As a country we have reached new heights, achieved milestones and made an everlasting impression on the world but somehow somewhere as a country with new ideas and a relatively young population we fail. It is with utmost regret that I have to say that we are possibly the most racist bunch in the world. While some may argue that we aren’t as bad as Neo Nazis or white supremacists the truth is we are far worse than them.
Our Upbringing, our surroundings and the whole environment around us has made us this way. Be it regional or international our discrimination has no bounds. Be it from the TV shows which shows the most retarded stereotypes of a community or from the headlines like ‘ African students lynched by mob in Noida’ we have proven how racist and short sighted we are. At the end of the day the international community will overlook our achievements and learn only about these incidents which tarnish our not so admirable reputation. We are already a country thought to be full of Perverts and Rapists, do we really need a ‘Racist’ tag to it. It was really nice to see that people were condemning these attacks on African students, it showed that we cared. Unfortunately it didn’t matter as these were the same people who were sharing posts on facebook with African men and women with the caption asking to tag someone with her of course as a joke, a disgusting tasteless joke. Would we have felt the same way if Indians were used to tag white people as a joke implying we are ugly or disgusting. No we’d fill facebook, twitter, reddit, pintrest and every other social media platform imaginable with a tirade of angry posts. So why this level of Hypocrisy.
If you thought that Ok we’re racist towards foreigners then again you’re wrong. We’re racist to our countrymen too. I’ll not talk about the people from North East because however much I talk about the discrimination they face it will not be enough. From childhood we are taught by parents,relatives, friends whomever to stay away from people of different culture. We are taught Bihari and UPites are violent and uneducated, Punjabis are loud and drug addicts, Bengalis are Snobs and perverts, South Indians are ugly and rude, Marathis hate people from other culture, Gujratis are misers and money hungry jackals, the list goes on an on. It doesn’t matter how far this is from the truth, these are imprinted in our minds as a child and this molds our thoughts as we grow up. Hard as it may be to digest this is the truth. The facts that when we go outside and meet people from other culture who don’t match this stereotype surprises us again states the fact how discrimination is deep rooted in our psyche. I’d rather not get into the whole gender discrimination thing because as a male I’d be ashamed of the atrocities of our gender towards women.
So what is the solution. Anyone would say Exposure, Open mindedness and use other big words which have really convoluted meanings is the solution,
which is again wrong. This comes from your upbringing and your environment so you learn to tolerate and respect others on your own(or perhaps a girl you like who is really into these stuff which was my case). No one helps you. This article may seem as a cynical and pessimistic outlook on our country’s culture but it’s the cold hard truth. My personal advice is treat others how you want to be treated just like Confucius says, that helped me in life to avoid any discrimination perhaps this will help you too.