by Shaheen Darr

Created on: May 05, 2008   Last Updated: September 06, 2008

In my opinion racism is ingrained in some human beings. No matter how much this is denied there is always an element of it that will raise its ugly head at some point in time.

Years ago I spent my youth in Africa. I was born in Africa and studied in Africa. I would hear stories and accounts of how the Black people were suppressed and exploited by the White man in colonial times. These stories were related in emotive poems written by African poets and it would sadden me to think how human beings could be so cruel to one other. South Africa was a prime example of such behaviour where one group of people thought they were superior to another because of the colour of their skin. This was the case until I encountered racism myself.

I was an Asian woman, a minority in a predominantly African society. This made me a prime target for all sorts of comments about Asian women and how they behave. Sometimes I would argue and speak out against these remarks and other times I would just remain silent. There seemed no point arguing with some people who were so ignorant in their views. It would take more than one Asian woman to change them.

There was also a feeling of racism against some Indian business people in Africa because they seemed to have made a success of themselves, sometimes in very adverse political circumstances. Even though these business people employed a large number of the indigenous population, they were still targeted and abused. Their success was not appreciated but looked down upon. Rather, they were labelled as corrupt people who were exploiting the economy. I could see shades of the Nazi mentality against the Jews in the 1920's in Germany.

Years later when I settled in Britain I encountered racism of a different sort. It was an intelligent sort of racism where jokes are made of people who come from abroad to settle in Britain. In working environments these jokes are openly aired and unless they were really hurtful it was best to just ignore them and get on with your life.

Political situations sometimes bring out racism in people. Muslims these days are easy targets especially if they are in their traditional head scarves. You can find racism amongst the Asian population even though they speak the same language and have the same colour. Sikhs might have problems with Hindus or the Muslims might be racist towards another asian group. This might be due to historical or religious differences.

I feel that the moment different countries, races and languages came into being racism was born. Some human beings will excel due to their environmental and financial advantages whereas others will be lacking in basic things and therefore disadvantaged. This might be viewed as an inferior trait and looked down upon.

Every country in this world has its own culture, language and recognition. If this difference is recognised in a positive light and appreciated then racism can be removed from our society. In olden days ignorance was at the heart of racism, nowadays knowledge is available all over the world. Let this knowledge help us to understand how beautiful the diversity of our planet really is, something that is to be celebrated.

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