There is racism in everyone

[LITTLEREDDOT]

The Hindu caste system is one of the worst discrimination. How can the Indians go around expressing disgust at the recent "racist" incidents when they themselves practice the caste system? Hypocrites.

What is India's caste system?​

Published19 June 2019
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India's caste system is among the world's oldest forms of surviving social stratification. The BBC explains its complexities.
The system which divides Hindus into rigid hierarchical groups based on their karma (work) and dharma (the Hindi word for religion, but here it means duty) is generally accepted to be more than 3,000 years old.

How did caste come about?​

Manusmriti, widely regarded to be the most important and authoritative book on Hindu law and dating back to at least 1,000 years before Christ was born, "acknowledges and justifies the caste system as the basis of order and regularity of society".
The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Many believe that the groups originated from Brahma, the Hindu God of creation.

At the top of the hierarchy were the Brahmins who were mainly teachers and intellectuals and are believed to have come from Brahma's head. Then came the Kshatriyas, or the warriors and rulers, supposedly from his arms. The third slot went to the Vaishyas, or the traders, who were created from his thighs. At the bottom of the heap were the Shudras, who came from Brahma's feet and did all the menial jobs.
The main castes were further divided into about 3,000 castes and 25,000 sub-castes, each based on their specific occupation.

Outside of this Hindu caste system were the achhoots - the Dalits or the untouchables.

How does caste work?​

For centuries, caste has dictated almost every aspect of Hindu religious and social life, with each group occupying a specific place in this complex hierarchy.
Rural communities have long been arranged on the basis of castes - the upper and lower castes almost always lived in segregated colonies, the water wells were not shared, Brahmins would not accept food or drink from the Shudras, and one could marry only within one's caste.

India's caste system is among the world's oldest forms of social stratification surviving to this day
The system bestowed many privileges on the upper castes while sanctioning repression of the lower castes by privileged groups.
Often criticised for being unjust and regressive, it remained virtually unchanged for centuries, trapping people into fixed social orders from which it was impossible to escape.
Despite the obstacles, however, some Dalits and other low-caste Indians, such as BR Ambedkar who authored the Indian constitution, and KR Narayanan who became the nation's first Dalit president, have risen to hold prestigious positions in the country.

Historians, though, say that until the 18th Century, the formal distinctions of caste were of limited importance to Indians, social identities were much more flexible and people could move easily from one caste to another.
New research shows that hard boundaries were set by British colonial rulers who made caste India's defining social feature when they used censuses to simplify the system, primarily to create a single society with a common law that could be easily governed.

Is the system legal?​

Independent India's constitution banned discrimination on the basis of caste, and, in an attempt to correct historical injustices and provide a level playing field to the traditionally disadvantaged, the authorities announced quotas in government jobs and educational institutions for scheduled castes and tribes, the lowest in the caste hierarchy, in 1950.

BR Ambedkar, a Dalit, authored India's constitution
In 1989, quotas were extended to include a grouping called the OBCs (Other Backward Classes) which fall between the traditional upper castes and the lowest.
In recent decades, with the spread of secular education and growing urbanisation, the influence of caste has somewhat declined, especially in cities where different castes live side-by-side and inter-caste marriages are becoming more common.
In certain southern states and in the northern state of Bihar, many people began using just one name after social reform movements. Despite the changes though, caste identities remain strong, and last names are almost always indications of what caste a person belongs to.

What about job quotas?​

In recent years, there have been demands from several communities to be recognised as OBCs - in 2016 there were violent protests by the Jat community in Haryana and the Patel community led huge protests in Gujarat in 2015 demanding access to caste quotas.

At least 18 people have been killed in violent protests by the Jat community in Haryana
Both are prosperous and politically dominant communities, but they support their demand for caste quotas by saying large numbers in their communities are poor and suffering.
Some say the caste system would have disappeared by now if the fires were not regularly fanned by politicians.
At elections, many caste groups still vote as a block and are wooed by politicians looking for electoral gains.
As a result, what was originally meant to be a temporary affirmative action plan to improve the lot of the unprivileged groups has now become a vote-grabbing exercise for many politicians.

 

[rushifa666]

I have said openly that if we were 100 per cent Chinese, we would do better. But we are not and never will be, so we live with what we have

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Racism exists

Racism exists but Singapore has made 'tremendous progress' in racial harmony: Shanmugam​

Images of two recent incidents of alleged racism in Singapore: A photo of injuries sustained by Mdm Hindocha Nita Vishnubhai on May 7, 2021 (left), and a screengrab of a man telling Mr Dave Parkash (in white) that it is "racist that Indians marry Chinese girls" (right). (Photo: Parveen Kaur; Screengrab: Facebook/Dave Parkash)
By Vanessa Lim@VanessaLimCNA
10 Jun 2021

SINGAPORE: While racism exists, Singapore has made "tremendous progress" in racial harmony over the years, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Thursday (Jun 10) in an interview with CNA938.
His comments follow recent incidents of alleged racism in public. Last week, a viral video emerged showing a man making racist remarks towards an interracial couple at Orchard Road.

In another incident last month, a 55-year-old woman was allegedly kicked and subjected to racial slurs by a 30-year-old man while she was brisk walking.
When asked during the interview if Singapore's racial harmony is on a knife-edge, Mr Shanmugam said: "I’ve always said there is racism in Singapore, but we are a better society than most other multi-racial societies that I know of.
"I mean, name me a society where there is no racism, which is multi-racial? I’ve felt that we have made tremendous progress."
He added: "Most people accept the norms of a multiracial society and we are making progress. The direction was positive and direction has been positive."

​

Mr Shanmugam had said last week following the incident at Orchard Road that he is "not so sure anymore" that Singapore is "moving in the right direction" on racial tolerance.
"It's the direction that I'm concerned about," he added on Thursday. "But as of today, I won’t say we are at knife-edge. I think that will be over-dramatising it."

Mr Shanmugam also said that people should call out racism and do it sensibly.
"When it's in the public square, I think you should call out, you should frown against it and you should take action where it breaches the law, because it is cancerous, it's divisive and it undermines the values of our society," he added.
On how the law deals with such incidents, Mr Shanmugam said there is a "fairly strict framework" in Singapore, but the country has to go beyond that to maintain racial harmony.
"Legal framework is one part of it, but the Government and society have to work very hard to maintain harmony. You can't bring about harmony and racial tolerance and acceptance just by having laws and enforcing them, you need to do much more," he said.
"The laws give the framework, the foundation, they are important, but you got to go beyond that. And the answer is not every time something happens, you charge," he added.
"When it is serious, investigations are conducted, then the Attorney General decides sometimes a warning, sometimes people are charged. But you are careful in the way you exercise that power."
Although the Government plays "an extremely important role" in safeguarding racial and religious harmony, Singaporeans have a part to play as well, Mr Shanmugam said.
"It’s not a subtraction from Singaporeans to say, 'I’m an Indian', 'I’m a Chinese', 'I’m a Malay', or sub-identities. Those are extremely important. They give us our cultural ballast," he said.
"But beyond that, we are also Singaporeans, and that is a common identity. We have to emphasise that common identity, even as we recognise, accept, emphasise our individual identities. We need to have that common vision to say, look, we want to build a system based on justice, equality, meritocracy, and where everyone can feel equal, and everyone can feel protected," he added.
"The Government has a huge role in articulating that vision and being fair."

NEED FOR DEEPER ENGAGEMENT
In a Facebook post earlier on Thursday, President Halimah Yacob said that while Singapore’s primary recourse has been the law and that those found guilty have been "rightly punished", this will not stop hate and chauvinism from perpetuating.
“It is agonising to read about the incidents of hatred and chauvinism perpetrated by Singaporeans against each other. Such displays are so hurtful because we thought that we had done so much to protect our cohesion until we are shaken from our belief,” she said.
“Our greatest fear is how such prejudice will affect our young and influence their minds. We wonder whether these are one-off incidents or reflective of a larger problem."
Mdm Halimah called for deeper engagements about why cohesion is important and what it means to be a truly multiracial and multi-religious society.
“We need this, as arguments such as the social media and the current pandemic as contributing factors, may mask the real issues," she said.
"In the meantime, let us start by being kinder to each other. We can control how we want to respond and do so in a constructive and meaningful way.”

 

[syed putra]

I have said openly that if we were 100 per cent Chinese, we would do better. But we are not and never will be, so we live with what we have

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Quote: "We are quick to deny we are biased, but we all have biases, especially implicit biases — attitudes that unconsciously and automatically influence our thoughts, actions and behaviours."


Commentary: To address racism, let’s start with some introspection
By EMILY ORTEGA
Published JUNE 16, 2021

Nuria Ling / TODAY
"Many of us fall prey to our biases that hold us back from making deeper connections with ourselves and the people around us. Worst of all, we do not realise this," says the author.

A video containing racist comments that went viral recently uncovered how some in Singapore truly feel about each other, based solely on race.

Social media comments on the video revolve around bigotry, recollections from some people of how they were called names before, what Mr Lee Kuan Yew said about race and so on.

The negative reactions are understandable because race is something people are asked to identify with, yet it is never to be discussed because it is a sensitive topic.

Instead of focusing on how we differ, we should look at our common denominator: Being human.

HOW OUR BRAINS ARE WIRED

When we see a fellow human being in front of us, our brains are wired to help us make snap decisions about that person.

So we form opinions, consciously or not, about others within seconds, and a lot of this information is based on what we can quickly deduce — gender, height, weight, race, age and nonverbal behaviours.

Research shows we can make judgments about others within 100 milliseconds, and as we spend more time with that person, our judgments can get more negative and we become more confident that our judgement is right.


Thereafter, the confirmation bias continues to fuel our beliefs and these ideas of racism quickly become a default way of thinking and being.

Many of us fall prey to our biases that hold us back from making deeper connections with ourselves and the people around us. Worst of all, we do not realise this.

We are quick to deny we are biased, but we all have biases, especially implicit biases — attitudes that unconsciously and automatically influence our thoughts, actions and behaviours.

Imagine if you see a 12-year-old Singaporean.

If I describe him as a Chinese boy wearing a well-pressed school uniform, you would probably assume he is smart and likely to be the top student in his school.

But if I describe him as Malay boy wearing sports attire, you would likely guess that maybe he is not doing so well in school and probably plays football on the school team.

The commonality is that they are both 12-year-old Singaporeans.

Yet with a simple description of their attire and race, we made a quick judgement. This is our implicit bias at work.

Implicit bias can result in intergroup preferences such as favouring one’s own group or the group that is valued by the mainstream.

Most critically, implicit bias influences the way we behave, think and feel about others.

Even if we are not favouring our own group, mainstream culture seems to guide us into making assumptions — Chinese = study; Malay = play football.

THERE IS HOPE

Despite this, implicit biases, whether positive or negative, are malleable and the good news is that we can reshape our beliefs with new associations.

One study found that exposure to admired individuals of the prejudiced group can reduce this bias.

So if we hear stories of Malay students doing well in school, or of the Chinese stars in our national football team, these can change our thinking.

Recent perspectives on implicit biases found that although our individual implicit biases may fluctuate greatly over time, it is actually the environment we are in that shapes these implicit biases.

So instead of joining in the debate, why not smash the stereotypes by taking a quiet moment to reflect on ourselves and the environments we are in?

SMASHING STEREOTYPES: START WITH YOURSELF

How can we be more aware of our implicit biases and ensure they are not influencing our thoughts, actions and behaviours?

Take a step back and challenge your own beliefs about others who are different from you, not just people from different races.

For this to happen, you must first know who you really are and not fall back on the race or major identifier that we belong to (“is it because I’m Chinese?”).

Challenge yourself to describe who you are, devoid of labels.

This exercise seems simple, but if you notice, many people commonly describe themselves using labels, such as “married with two kids” or their occupation, rather than describing who they are as a person.

Uncover your own daily patterns and habits, and reflect on how your experiences may have moulded your views, like how a negative perception of interracial marriages may have come about.

My non-Chinese father married my Chinese mother and although he was teased by my maternal grandparents who were not very supportive of their marriage initially, my father won them over.

My grandfather is not alive to attest to this, but I believe that back in the day, he thought that his daughter’s chances of leading a good life would be better if she was with someone of the same race because of the value of hard work that was associated with the early Chinese immigrants who came to Singapore.

My father showed these attributes were beyond race and quit his musician career to pursue his degrees.

Having a better understanding of yourself and your own family history will help you to gain greater perspective to see others for who they truly are and smash the stereotypes that you have been wrongly holding on to, while still staying true to your culture and heritage.

SMASHING STEREOTYPES: CHANGING THE ENVIRONMENT

In the social groups we belong to, let’s be proactive in getting rid of stereotypes to change the environment.

If you hear a derogatory term used to describe a particular race at home, start a conversation instead of laughing it off as a joke.

Explain to your children why it is not right to make fun of others because of their race.

If you feel you are being marginalised or given an unfair advantage because of race, speak up and start a conversation or take action (like my father did) to challenge the status quo.

Spread the right values so that you can avoid perpetuating stereotypes and even passing implicit biases to the next generation.

Unlike many others, I had to challenge racial ideals from a young age.

I am of mixed heritage and I am classified as, “Others, please specify” on official documents here in Singapore.

Ever since I was young, I never identified with any race or culture.

I could never (and still do not understand) why I need to tick “Others” on official documents and what it has to do with anything.

Most importantly, I have learnt to leave that racial classification solely on official documents — it is the only place it belongs.

Just because we have to tick boxes to identify with racial groups, it doesn’t mean we need to stay within these boxes.

Being of mixed heritage does not give me a “hall pass” for racial biases — it actually makes me more aware of different cultures and reminds me about how much more I have to learn about others.

The best thing we can do is to start conversations about race, take actions that go against stereotypes and learn from each other.

Change the environment and challenge our own implicit biases.

Focus on the similarities, not the differences.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dr Emily Ortega is the head of psychology programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

 

[bobby]

Places with references to races should also be abolished eg Little India, Chinatown etc etc

 

[syed putra]

Places with references to races should also be abolished eg Little India, Chinatown etc etc

PAP abolished malay kampungs only. Anything with malay were discarded. Like what xi jinping currently doing to uighyrs in xinjiang.

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

PAP abolished malay kampungs only. Anything with malay were discarded. Like what xi jinping currently doing to uighyrs in xinjiang.

Oh u cherry picking to say Malays are discriminated. How about Malays getting more public assistance than Chinese ?

Or how about Chinese schools being reduced?

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Places with references to races should also be abolished eg Little India, Chinatown etc etc

Halal eating places

 

[rushifa666]

Emioy ortega is spg. Shes a chink.

 

[Loofydralb]

Oh u cherry picking to say Malays are discriminated. How about Malays getting more public assistance than Chinese ?

That is provided for in the Constitution.

 

[eatshitndie]

When the eligibility to be a president is limited to one specific race group, don't turn around and claim others are racist hor!

not exactly limited to one race or ethnic group, but it’s on a rotational basis depending on the sequence or order:
(a) abang
(b) baba
(c) cina
(d) dalit
(e) eurasian

 

[syed putra]

Oh u cherry picking to say Malays are discriminated. How about Malays getting more public assistance than Chinese ?

Or how about Chinese schools being reduced?

That was a good thing as chinese schools propagate communism. Just look at jiu hu.
Whatever little benefit PAP gave, that was part of the deal granting non malays citizrnship in exchange for special privileges. Dontch like? Get out!
Unfortunately, the reverse occured. Land seizure, ethnic cleansing of malay majority constituencies, forced dispersal.

 

[steffychun]

 

[Leckmichamarsch]

PAP abolished malay kampungs only. Anything with malay were discarded. Like what xi jinping currently doing to uighyrs in xinjiang.

PAP done the right thing....still a few melayu to go: masagos, zagy, maliki, tarmugi

 

[Leckmichamarsch]

Oh u cherry picking to say Malays are discriminated. How about Malays getting more public assistance than Chinese ?

Or how about Chinese schools being reduced?

sub std melayu oso promoted skyhigh
if they were Chinese, can wait until the cows come home!

 

[melzp]

Pap shot its own foot in Pres thingy and will never ever recover unless it amputate it.

 

[Leckmichamarsch]

Pap shot its own foot in Pres thingy and will never ever recover unless it amputate it.

Puki Limah???????????

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Quote: "Associate Professor Setoh Peipei, 42, who led the research, said her team's findings are consistent with the findings around the world "where pre-schoolers favour their own-gender and own-race children, and prefer to befriend native speakers of their language over children with foreign accents"."

Preference for one's own race and gender is world-wide, so stop making out Sinkies Chinese to be racists.

Children in Singapore as young as 3 show racial preference​

Results of NTU study consistent with global findings – that kids favour peers of same gender, race​

I
t is important to ensure activities encouraging children to interact across races spur positive and meaningful interaction.

Sandra Davie
Senior Education Correspondent

JUN 25, 2021


SINGAPORE - Pre-school children here can develop racial preferences by the age of three, especially if they belong to the majority race, a study by Nanyang Technological University has found.
The study showed that Chinese children in pre-schools, unlike their Indian peers, showed implicit bias (unconscious attitudes) and explicit bias (overt biased behaviours) favouring their own race.
Associate Professor Setoh Peipei, 42, who led the research, said her team's findings are consistent with the findings around the world "where pre-schoolers favour their own-gender and own-race children, and prefer to befriend native speakers of their language over children with foreign accents".
The study here involved 158 children - 87 Chinese and 71 Indians, aged three to six, from more than 10 pre-schools.
The children were asked to complete three tasks. First, they had to match different faces to the two races. Next, researchers measured their response time in associating positive and negative stimuli - using a smiley cartoon face and a sad face - with photographs of people from both races.
Finally, the children were given the choice of an adult from each race and asked to pick who they preferred as their music teacher, doctor or swimming coach.

Most of the children in Prof Setoh's study could categorise the races correctly, with both Chinese and Indians on a par in the task.
In the second task, though, Chinese children were quicker in associating positive stimuli with faces of their own race, while the Indian children did not show any favouritism towards either race.
In the last task, Chinese children chose the Chinese adults more than half of the time, whereas Indian children had no obvious preference.
Prof Setoh explained that the Chinese children studied tend to favour their own race, probably because they are the majority racial group in Singapore.
"It's due to familiarity and exposure. Being a majority group, the Chinese pre-schoolers are more exposed to people of their own racial group and children have a preference for more familiar categories," she said.
The study was published in 2017 in Child Development, among the world's most prestigious journals in the field of child psychology. Prof Setoh added that she and her team are now conducting follow-up research into what can be done for interracial integration.
She stressed that the bias - or the lack of it - also depends on whether parents and teachers are good role models. "Children are watching and learning from us - parents' and teachers' verbal and non-verbal actions can influence children's biases."
She stressed that the larger society too has a role to play.
"In order for parents' and educators' positive actions to have broad and lasting impact, they need to be incorporated by other levels of society. So, we need to work together as a society, across various levels. The stories we tell, social media, public education, news editorials - all influence our thinking and ideas."
When asked about activities for students to interact across races, she said research shows that it is important to ensure that the activities encourage positive and meaningful interaction among children of different races, such as cooperating on a task.
"While teaching children about distinct ethnic practices, festivals, food and costumes of different races teaches cross-cultural appreciation, it may inadvertently promote categorisation. It may be important to also point out what all the ethnic groups share in common."
She said racial bias is a complex problem, and Singaporeans need to work together to develop and test solutions that will work.
"Every country's context is different. We need to conduct our own careful research to generate knowledge and evidence, within our own context, in real-life settings, to carefully examine what works and what does not."

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Why are we publishing such shit?