{"id":86703,"date":"2019-03-24T23:22:37","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T05:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=86703"},"modified":"2019-03-23T19:09:13","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T02:09:13","slug":"sri-lanka-race-racial-prejudice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/03\/24\/sri-lanka-race-racial-prejudice\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka: Race &amp; Racial Prejudice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/JimCrowLaws-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"86705\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?attachment_id=86705\" class=\"wp-image-86705\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/JimCrowLaws-2.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/JimCrowLaws-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/JimCrowLaws-2-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><figcaption>Racial segregation laws in the US that required racial separation in public schools, public places, public transportation, restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The subject of race &amp; racial prejudice in Sri Lanka will not be understood unless we have a clear idea of how race &amp; racial prejudiced traveled through history &amp; time to be embedded into society &amp; the psyche of people. We continue to return to colonial rule where every ill the world suffers today \u2013 from ethnic tensions, artificial borders &amp; boundaries, plunder of resources, racial prejudices etc were all part of the divide &amp; rule strategies that have traversed through time, the colonial administrative &amp; educational &amp; religious ideological systems that were rolled out in every country except for the 11 nations that were never colonized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>UNESCO\nDeclaration on Race &amp; Racial Prejudice in 1978 claims its objective of\npromoting collaboration among nations through education, science &amp; culture\nfor the rule of law &amp; human rights &amp; fundamental freedoms without\ndistinction of race, sex, language or religion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before\nthe age of discovery &amp; before Western European explorers advocated the\n\u2018doctrine of discovery\u2019 of lands that were already inhabited going so far as to\ndeclare it their right to convert natives or murder those that refused to be\nconverted \u2013 people lived without any of the nomenclatures now in vogue in the\nhalls of the UN &amp; international systems all of which were created by the\n\u2018victors\u2019 of world wars completely ignoring the native &amp; indigenous laws,\ncustoms, systems that were followed by them and were successful to such extents\nthat they had no prisons, they required no lawyers, they had no police,\nsurveillance, cameras etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Exactly\n<strong>when did racism and the use of racism\noriginate?<\/strong> So far as records reveal the use of the term racism began when\ncolonials who were illegally occupying territories &amp; nations went so far as\nto even commence census with race &amp; caste being demarcated. Though caste\nexisted in ancient times it was only used to identify people &amp; not project\na notion of superior\/inferiority as happened during colonial rule &amp; this set\nthe foundation for the mentality to think racially, to think of people as being\ninferior or superior &amp; subject them to a new class of haves \u2013 have nots \u2013\nrich-poor-middle class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All\nthese terms were coined by Western European rulers and used as part of their\ndivide &amp; rule strategy. However, <strong>so long as the originators of these terms do not accept their\naccountability in dividing the world, societies, people etc we will never find\na solution to the problem. <\/strong>More importantly, <strong>the problem creators have no moral right in championing any solution\nknowing they are the cause of the problem (s) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Who started institutionalized racism &#8211;\nthe West.<\/strong>&nbsp; Apartheid, racial segregation in USA, humans categorized\nas blacks, browns, yellows &amp; slaves, put into zoos &amp; charged fees for\nwhite audiences to gloat over, slave trade \u2013 all of these were embedded into\nsociety by the white colonial rulers &amp; the systems they created. Not only\ndid the white colonial rulers segregate people classifying them but they\nintroducing institutionalized system to make these segregations official. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\nus also not forget that man evolved in Africa \u2013 therefore, Africans spread to\nall corners of the world some 48,000 years ago to start different\ncivilizations. 100% white skinned people emerged only some 3000 years ago. Europe\nwas occupied by black-skinned people for some 48,000 years <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\nus not forget the many tribes &amp; races that the Western European explorers\nmade extinct in South Americas, Australia\/New Zealand &amp; even Africa &amp;\nparts of Asia. Even their ancient languages, heritage &amp; cultures were made\nextinct as well. What happened to the ancient civilizations of Incas, Aztecs\netc after Europeans landed on their original habitats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\nus not forget that any convention cannot omit to hold to account all nations\nthat committed genocide as a policy. What we see today happening is media hype\nabout \u2018genocide\u2019 with no proper evidence as seen in the lies flagged about\nSrebrenica genocide or the 40,000 \u2018genocide\u2019 in Sri Lanka. However, under white\ncolonial rule millions of people were exterminated by evil methods the white\nrulers created. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\nus not forget more Germans died after the World War ended than during the war \u2013\nmore than 2m German women were said to have been raped. What was done as accountability\nfor these crimes? Just because the white rulers committed the crime the excuse\ncannot be let past be forgotten! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Let us also not forget that part of the\ndivide &amp; rule policy of the Western explorers was to remove the heritage\nculture, traditions &amp; denationalize the natives<\/strong>. Therefore, how can the UN claim to protect cultures\n&amp; seek international cultural cooperation while ignoring these ground\nrealities? <strong>No culture can be brought to\none platform and made equal to another. <\/strong>Every culture is unique &amp; the\nneed is to ensure everyone learns to respect other cultures without trying to\ndestroy, remove, dilute or transfer another culture to replace it. Forced\nassimilation is what happened to natives forced to accept &amp; embrace Western\ncultures that were foreign to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How racially tolerant is the first\nworld West that keeps pointing fingers at non-Western developing world nations?<\/strong> Of the 2.2m prison population in US close to 30% are\nblacks. Statistics reveal disproportionate arrests of non-whites, attacks on\nnon-whites, employment discriminations at every level, difference in salaries\nto non-whites as well as lower wages for females doing same job as males. Statistics\nin EU &amp; UK also reveal similar racial discrimination \u2013 racial gestures,\ncomments, threats, unable to rent homes because of their skin colour etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Stereotype racial discriminations are\nembedded into media\/communications &amp; educational systems<\/strong> as well \u2013 everything good is projected as white \u2013\neverything bad is projected as black so psychologically from childhood onwards\nthe presumption is that whites are the preferred people. The same media tends\nto always scoff at the traditions &amp; cultures of developing world to the\nlevel that they are primitive \u2013 this is a carried forward from the \u2018white man\u2019s\nburden\u2019 notion of \u2018civilizing\u2019 non-whites that was prevalent in colonial rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No\nuniversal declaration using fancy terms &amp; slogans can erase the fact that\ncountries of the West are continuing colonial endeavors through neo-colonial\nimperialism where with the power of institutional financial bodies developing\nworld are kept in debt repaying interests on the loans taken while the loan\nwhich is created money ends up subjecting countries to various structural\nadjustments that reduce the quality of life to their citizens \u2013 removal of\nnational welfare schemes, free health, free education, various handouts by the\ngovernment to the poor &amp; impoverished are always insisted to be cut by\nthese international institutions. Why? Isn\u2019t the outcome creating a bigger\nbridge &amp; inequality with rich getting richer &amp; poor getting poorer.\nWhere has the world actually progressed when OXFAM says <strong>1% own the accumulated wealth of the 99% in the world \u2013 8 men own\nwealth of accumulated wealth of world\u2019s 3.5billion people. <\/strong>How inequal is\nthe world inspite of all the equality slogans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With\nthese ground realities we look at Sri Lanka\u2019s case of racism &amp; racial\ndiscrimination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\nare 3 main ethnic groups in Sri Lanka of which the majority is Sinhalese &amp;\nthe minority ethnic groups are Tamil &amp; Muslims while in terms of religion\nBuddhists are the majority &amp; Hindus, Islam &amp; Christianity\/Catholicism\nare the minorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone\nwho advocates notion of Sri Lanka having racial or religious discrimination has\nto first answer these questions<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What is it that\nthe minorities exclusively suffer because they are a minority that the majority\ndoes not suffer because they are the majority? <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What are grievances\nexclusive to the minorities that the majority does not equally suffer<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What are the\nspecial privileges accrued to the majority because they are a majority that\nwhich is denied to the minorities because they are a minority?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The constitution\nof Sri Lanka gives right of freedom to all citizens to live where they like \u2013\ncan Sinhalese live &amp; own land in the North &amp; parts of East without\nhaving to face protests, demonstrations &amp; abuse by minorities? <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Can Sinhalese\nbuy land, start business ventures, live &amp; work in parts of North &amp; East\nas easily as minorities can buy land, start business, live &amp; work in parts\nof South<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Have the\nmajority built places of religious worship as many as the minorities have built\naround the island in the past 20 years?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Is the strategy\nof the minorities to indulge in unfair practices &amp; then when fault is\npointed use \u2018minority being discriminated\u2019 card locally &amp; internationally\n&amp; push for a compromise that wins them something illegal &amp; questionable\nthat they tried to get &amp; now getting it officially because they cried \u2018minority\nbeing discriminated\u2019 scaring Sinhala politicians into inactions! <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do media cover\nwrongs (grievances) to majority proportionate to the ethnic ratio through their\nmedia channels? <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do Sinhalese\npoliticians voice grievances of majority as boldly as minority politicians\nunfairly make demands?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do minorities\nget treated in the majority areas as the majority get treated if they go to\nnon-majority areas?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do majority\nvoters vote only because the politician belongs to their community?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do minority\nvoters vote only because the politician belongs to their community?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All\nthose who promote notion of discrimination must first explain the number of\nminorities holding positions in Govt, public sector, private sector from junior\nto senior positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every\nallegation that has been presented &amp; promoted over the years can be easily\nnegated by evidence based examples &amp; if international agencies &amp; UN\nshed their bias and stuck to collecting data &amp; evidence instead of\npromoting slogans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The subject of race &amp; racial prejudice in Sri Lanka will not be understood unless we have a clear idea of how race &amp; racial prejudiced traveled through history &amp; time to be embedded into society &amp; the psyche of people. We continue to return to colonial rule where every ill the world suffers today [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1498,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shenali-waduge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86703\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}