When we talk about discrimination, it is always the Europeans who are often blamed for the problem. This is well demonstrated in majority of Western newspapers and publications. Often these Western papers portray racism as a problem for the non-Whites created by the Whites. The popular media completely ignore the hardships South Asian and African people face on other parts of the world, which includes their own people. While I am not denying that racism, xenophobia, sexism and discrimination exists in Europe and North America, I would like highlight that these problems are not limited to the Western world. From my own personal experience, I can say with confidence that I have faced racism from Canadians of South Asian, Middle Eastern, African and Eastern European decent than the Canadian born Canadian citizens. Even my first experience of racism in Canada is actually by an India born Canadian citizen not a Canadian himself.
Some Sri Lankans even attack other cultures such as Chinese culture in order to prove that Europeans are so much better. Apparently for those people in Sri Lanka, being White is enough to make you the superior race.
Middle East
A European, pure white person with a technical diploma can earn almost twice the money as a South Asian or a Black person with a degree in the exact same field. In fact, in Middle Eastern oil producing counties, such as Saudi Arabia, they worship white skin.
Additional scanning of darker skin colored individuals is performed in Middle Eastern international airports. Even if you were born in Europe and you have been a European citizen since the birth, if you have darker skin, you will be a moving target for the immigration and customs officials.
South Asian Discrimination
It is much easier for a white person to find a job in India than to find a job for a high caste Indian. It is somewhat easier for a non-Indian South Asian (such as a Sri Lankan) to find a job in India than to an Indian born low caste person to get recognized for his/her talents. Because India still has their traditional barbaric caste system, it is almost impossible for a person who born into a low caste family to obtain a high paying job. Even if that person find a high paying jobs, the other coworkers and subordinates will not cooperate with you, making your office environment extremely hostile. However, the flip side of the coin is a European living in India. A white man will be given the best possible treatment even if that person is under-qualified for the job. A white women will be treated like a queen in India, but a South Asian women with much higher qualifications will be treated like a piece of dirt, which also has to do with traditional disrespect for the Indian women.
English teaching jobs were given to individuals of European background without proper certifications or qualifications.
In Sri Lanka, if the current government is pro-White and pro-European, it is much easier for a person of European decent to exploit and abuse commercial and personal tax and visa policies than to a Sri Lankan born Sri Lankan citizen who oppose the current government (regardless of the political party in power). While majority of the general public (population) is not racist or bias, the government officials are often bias toward in favor of Europeans. One reason for this is the Sri Lanka’s very high dependency on tourism from the Western world. Often the pro-USA and pro-European governments favor the European religious and racial extremism and superiority, which results in how social policies are governed against the Sri Lankan cultures themselves. In some rare cases, similar job situations going on in India have had happened in Sri Lanka. English teaching jobs were given to individuals of European background without proper certifications or qualifications while Sri Lankan English teachers were taken out of the classrooms. I know from talking to people in my community where they have replaced skilled teachers with a subpar teacher from the Western world just because they are being Europeans. Sri Lankan pre-undergraduate education is 100% free and has a very high literacy rate. However, by replacing educators solely based on the skin colour will destroy the educational system by allowing unqualified individuals to hold teaching positions.
Jokes such as “Indians are always late”, “Sri Lankans have no ethics” and “our government is always corrupt and run by criminals” are actually originated by Indians and Sri Lankans themselves. If you take these comments/notions with real facts, you can apply the same for Western governments was well. For example, the Liberal Sponsorship Scandal that ran between 1995 and 2007 can be used to label Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin as “corrupt” politicians and the Government of Canada is “corrupt and run by criminals”. The Calgary C-Train is almost always late regardless of who is in our City Council in charge of public transport. But yet, the South Asians seems to have selective amnesia when a Sri Lankan Airlines or an Air India flight gets delayed due to weather. It is much easier to keep light railway line on time than to run a major international airport. I rarely hear South Asian people in Canada say that Calgary transit is always late as usual just like the Calgarians. But when something goes wrong delaying a South Asian run function in Calgary, I often hear the phrases like “it is late just like anything Indian” by our own South Asian people in Canada.
A new trend in Sri Lanka is the growing number of people who worship people of European descent. Some Sri Lankans even attack other cultures such as Chinese culture in order to prove that Europeans are so much better. Apparently for those people in Sri Lanka, being White is enough to make you the superior race. It is disgusting and disgraceful not only to great civilizations such as Chinese civilization, but it also leave the Sri Lankan communities open for exploitations by some entities from the European communities. For example, two offers for a major railway project in Sri Lanka. Let’s say one offer is from the Chinese in which they asked for 2% per annum interest rate back for the support. Another from an American/European group wants full control of the railway line once it is built plus 5% annum interest rate. The pro-White Sri Lankans will pick the American/European offer.
Bali Nine case is a very good specific example of how both Australian Federal Police and the Indonesian racist government officials reacted to drug trafficker. Race of the convicted parties is a huge factor for why the key players in the Bali Nine drug trafficking case were given death penalties. There are White people who have been caught with drugs by the Indonesian racists’ government officials before. None of them have been executed. Michael Blanc (1974), a French national convicted of drug trafficking received life imprisonment conviction. Given all other things being equal, it was only the race that played a major role in the decision of death penalties.
Furthermore, the support of the Australian public for putting Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan to death exposed the underlying racism in majority of White Australians. Several polls conducted in Australia show most Australians supported the executions. However, very few Australian and other international media reported the fact the majority of white Australians are disassociated with the Bali Nine ring leaders, who are non-White Australians. Additionally, I believe the Australian Federal Police’s decision to share information which lead to arrest of these individuals would have been second guessed if the drug trafficking leaders happen to be that of European descent.
Advice to all South Asians and Africans
Educate yourself and promote harmony and right values.
If you are a South Asian or African or Middle Eastern person, please top living in denial. Instead, educate yourself and promote harmony and right values. Instead of holding someone superior due to their race, respect everyone based on who they are. I should not be the only person to publicly talk about this growing problems. Others should step forward because otherwise, the problems will just keep growing. Running away from problems in our own communities and hoping for the best is not what we should be doing!
If you are well to do individual of South Asian or African decent living in the Western world, do not travel to Middle East or South Asia without horrendous precautions. If you really want to travel to Middle East or South Asia, make sure you are a millionaire. This way at least you may be able to pay your way out of blatant racist and racially motivated attacks during your journey.
Final words
It is unfortunate that major newspapers are not willing to publish the facts. It is very unfortunate that my European friends in Canada and elsewhere do not understand this issue because they have never experienced it firsthand. Just like we openly talk about gay rights in Canada, I think we should openly talk about the racism Blacks and South Asians face in the non-Western world.