Racism: A Product Of Economics In Modern Society?

[Khadim uz Zahra]

(bismillah)

 

(salam)

 

I made this observation about racism, and its causes, in another thread and I'd like you to discuss it. Do you agree or disagree?

 

 

If I were to go off on a tangent a bit, having lived in Africa among the worst victims of racism, if you were to leave preferences in terms of marriage because the "fairer skin" is seen as being more "beautiful", I'd say racism is all but dead. Now, don't mistake that for me saying blacks are not discriminated against. FAR FROM IT! You hear remarks about the how the Kalas (blacks in Urdu, Gujrati and other South East Asian languages) can notbe trusted, they are all thieves, blah, blah, blah, all the time! But, from my personal observations, however, the discrimination is not so much against black people as it is against the poor. Now, I am Pakistan so I can only talk about the Indo-Pak community but, among us, Kala is almost synonymous toservant - which, unfortunately, is what the occupation of the majority of the local population is (low level, unskilled labor) in their continent, while the foreigners brazenly claim "The country is yours, the money is ours." As such, a lot of the distrust for the blacks is because of their poverty and how, as a result, robberies have hit a record-high (this is only the condition of my country, the problem isn't as severe in the whole continent), so much so that you hear reports of maids stealing small amounts of flour from their employers' houses. This is what causes the distrust toward the servant/poorer people and since nearly all the servants are blacks and the word Kala is what we call our servants (I know, it's very racist!), you hear these statements against blacks. And, these statements are also the ones which form the foundation for racism within the communities. 

 

What makes me think the racism is more a product of economic differences than just a blind hatred of anyone with black skin is that while even though Irecognise it is racist, I have internalised a certain level of suspicion toward the working class as a result of this culture, I don't share the same suspicion when it comes to wealthier blacks who are my classmates. Of course, this is all just my personal experiences and is largely dependent on the economic relations between different ethnics groups in the country I live in alone and I am not as naive as Marx to attribute the whole of a social phenomenon to one cause only, I do believe this is, to differeing degrees in different environments, one of the major causes of (perceived) racism today. Since blacks are also relatively economically disadvantaged in places like the US and Europe, I do think that, perhaps to a lesser degree, this is also true beyond Africa and the Indo-Pak community.

Edited March 2, 2014 by Khadim uz Zahra

[notme]

Exactly right.

As a poor white person who has to struggle to overcome ingrained distrust of the wealthy, this seems spot-on to me.

[Reza]

Think of it this way. 

 

Does a rich white person in a country club relate more with a rich black person in a country club or a poor white person living in a trailer park?