Racing to be fair!

I remember when I was younger; I was given these messages about beauty being fair, dainty and polished for girls. How was it for the boys, tall, dark and handsome? Well, somewhere down the line beauty and the eyes of the beholder parted ways and forgot to inform us. Why because every advertisement today about creams is no longer about protecting our skin against dryness or chafing, only because we want to, but about the colour of our skin. Ours here has extended in the past few years to that of men's as well. The TDH will no longer do, being the quintessential working woman and metrosexual man now means that we all need to be white.  Even if we choose to ignore the warnings about mercury content in these creams, can we really ignore the racism that they promote?

Now, how is that not racism? Or did we forget that apartheid was about not being treated badly because of dark skin colour? I think that the present should not learn from history? At least, I hope so! Why are we then still emphasising so many years later that white skin colour is superior, because all of a sudden you will be more intelligent, more hardworking and more desirable? Where are we failing to see that not only is diversity and individuality taking the bullet but all those movements, endless protests and struggles are being denied and made invisible with these products that will make you white a.k.a fair. Is that really fair?

On the other hand, Nido Tania's (Taniam) death, and the 'alleged' rape incident in Munirka, and several other similar incidents that we don't even remember or get to hear about, did not happen because of their skin colour. What are the extents and depths to which we can go and deny that we are being racist? Will we still blame British Raj for all the things we choose to do wrong 67 years after our independence? Will having more laws that instil the 'fear of god' in us work? Or are we willing to look inward at our biases and stop discriminating against others and treating them as lesser mortals because of their skin or hair colour, or the way they dress, or where they live or belong to or originate from, or the language/s they speak or choose not to speak-in?

Next post in another week's time! In the meantime this is an interesting article to read: Why White People Freak Out When They're Called Out About Race