Have you ever wondered what exactly racism is? Is it the act of discriminating an individual because of his race...or is it the deeper underlying belief that the race that you belong to is superior to all others?Would it still be racist if you believed that another race (not your own) was superior to the rest? Lets say you were Malay but you believed that Europeans/Caucasians was the superior race?
Rather apt picture isn't it...white eggs discriminating against a brown egg...not realising that they are all eggs anyway and once broken their yolks are still yellow. Sadly, even after years of so called "civilization" and "progress". Racism is still very much a problem for the human race...
And if broken and sliced open, we are all the same colour... Blood red and stone cold dead.
Lets not lie to ourselves...all of us are racist to a certain extent. Colour and culture still provoke responses in us that could only be termed as xenophobic at best and downright racist at worst. But what makes a person go the distance in racism? Openly putting down another because of his upbringing? Is it ignorance? Or is it the ingrained upbringing that your parents have gifted you with? I've seen racism deny someone a good future, stop people in love from getting married, and deny a person from getting a job that he deserves. What makes us go this extra step?
My friends and i openly call each other keling, apek, mamat and many other derogatory terms, but always with affection and a touch of humour...but we are brothers one and all...and we would stand by each other without a second thought.
Its the fools that use those terms and actually believe that they are superior than the rest that worry me.
If the hate is targeted at a race its called racism...but what if you hate Arabs from Saudi? Is that nationalism? What i find even more strange is that racism even exists between Muslims across the world...Something that our Prophet worked so hard to eradicate during his lifetime...I believe it was called Asabiyat ... Tribalism yes... but isn't that just a smaller form of racism?
And some of us are pathetic enough to think ourselves as good Muslims when we can't even "love our brothers in Islam as much as we love ourselves" (adaptation of a Hadith)
No judgement calls here...just generally wondering "what happened to the Ummah once known so well...greatness was known now can you tell?" (Outlandish featuring Sami Yusuf 'Closer than veins')
5 comments:
You echo my thoughts, man...
I had something like this in my 'Melting-Pot Bubbling Over' post but you've said it with a lot more depth.
Cool.
Theres a fine line between nationalism or feeling proud of who u are and where u come from AND down right racist... and there is never a black or white..
Its a great feeling to be proud of who you are, like how one can be proud to be chinese, indian, malay or arab even, but what is depressing is the fact that being proud of who u are makes u undermine the credibility of another race.. condemning them or judging them even before getting to know them..
I personally believe that yes we are racist to an extent and we say things like daym those bloody arabs or chinese sporeans are so kiasu.. all this can be regarded.. but if an arab or a sporean chinese stands infront of u offering his/her hand in friendship you wouldnt just turn ur back away and start blasting him with hatred just because he is from a certain race.. but sadly these things does happen..
Sometimes we are blinded by the blessing that God gave us, being created of a certain race or culture by bring disgrace to His blessing by being racist and prejudiced towards others..
I have seen endless issue of race being thrown here and there.. and as a good friend of mine says.. You cant judge a person based on his race because race is something that is God given and cant be changed...
You are a person with a great mind. You definitely express your message clearly. I agree with you that racism does exist among the Muslims. I did not realize this until I came to the States. There are some racial tensions among the African-Americans, the Africans, the Asians and the Arabs. It’s a sad reality that we all must face.
The Muslims are forgetting the Prophet message (peace be upon him):
"All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over a white - except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. "
Anyway, I would like to correct my previous statement: "African-Americans, the Africans, the Asians and the Arabs" to "Africans, Asians, and the Arabs."
Thank you again :) Can't wait to read your next blog.
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