Britain Racist! ... No ... really?

The Indian press is telling their public that the average Brit is a racist. No! It can't be, can it? The civilized British. What is going on?


Well it seems that elite India was quite busy and happy kissing the ass of the West when a couple of Brit racists on the show "Celebrity Big Brother" said some nasty things to Bollywood actress, and contestant, Shilpa Shetty.

Now many of the Indian global-society-wannabees are really miffed. And confused too. After all, Shetty is not a "dog" and certainly not a "Paki" like those brutes on the show said.

Of course, it would take a racist slight against a Bollywood star, although admittedly a B-lister, to press the reality that to racists it does not matter whether you are an "Indian coolie" or a "Paki".

But given that India is propogating the nonsense that it is a global player and emerging world power, the elite in New Delhi can be found smarting over the 'insult' that Shetty could be 'confused' with a "Paki".

My unsolicited advice to the elite establishment is to get a grip on reality.

One would think that those who are so surprised at the racist remarks aimed at Shetty, and Indians by proxy, have been sleeping through six centuries of racism.


How short a memory can one have? Well pretty short really. Take our own venerable Nelson Mandela and his agreement to associate his revered name with that diabolical British racist, Cecil John Rhodes. See the Mandela-Rhodes foundation page: http://www.rhodestrust.org.za/mrf/westminster.html

Oh my dear Madiba have we just sold our souls on the platter of market dreams and its drivel? How can we forget that it was Rhodes who pilfered our continent while boasting that he "preferred land to niggers"?

I can understand that Clinton is a proud Rhodes Scholar. In fact, it goes a long way to explain how his duplicitous global integration politics ignored the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi.

But should we not know better? And should Indians not know better too? It is time to take a step back from the mad rush toward neo-liberalism that erases our histories in favor of being 'in-step' with the West.

And while we are working off the shock at being regarded as just 'Pakis' or 'niggers' in Britain (and the US of course) this could be a valuable time to deal more honestly with the ongoing racism, casteism, ethno-centrism, sexism, etc, in South Africa and India.

Would the elite caste and its establishment in India even have raised an eyebrow if it were not one of their 'fair-skinned' celebrities who was discriminated against? I have my doubts.

It is exactly this demogaphic that ignores, and even legitimizes on the basis of religion, the violence perpetrated against Dalit/untouchable women on a daily basis. And I am cognizant of abuse/violence against Dalit/untouchable women by Dalit/untouchable men. But for the purpose this post, I am primarily drawing attention to the violence by upper-caste Brahmins against Dalit/untouchable women.

Dalit/untouchable women are routinely beaten on the streets and even prohibited from entering temples, and other religious sites, that are open to upper-caste women. See this article in the Hindustan Times for a recent example of this practice: http://hindustantimes.com/news/181_1573805,000900030010.htm

See also the Guardian International's coverage of sexual violence against Dalit/untouchable women: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,487854,00.html


Light skin Indian women with some European features, like Shetty here, are what a commentator defined as "the holy grail that every Indian man wants to marry." Bollywood, in particular, often uses even white women from the West as extras to 'color' the background scenery of their mostly tedious productions. This is true for the advertizing industry in India as well. It is not surprising to find billboards selling products that are featured alongside white models. Even inside of many department type stores you will find manequins with decidedly white features.

The prejudicial conditioning to articulate the beauty of whiteness, and what can be considered to be its likeness, is a rationalization widely placed throughout India.

On the other hand, Dalit/untouchable women are the so called "polluted caste" and even though you find them toiling in back-breaking labor everywhere (including prestigious JNU) they are made and kept invisible.

See this Human Rights Watch discussion of Dalit/untouchable women: http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/india/India994-11.htm


Instead, and without down playing the racism involved, the Shetty affair has garnered the attention of even the top brass in the Indian government. Yes, the Indian government approached their counterparts in Britain for an explanation. Blair said he did not see the show but that Britain does not tolerate racism. And the next probable Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who was travelling inside India at the time, agreed with Blair.

See this article for Brown's view: http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sunder_katwala/2007/01/post_955.html

All I can say to either apologist is that Britain would not exist, or function alongside the US in global affairs, were it not for racism.


Shetty for her part has forgiven the offenders. The main culprit, Jane Goody (in picture), was evicted by voting viewers yesterday. She did however apologize for her actions, though like all racists, she does not consider herself racist. See this report on Goody: http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=349195&archisec=ENT&archisubsec=1

And if you really must, check out this blog for more on the Shetty affair and the contestants, including Jermaine Jackson ... huh?: http://soapster.co.uk/


Shetty, in true colonized logic, offered her forgiveness despite the humiliation that persists. This kind of logic, and spirituality too, goes back to Gandhi who never met a racist he could not adore and embrace with his contrived notions of 'truth'.



But curiously even Gandhi, an upper caste Brahmin, was not entirely willing to condemn the practice of casteism. This makes Gandhi a not-so-favourite national figure among many Dalits/untouchables. See for example his notorious engagement and disagreements with Dalit leader, Amdedkar (in picture), on issues of caste and Hinduism.

See this site for correspondence between Ambedkar and Gandhi: http://www.mkgandhi.org/Selected%20Letters/amb-gandhi%20corr..htm


While living in South Africa, Gandhi also mostly ignored the condition of Blacks while pledging support for the British Empire. He and followers carried wounded and dead British soldiers off the battle field during the Boer War to show their support for Britain. In his autobiography he even mentions that he considered the act of carrying these combatants as an honor. This 1899 picture captures Gandhi in Indian Ambulance Corps uniform. This is the same man who then went on to be disappointed that the British Empire did not respond to his show of duty with measured kindness.

He would continue to face whites who beat him and spit on him in public. All the while though he was convinced that his method of "truth" would eventually win over their racist minds. He was wrong.

But now again, under the same contrived logic, Brahim Gandhians are agonzing in passivity and love about the racism illustrated in the Shetty affair. They too want to reach white folks and tell them about the wonders of "Incredible India" and its people. For this reason, though it can also be construed as a sarcastic slap, Indian tourism invited Goody and the other racists to visit India after their duties on the show is over.

This reaching out to whiteness and begging for conditioned acceptance is a longstanding tradition among elite Indians.

This they do while so notoriously supporting, and ignoring at best, the abject suffering of millions of Dalit/untouchable women who suffer under their feet and upturned noses.