[Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist

[Sudeep K S]

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 7:33 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Dear Sudeep
>
> If you have other ghosts or realities troubling you, that is a separate
> issue. Let us keep it simple as far as the cartoon strip is concerned.
>

Exactly. That is what I said to Karthik also. There  are many realities that
trouble me (and probably that holds for Karthik, Subhrodip and you also),
and there could be many realities that trouble him. But the point of
discussion here (that I started out, with a reference to that cartoon strip)
was that the cartoonists'  comments are racist.


> If someone finds a silhouetted Mayawati 'ugly' then that is how they see
> it. Nothing 'racist' about it, silhouettes have no colour, or caste, or
> creed or ethnicity.
>

Ok.. 'that is how they see it'. I agree till that part. My question now is
that what would make Mayavati's looks 'ugly' to some people (here, Jug
Suraiya and Neelabh). Why are certain figures considered ugly by people?
Could it be because that kind of looks are not very common or are not
considered so beautiful in their own community and they refuse to accept the
fact that the same looks could be very common and 'normal' for someone who
does not belong to that community?

It is this *refusal to understand and accept the differences (in looks, in
colour, in culture)* that I find *racist*. I can and will say that any
number of times. And in western societies, such a cartoon strip would have
caused a big furore. Because even if many of them are racist, they are
better aware what constitutes racism, and what would not pass off so easily
in a public space like a newspaper cartoon strip.

Regards
Sudeep


If someone finds "some" statues of Mayawati 'ugly', well they find them
> 'ugly'. What is racist about that?
>
> For that matter If someone were to percieve Mayawati herself as an 'ugly
> looking' person then that is how he/she sees it. What is racist about that?
>
> No question that we have many examples of 'racism' in India, but please
> dont see it everywhere.
>
> Kshmendra
>
> --- On *Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S <sudeep.ks at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Sudeep K S <sudeep.ks at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are
> racist
> To: "Kshmendra Kaul" <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
> Cc: reader-list at sarai.net
> Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 6:46 PM
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 6:37 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com<http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=kshmendra2005@yahoo.com>
> > wrote:
>
>>   Dear Sudeep
>>
>> Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see
>> anything RACIST in the cartoon strip.
>>
>> Kshmendra
>>
>
> Ok.. let us try to come to a common platform before arguing over a word.
> What do you mean by the word RACIST? According to you, what all would come
> under racism?
>
> After listening to your answer, I can try to explain better why I feel this
> cartoon (and also many Delhiites' attitude towards 'South Indians' or many
> Europeans' attitude towards Indians) is absolutely racist in nature. I would
> also like to fight a case in the court, it is just that I do not have enough
> money or time for that.
>
> love
> sudeep
>
>
>> From: Sudeep K S <sudeep.ks at gmail.com<http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sudeep.ks@gmail.com>
>> >
>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are
>> racist
>> To: "Kshmendra Kaul" <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com<http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=kshmendra2005@yahoo.com>
>> >
>> Cc: reader-list at sarai.net<http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=reader-list@sarai.net>
>> Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM
>>
>>
>> Dear Kshemendra,
>>
>> 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the
>> cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness.
>>
>> Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever
>> features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'.
>> This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans
>> face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory
>> 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi.
>>
>> If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on
>> the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what,
>> this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness
>> about racism.
>>
>> See the complete strip here:
>>
>> "What? Me? A Racist?"
>>
>> http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf
>>
>> Regards
>> Sudeep
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com<http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=kshmendra2005@yahoo.com>
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>   The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly
>>> the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning
>>> Mayawati as "ugly".
>>>
>>> But, what is racist about the cartoon?
>>>
>>> Kshmendra
>>>
>>> --- On *Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S <sudeep.ks at gmail.com<http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sudeep.ks@gmail.com>
>>> >* wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> From: Sudeep K S <sudeep.ks at gmail.com<http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sudeep.ks@gmail.com>
>>> >
>>> Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist
>>> To: reader-list at sarai.net<http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=reader-list@sarai.net>
>>> Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM
>>>
>>>  http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>