THE EVIL OF RACISM

Oct 28, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
While positive changes have occurred at certain times in various situations, racism not only persists in our world, but in many places, it is powerfully resurgent. The ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people is sanctioned by the state to the extent that BOB GELDOF in his address to the United Nations castigated SUU KYI as ethnic cleanser.
Cries for justice around the world inevitably confront us with the evil of racism. Those cries have not gone away- not from the far corners of the world, nor from the approximation that troubles our conscience.
The definition of racism sharpens the focus for us. ‘a belief that some races are by nature superior to others; racial discrimination based on such belief. Racism includes psychological feelings of superiority, social privilege, economic position, or political power—per Webster’s Dictionary. The essence of racism is prejudice coupled with power. It is rooted in the sin of pride and exclusivity which assumes “that I and my kind are superior to others and therefore deserve special privileges.”
Racism perpetuates a basic untruth which claims the superiority of one group of people over others because of the colour of their skin, their cultural history, their tribal affiliation, or their ethnic identity. This lie distorts Biblical and Quranic understanding of God’s action in His creation. Racism is just about everywhere. It is in our language, customs and beliefs, fears, work, schools and sports. It is virtually everywhere except in those places where people deliberately choose to remove it. Mr. Editor, among specific personal commitments are the refusal to participate in racially discriminatory milieu, and the refusal to engage in racially denigrating stories and humour. We must recognise that we are part of a world that is itself infected with racism, which endangers our spiritual health.
Albert Khan

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