I'm currently in the midst of a heated exchange with a former school mate of mine who is of Burmese descent and is in Jamaica probably because her family fled persecution in what is now Myanmar and chose to settle on the other side of the world. This is someone that has experienced ethnic genocide at least to a limited extent and should be sensitive to matters of race, ethnicity, and the power struggles between cultures battling for dominance.
Her advice that I "get over it" in relation to racism comes from a discussion we were having among friends about Miss France's objection to Miss Angola winning the Ms. Universe pageant which was recently concluded in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
How could you deny this woman???
Miss France believes the lovely Leila Lopes was dowdy, lacked personality, and insinuated that her win as an Angolan in a contest held in Brazil (both are former Portuguese colonies) was more than a coincidence.
Given that Miss Angola is naturally beautiful, humble, intelligent, statuesque, eloquent, and poised, it comes as a surprise that Miss France would find fault except if one relegates her to the category of just being a sore loser. But that categorization I believe is intellectually dishonest and ignores the crux of this issue.
For me, Miss France's objections are nothing more than veiled racism. She does not believe that this black African woman is deserving of her win by virtue of the fact that she is a black African woman. She is basically saying that Ms. Angola won the pageant because of some sort of affirmative action.
Seeing things in this way should not be dismissed as frivolity.
Interestingly, by pointing out what to me is obvious based on my discernment of what has been said and unsaid I have been labelled racist. RACIST!
What arrant rot!
Sensitivity to the way racism is expressed in this politically correct supposedly post-racial world is not an admission of the latent racism of the one that notices it. It is seeing with both eyes open and not peering through a lens of illusion or naivete.
An Asian immigrant telling me as a black Jamaican that I should "get over" racism offends me to my core; and the accusation that I may be racist simply because I find the utterances of a white French woman distasteful (especially in light of France's continued hostility toward West African immigrants) adds insult to injury.
Discussions of Race and Racism should never be dismissed. We are not living in a post-racial world and racism is very much alive.
Noticing it, or at least being honest enough to speak about it, is not evidence of latent racism and such an accusation is racist in and of itself. Black people have every right to discuss such issues where there is merit and should not be denied the right to ventilate such issues for fear of being seen as hyper-sensitive and racist.
Such is the sinister nature of the architects and those that choose to perpetuate racist ideals. They want you to believe that racism does not exist so that they can continue to subjugate those that are outside 'acceptable' standards.
I for one will never stop noticing their evil deeds.
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