Separating Facts From Fiction - Exposing Destigmatize With US

Glen Taylor once said, “I don’t view my opinions as the right ones; they are just different”. Today, after taking a long, hard look at this informative post, I realize, that despite many who have lauded this post for spreading awareness, which it may do, I stand out, with a completely different opinion. In this short piece, I aim to express myself quite freely, and portray to the readers of this piece, that quite a bit of the information on this post has been misconstrued and is just another by-product of the woke sense of liberalism and activism that has come upon the current generation.

Not for a second, do I say that the problems mentioned here don’t exist, or that the authors of this Instagram post have posted it with a biased intent. Not for once do I say that the post is incorrect, or even false. All I wish to convey, is that though the intent may have been to promote awareness, it has had a very opposite effect on myself, and I am sure that it will continue to have that same effect on my fellow countrymen.

I read the slides of the post, most of which make sense and are trying to convey the right message. However, the fourth slide, slightly irked me. The fourth slide claimed that colourism and its factors were mainly prevalent in the Indian society. This is what I couldn’t digest. Not for one second will I say that the statement is false. Personally, I know how various cosmetics brands and the Bollywood industry exacerbates colourism. That being said, what I couldn’t come to terms with, was how the post claimed it was “mainly” in the Indian society.

Are we forgetting Breona Taylor? Are we forgetting George Floyd? Are we forgetting Daunte Wright? Are we forgetting how black people are paid up to 25% less in America, JUST BECAUSE OF THEIR SKIN TONE? Are we forgetting how more than 75%, yes you read that right, 75% of Malaysian men thought their partners would be more attractive if they were “lighter skinned”? Are we forgetting Brazil, where darker skinned individuals are wary of upward social mobility? Are we forgetting Africa, where things are so bad that there is even a racial hierarchy in some places? Or are we forgetting the country that ruled us for over a century, where football players of some of the greatest clubs like Manchester United, and Leicester City get abused racially more often than not?

When we make a post talking about colourism, we should either specify, that the post talks about colourism in INDIA, which this post DOES NOT, else we should show the trends all over the world. If we don’t do that, we should at least not say that it exists MAINLY IN THE INDIAN SOCIETY. For that is nothing but a false statement. I am not denying that colourism exists in India. I completely acknowledge that it does. But if you look at the number of individuals affected by it, the number is going to be much higher in places like the USA, the UK and the west in general.

While taking India as an example for colourism, I think it is the need of the hour, also, to take into account why the Indian society is the way it is. There are so many outside influences and theories implanted in our minds by our ex-rulers. The barbaric Mughals, the atrocious Britts, and the many more invaders who mercilessly ruled our land, imposing ideas in our head, colonising us. That aspect, as to why there is a taint of colourism in the Indian society has not been touched upon at all. Secondly, current efforts to stem colourism have also not been mentioned. The government of India, has been quite vocal indeed about racism, with the Foreign Affairs Minister himself stating that he would be taking up incidents of racism “with great candour when required”. I feel, in order to give the audience and the readers a more wholesome picture, it is very important to mention these factors, most of which have not been mentioned at all. There are studies linking colourism and racism in India to the British and Mughal rule, but then again, they haven’t been mentioned at all. Hopefully, the handle will take these flaws into consideration before jumping to a conclusion that colourism exists mainly in the Indian society.

But that is not all. With a lackadaisical approach in terms of dealing with facts, the account has, in aim of “educating” its audience, and “raising awareness, actually ended up harming its own credibility by making posts that aren’t well-researched.

This approach to facts is prevalent in the second line of the caption to their very same post. They refer to the word “gori”, and refer to it as a Hindi word. However, they couldn’t have been more off track for the word, contrary to popular belief, actually traces its origin back to Urdu, and is not at all a Hindi word. The word is just a reflection of how unaware we are about the influence of Urdu in the Hindi we speak. This fact, needs to be clarified by the author of this post.

The second paragraph claims that the prejudice of discrimination based on skin colour is embedded in every other Indian. First of all, there is no statistic or fact backing up that claim, and it is a very vague statement. Secondly, the post itself gives the example of only the Bollywood, and the beauty industry, and therefore, saying that it is rooted in the mind of each and every Indian is just illogical.

Moreover, research by FICCI Frames says that only 7 to 8 percent of Indians watch bollywood movies. If that is taken at face value, how come every other Indian has this stereotype embedded in his/her mind, just through the Bollywood industry? Moreover, the author is of the opinion that colourism and racism is experienced much lesser in India, than it is abroad. Indians, are mostly made up of similar skin tones, and if anything, cases of colourism and racism are seemingly rare in India, compared to discrimination in terms of economic status, and other factors like caste. Despite all this, the handle goes on to say that colourism is mainly existing in the Indian society.

One more flaw I would like to point out in this attempt to portray India as a habitat of problems, is that the author has gone on to say that the media industry promotes fair skinned girls. In fact, everywhere in the article, it seems as though girls are the only ones subject to colourism and racism. There are no mentions of boys and colourism at all. If colourism is as rampant as they claim, how come they haven’t cited any examples of males facing the same issue? Moreover, it would be much appreciated if the author could clarify what is meant by “media industry”. The media industry, in my opinion, consists of the news outlets, social media, photography, and then cinema and advertising. The article just specified Bollywood, so how is it fair to pin the blame on the ENTIRE media INDUSTRY? How are news agencies, especially those of print media, portraying colourism? This statement is extremely vague, and supremely flawed.

The next part of the article is what I find most appalling. The article claims that colourism is a “synonym of ugliness in the NONSENSICAL culture of India”. This phrase, was something I couldn’t digest. First of all, calling colourism a synonym of our culture couldn’t be more wrong, for as I have explained above, colourism itself is an idea that came in from abroad, from the ruthless Mughals and the Britts. Secondly, in the very “nonsensical” Indian culture, one of the avatars of Vishnu, Krishna, himself means “dark”. The lord Jagannath himself is black in colour. Rama, another avatar of Vishnu is dark-skinned. And so is the goddess Kali. I see no way in which our “nonsensical” culture discriminates against those with darker skin tones. Moreover, even if there is any minute aspect of our culture that does so, it is absurd to call a whole culture nonsensical.

Not for a moment conceding that our culture exacerbates colourism, but there are flaws in every culture. In every religion. Pointing them out makes no impact whatsoever. One can, and should NEVER call a culture nonsensical, or anything that berates it, demeaning the thousands of scholars and learned men and women who dedicated their lives for a noble cause. By insulting the Indian culture, the author of this post, not only insulted millions of Hindus and Muslims, millions of Christians, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains and Buddhists, the author hurt the sentiments of our motherland. The author belittled each and every Indian, each and every nationalist, each and everyone who knows what Indian culture truly stands for.

This is something that the author has to take back. It is unacceptable. How much ever you may hate a culture, how much ever you might hate beliefs, or a certain way of life, you have NO RIGHT to demean it PUBLICALLY, under the blanket of “educating” and “raising awareness”, let alone “destigmatizing” these issues. If anything, you are simply “re-stigmatising” these issues. What different are you if you share your OPINIONS on a public domain, claiming to “educate” the masses? How are you different from the very Kangana Ranaut that you mock?

The next paragraph of this post however, is just even more puzzling. It states that girls who have immense sport potential, are told to stay indoors because they would otherwise tan their skin. Firstly, I would love it if the authors could give me a few examples of such absurd cases. Moreover, it cannot be generalized to an extent that it applies to India as a whole, because that is just plain wrong. Thirdly, scientific studies have proven that tanning, even naturally can be bad for you. Could the parents restricting the children not be protecting them from the harsh Ultra-violet rays of the sun? Moreover, why is it specified that only girls are restricted from doing so? This is a clear example of the author trying to again bring in the issue of gender equality. While I completely recognize gender equality as an issue, this is not the right way to portray it. Through these lines, India is being portrayed as a ridiculous, retarded country.

If parents, stopped their girls from playing sports, as this post suggests, I would love it if the author could explain to me, why India has produced the likes of Mary Kom, Mithali Raj, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Geeta Phoghat, Sakshi Malik and Deepika Kumari. Including gender equality under this so-called garb of “colourism” is plain wrong. There cannot be a more preposterous linkage between sports, gender equality and colourism. The authors clearly need to rethink their writing. Maybe back them up with facts next time instead of just stating an opinion. That helps nobody!

Hold on though! The next paragraph surpasses the other two in terms of absurdity. The paragraph goes on to state that in foreign countries, having dusky skin tones is an aspect of admiration. I would then like the author to explain to me why then, 96% of Americans agree that blacks face discrimination in the USA, why the former first lady of the USA herself states that she doesn’t feel safe while sending her kids alone, why what happened to the Breonna Taylors, the Daunte Wrights, the George Floyds happened, and why footballers in the UK are harassed simply because of their race. How come aboriginals are harassed due to race in Australia if what the post is saying is true?

The fact of the matter is, the post just wants to glorify other countries while stating that India is afflicted with problems galore. Not for one moment do I want to say that India has no problems. I want to state that glamorizing other countries at the behest of demoralizing and belittling all the Indians is just not acceptable. If having dusky skin tones is appreciated in foreign countries, why does racism exist in those foreign countries? State facts not fiction.

Finally, the post goes on to insult the Indian society, by saying that it is a society that has an expertise in making idiotic comments. Firstly, a comment like this is so very vague since no examples are provided. Moreover, even if this is true, you cannot make such a statement publicly, insulting everyone in the Indian society, just stating an opinion. State a fact and then claim to educate. Don’t spread awareness by sharing your opinions public ally. We don’t need that anymore. And neither do we want that anymore. Period.