The Good Immigrant Read online

  The South Asian non-binary and trans ‘performance art duo’ DarkMatter tweeted on May 30th, 2014, ‘Hinduism is a huge and complex and contradictory religion but it has been repurposed by upper caste for nationalism #NoHindutva’, which was just one of a series of tweets about casteism.55 It’s evident that the issue of casteism and exploring methods to undo the poisonous nature of this obsolete and divisive structure is one that younger people prioritise. While conversations about casteism by white people and non-South Asian people of colour can easily careen into racist, xenophobic, or culturally insensitive sentiment, that does not mean that the conversation should not be held at all. It should be led by people who bear the brunt of casteism: lower castes, depressed classes, Dalits.

  After the supposed end of the caste system in India, a system akin to positive discrimination emerged there, a so-called ‘quota system’. This was developed to help disadvantaged castes succeed without regard to their social status. The system created groups of ‘Other Backward Classes’, ‘Scheduled Castes’, and ‘Scheduled Tribes’. Though it was intended to counter years of oppression of lower castes,56 systems such as this one are not always successful. Despite attempting to mitigate institutional oppression, putting people in a workplace where they might be assumed to be there only because of this, brings about its own issues. Quite a few instances of everyday casteism mentioned on Dutt’s blog discuss problems with the quota system. Some of them expressed worry about accepting scholarships because they had been pretending to be Brahmin.57

  In Dutt’s Huffington Post article ‘Today, I’m Coming Out As Dalit’, she articulates the struggle of passing. ‘I was born in a Dalit family in Ajmer, Rajasthan. And I grew up learning to hide it. My convent school education, a non-Dalit-sounding last name, and a skin colour that was “dusky but still not dirty”, eased my passing as a non-Dalit,’58 Dutt writes. She also mentions that early in her career as a journalist she wrote about things associated with upper castes that she thought would help her continue to pass as non-Dalit, such as ‘fashion and lifestyle’.59

  One thing that Vemula’s suicide did for Dalits such as Dutt was remind them that their pain was rooted in oppression: not in shame or the notion that they are ‘dirty’. This victim-blaming mentality echoes the negatives of colonialism too. Removing the actual source of the blame serves to place it on those who are experiencing the most pain in society; the most marginalised. Vemula’s suicide is still a tragedy, but with young trailblazers and activists like Dutt, there is a chance that he might be one of the last. What Dutt, Documents of Dalit Discrimination, and other Dalits who are seeking self-empowerment and community empowerment are doing is similar to what Dr Ambedkar argued for.60 He stressed that he wished for Dalits to gain ‘self-pride, self-improvement, and self-confidence so as to have an equal share in society’.61

  The census imposed on India by the British Empire in 1871 served to solidify the institutionalisation of caste for years to come, many remnants of which have survived into the modern era. The way the caste system manifests itself today is the combined product of both the British and privileged Indians. Another article that followed Vemula’s suicide makes this clear: ‘The discussion surrounding the suicide on the other hand is evidence of the colonial hangover our society suffers from; of our incapability to elucidate societal divisions without resorting to the concept of caste, which was born out of a combined effort on the part of the British and the Brahmins to maintain governing status in the country’.62 The first census in 1871 counted and classified Indian people based on caste, which contributed to the institutionalisation of the caste system under British colonial rule.

  This step to maintain British and Brahmin Indian power demonstrates the British involvement in modern casteism, and they must be held accountable. The British also used other means of classifying Indians63 as they had with many other colonised populations, including skin colour/shade, head measurements, body measurements, and other objectifying means, designed to help determine physical traits and their supposed relation to caste. This embodied archaic distinctions anthropologists used to separate ‘Negroids’, ‘Mongoloids’, ‘Iranids’, and other offensive racial classifications. Western colonialism stunted many societies’ ability to advance by enforcing regressive views on race, gender, and sexuality. Though some may try to argue that colonialism was, on balance, a good thing (a sentiment that derives from the British believing they abolished ‘uncivilised’ cultural practices), the fact of the matter is that the British ruled with an ardent cruelty that stemmed from their inflated sense of racial superiority,64 and they passed this attitude on to Brahmins (not to mention that the notion of the British ‘civilising’ other cultures is inherently racist).

  While Gandhi was regarded as a bastion of peaceful protest who fought against the evil British Empire, his methods left many unsatisfied, including Dr Ambedkar. Granted, Gandhi’s efforts ameliorated the anti-colonialism movement but that does not automatically render him unaccountable for his casteism. Gandhi opposed Dr Ambedkar’s demand for separate electorates for the Dalits, dating back to 1931 at the Second Round Table Conference in London.65 Dalits then protested against Gandhi’s stance on this situation upon his return to Mumbai. And when the lower and depressed classes were given separate electorates, Gandhi went on a petulant hunger strike in protest until Dr Ambedkar relented. Dr Ambedkar was concerned that without their own electorate, the Dalits would remain ‘at the mercy of the Hindus’ and, with hindsight, it looks as though his fears were justified. Gandhi, on the other hand, believed that ‘untouchability’ would soon be a thing of the past.66 The reframing and manipulation of history has been in Gandhi’s favour. A hunger strike is seen to be a valiant form of political defiance and this further romanticises perceptions of Gandhi. This sentiment is not shared by the lower castes, however, as their lack of political power remains unaltered.

  Despite the part the British played in helping to reinforce this caste discrimination, the racism practised by white British people extends to all, not just those of a lower caste. Racial discrimination does not distinguish between Dalits and Brahmins; to racists, all Indians are the same. Even when the politics of respectability encourage variation in the way Indians of different castes or socio-economic status are treated in Britain, the end result is still racial discrimination.

  Racism in society often works through a divide and conquer strategy, more often than not it is also intertwined with classism as well as other forms of oppression. Structural racism can divide a community that would be stronger together, by keeping individual groups entrenched in their own class – in this case, caste discrimination. This form of racism combined with the inflated white British sense of self-importance means that from the outside it appears that they dismiss casteism without holding themselves accountable. In some ways, one could argue that lingering caste discrimination in the UK is fortified by British classism – a capitalist structure that seeks to segregate people without any chance of social mobility is very reminiscent of the Indian caste system.

  British Indians are the largest minority community in Britain67 and while most young British Indians may not pay much mind to the caste system, they are no doubt still on the receiving end of its negative effects as it manifests in many ways. Although children are independent and formulate their own opinions, watching their elders partake in the caste system can leave a lasting impression and encourage them to become directly complicit in casteism. Their privilege as upper-caste Indians gives them an arbitrarily higher status over other Indian children who might have to resort to hiding their caste, even in a country where the Indian caste system is not a familiar concept. Those who are conscious of, and engage in, the boundaries that casteism presents, perpetuate discriminatory and odious practices such as forbidding inter-caste marriage so as not to ‘spoil’ a bloodline. But the divide extends beyond marital relationships as higher castes make efforts to exclude lower castes from partaking in events and functions that are intended to br
ing communities together for dancing and celebrations. This is particularly rife in the North Indian community as many British Gujaratis host and attend garbas (a form of traditional Gujarati dance with sticks), which are segregated by caste and most are exclusively attended by the higher castes.

  Whether an Indian from a higher caste admits it or not, they are always indirectly complicit in perpetuating the caste system, because their existence means that they’re more advantaged than Dalits by default. Young children have been known to taunt other children from lower castes with casteist slurs68 and British-born Hindu Indians are still at risk of being shunned for their caste, no matter what generation.69 They experience caste discrimination at work, ‘… in public services, music, social media as well as at religious and community spaces’,70 and when casteist slurs like ‘Jat’71 are being used in lieu of ‘dirty’ it evokes a cause for concern.

  In 2013, British Indians protested to the British government about casteism, demanding government protection. While these protests were successful, with the British government eventually agreeing to explicitly prohibit caste discrimination within the 2010 Equalities Act, changing the law does not simply end discrimination right there and then. When systems of oppression are so deeply ingrained in the Indian – and human – psyche, it’s impossible for people to do a complete volte face with regards to their bigotry, even if it is illegal. All British Indians are still subject to white supremacy72, despite Britain’s claims that race is less important in this than class. Additionally, it’s hard to ignore that Britain was the perpetrator of modern casteism and thus the hierarchical social order in India. Usually those claims that racism is no longer an issue are paired with assertions that the United States is the sole culprit of institutional racism. While it is true that the United States has a huge history of and problem with racism, that does not erase the history of racism and white supremacy in Britain. It was Britain who formed the second point on the transatlantic slave trade triangle (the path African slaves would travel in order to reach America) and most recently, the death of Sarah Reed – a London black woman who died in 2012 after a brutal beating while in police custody – bears many similarities to the fate of Sandra Bland, who died under mysterious circumstances in a Texas prison cell in 2015.

  In order for anti-racism to become a reality – at least in the context of Indians – it’s important for Indians higher than Dalit on the varna to be fully aware of the arbitrary privileges bestowed upon them and those who possess major social and financial power to make the environment safer for Dalits. This is not something that can happen overnight. Acknowledging the pain that Dalits experience is the first step. The conversation of caste cannot start and end with Vemula’s suicide. The work of today’s existing generations fighting against caste discrimination cannot go unnoticed either. Yashica Dutt’s Documents of Dalit Discrimination and the work of other activists like DarkMatter is vital in moving forward into a future that betters the lives of the lower castes and in turn enhances the lives of all castes.

  The British must be held accountable for their reinforcing of the caste system and their continuing indirect support of discriminatory practices. It’s clear that the caste system, taken to the extreme it has been, is not an inherently Indian convention. If the British are partially responsible for classifying Indians during colonialism, why is there a need to continue this practice – why not abolish caste discrimination and work as a better-formed community, embracing the diversity of the castes, to challenge British authority? Indulging casteism is not going to earn upper castes the privilege that white Brits have by design. It is clear that the continuation of caste is not beneficial for anyone in the Indian community and especially within white institutions. Looking down on lower castes or classes and using them to navigate your way to the top does not guarantee you will achieve a white person’s status in this white supremacist world. Uniting against white oppressors can only be achieved by eradicating these quasi-sectarian oppressions.

  51 ‘Caste not class is the main British problem, Lords’, Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jasdev-singh-rai/caste-not-class-is-the-ma_b_2989148.html

  52 ‘Why India is still fighting over caste system’, CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/asia/india-gujarat-caste-protests/

  53 Documents of Dalit Discrimination (blog). http://dalitdiscrimination.tumblr.com/

  54 ‘Coming out as a Dalit in Rohith’s memory: New York journalist’s project to document discrimination’, The News Minute. http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/coming-out-dalit-rohith%E2%80%99s-memory-new-york-journalist%E2%80%99s-project-document-discrimination-38083

  55 Twitter user @DarkMatterPoets. https://twitter.com/DarkMatterPoets/status/472505155817316353

  56 ‘Why India is still fighting over caste system’, CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/asia/india-gujarat-caste-protests/

  57 Documents of Dalit Discrimination (blog). http://dalitdiscrimination.tumblr.com/post/137820923502/i-never-came-out-of-my-shell-became-introverted

  58 ‘Today, I’m coming out as Dalit’, Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.in/yashica-dutt-/why-im-coming-out-as-dali_b_9035094.html

  59 http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/coming-out-dalit-rohith%E2%80%99s-memory-new-york-journalist%E2%80%99s-project-document-discrimination-38083

  60 India’s first minister of law and justice and prominent campaigner against the caste system.

  61 N.S. Gehlot, ‘Dr Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, and Dalit Movement’, The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol.54, No.3/4 (July–Dec 1991), 382–387.

  62 ‘Our obsession with caste is really a colonial hangover’, The Indian Express. http://indianexpress.com/article/blogs/rohith-vemula-dalit-suicide-hyderabad-our-obsession-with-caste-is-really-a-colonial-hangover/

  63 ‘Caste not class is the main British problem, Lords’, Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jasdev-singh-rai/caste-not-class-is-the-ma_b_2989148.html

  64 ‘Wake up, Britain. Should the empire really be a source of pride?’, The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/23/britain-empire-pride-poll

  65 N.S. Gehlot, ‘Dr Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, and Dalit Movement’.

  66 N.S. Gehlot, ‘Dr Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, and Dalit Movement’.

  67 ‘British Indians seek legal protection from caste system’, CBC World. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/british-indians-seek-legal-protection-from-caste-system-1.2224275

  68 ‘No escape from caste prejudice even in UK’, The Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/No-escape-from-caste-prejudice-even-in-UK/articleshow/18998712.cms

  69 ‘British Indians seek legal protection from caste system’, CBC World. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/british-indians-seek-legal-protection-from-caste-system-1.2224275

  70 ‘Long range of prejudice’, Outlook Magazine. http://www.outlookindia.com/article/long-range-of-prejudice/293121

  71 The Jat people are an Indo-Aryan people based in Northern India and Pakistan, most of whom still live in farming communities.

  72 The notion of ‘white supremacy’ in this instance is to be taken as a global concept rather than in the context of America’s relationship with black and Native American citizens.

  Shade

  Salena Godden

  Shade: Comparative darkness and coolness caused by shelter from direct sunlight.

  The darker part of a picture.

  A position of relative inferiority or obscurity.

  To publicly criticise or express contempt for someone, to act in a casual or disrespectful manner towards someone, throwing shade, acting kinda shady.

  Sometimes I think I am about the same shade as Beyoncé. But it is hard to tell because it depends how much light they give her. Some days I think I’m about the same shade as Rihanna but that’s also difficult to say as she switches shade too. Your shade is not skin deep. Your shade is not just about your heart and soul; your religion and spirituality, your elders and your history, your connection to
a country, to geography and to a time and place. Your shade is an industry, your shade is a token, shade is a passport, shade is a cage and shade is a status.

  You tick: Other.

  I am in Bangkok. The billboards on the streets and sides of buses are dominated by adverts for a skin-lightening product called ‘Snail White’. Glossy pictures of westernised Thai girls with cheerleader smiles and faces of palest ivory. In the markets and restaurants I observe Thai residents with bleached skin and powder-white faces; in the streets some wear gloves protecting their brown hands and thick white tights to conceal brown legs in 40-degree heat. I never noticed this so much before. I think I missed a memo, but the internet informs me that skin bleaching has been trending for years – from India to Africa, the Caribbean, all over the world, skin bleaching is big business and the shade of your skin is your freedom or your prison. The colour of the outside of you dictates existence and acceptance. Your shade is the symbol of your wealth, your beauty, your worth and your success.

  Here we are then, this is Britain, where white people dye themselves as brown as tea stains. The desire to tan continues to thrive, people toasting themselves to sunbed death. The first sign of a UK heatwave and our beaches and parks are awash with salmon pink bodies and barbecued lobster faces. Celebrities on the covers of gossip magazines are crab orange; reality television stars are streaky antique teak.