungwaya kindgom on the Coast of Kenya and other peoples in various places that pre-date the European invasion of Africa.
b) the interaction between the Moorish people and the Romans, Spaniards and Arabs.
c) the interaction between the Iroqoius people and the French in Canada.
d) the ethnic tensions within Europe eg resulting in the breakup of Yugoslavia. What about the tensions within Switzerland among the German, French and Italian speaking "races"
Lastly I suggested a thorough examination of the terms ethnicism, racism and xenophobia first to make clear what each is or is not, then examining them from a more global perspective before localizing the examples.
My views on racism have been heavily influenced by the works of Etienne Balibar
especially "Race, nation, class : ambiguous identities" ISBN 0860913279 or 0860915425 (pbk.)(which he co-authors with Immanuel Wallerstein).
from.
His argument was, racism is "present when 'one ethnic group or historical collectivity dominates, excludes or seeks to eliminate another on the basis of differences that it believes are hereditary and unalterable' A purely academic academic challenge would require him to demonstrate how black people in Africa constitute one "ethnic group or historical collectivity" as his chosen defination suggests. In other words he may needed a "better" definition of racism
Additionally, his arguments seemed to suggest racism didnt exist before the transatlantic slave trade phenomenon. To counter I gave a few examples.
a) the Arab interactions with the Shungwaya kindgom on the Coast of Kenya and other peoples in various places that pre-date the European invasion of Africa.
b) the interaction between the Moorish people and the Romans, Spaniards and Arabs.
c) the interaction between the Iroqoius people and the French in Canada.
d) the ethnic tensions within Europe eg resulting in the breakup of Yugoslavia. What about the tensions within Switzerland among the German, French and Italian speaking "races"
Lastly I suggested a thorough examination of the terms ethnicism, racism and xenophobia first to make clear what each is or is not, then examining them from a more global perspective before localizing the examples.
My views on racism have been heavily influenced by the works of Etienne Balibar
especially "Race, nation, class : ambiguous identities" ISBN 0860913279 or 0860915425 (pbk.)(which he co-authors with Immanuel Wallerstein).
from.
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