Racism - be informed not afraid
by Nyadol Nyuon
Racism can make one feel insignificant in a society that is dominated by the ‘other’. But we are all the ‘other’. And that is the problem.
Recently in Melbourne when I tried to board a tram, my bag got stuck at the doorway. A man covered with tattoos came and helped me pull my bag up and carried it to an empty seat. Normally, if I had met him when I was alone, I would have kept my distance and not because he might attack me, but because I fear he had the potential of being racist.
A friend once told me, “You are afraid of racism, so afraid that you are crippled.” The statement seemed harsh at the time. With the benefit of hindsight, influenced by the incident on the tram, I have come to realise that there was some meaning and reason behind this comment. Recently I have begun paying more attention to my thoughts and watching my reactions to find out whether I am indeed afraid. I have not only realised that I am afraid, but I also realise that I am angry, so angry to the point of frustration.
I do not want to make excuses for racism or racist acts – there is a difference between the two; for some people can commit a racist act in the spur of the moment, while there are those that are racist in their beliefs and will never change their stance. Nor am I saying that racism is only in the mind. However the more I feared racism, the more I was becoming intolerant of the “other”. In this sense I became the monster that I feared. The idea that so much could depend on the colour of my skin made me angry and I started to lose hope in the belief that I could achieve my dreams.
As a result, my approach to others was beginning to change – I stopped sitting near people I suspected could be racist, I avoided watching some programs, and generally I became suspicious; suspicious of racist intentions. But what was I basing my opinion on, what was my scale to assume that someone might be racist just by looking at them?
Is this not the same judgement that I feared most? The fear of being judged before one understands what they are judging. To this extent I became the monster German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche warned about when he said “Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster”.
