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Thursday, May 14, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MICHIGAN IN COLOR

GRAPHIC BY CARA JHANG

An Idealistic, Outdated America

On March 14, an Asian-American
family of three was stabbed by
Jose Gomez at a Sam’s Club. On
February 23, Ahmaud Arbery was
shot dead after being followed by
Gregory and Travis McMichael,
who had grabbed their shotguns
and pursued Arbery in their truck.
On September 17, 2019 Harris
County Sheriff’s Deputy Sandeep
Dhaliwal was shot twice in the
head by Robert Solis as he was
returning to his patrol car during a
routine traffic stop.
These cases are not political;
they do not require the public to
pick between red and blue, left or
right. They are hate crimes which
shake up the very core of American
ideals
and
values.
It’s
about
humanity. Cases such as these beg
the question: Is a need for justice
not inherent within all humans?
Are descriptions of these gruesome
cases not enough to spark empathy
and activism across all American
households? After all, these heinous
crimes occurred on American soil,
the land of the free — but not free
enough where people of color can
feel safe going grocery shopping, go

on a run or do their job.
As an Indian American growing
up
in
a
typical
Midwestern
suburban household and attending
public schools, I was always taught
to salute the law and order in place
to protect our communities and
swell with pride when it comes
to revisiting our nation’s history.

AAKASH RAY
MiC Staff Writer

Read more at michigandaily.com

GRAPHIC BY CARA JHANG

Colorism: Seeking fairness in Southeast
Asian communities

PRISHA GROVER
MiC Staff Writer

When I was little, I never
understood why my mom used
to bathe me with warm milk and
honey. Or why her friends (the
aunties) would often remark on
how light my skin is. Or why Fair
and Lovely whitening cream was
always in high demand at the
Indian grocery store. As I grew
older, my friends and I began to
spend more time outside — joining
after school sports clubs and biking
around our suburbs. As a result,
we became more tan and more and
more aunties would comment on
how I had become so kala, which
means dark. It’s become a mark of
beauty, especially in North Indian
communities, to be light-skinned,
meaning that becoming darker
made us seem less attractive.
Recently, Netflix released the
first season of the show “Never
Have I Ever,” the story of the

Read more at michigandaily.com

While I feel privileged to be living
in this country, as I grow older I
question whether I’ve looked at our
past through rose-tinted glass and
how that affects my perception of
our present and future.
The answer lies largely in the
United States education system
which perpetuates an idealistic,

outdated vision of America. I
was taught the oppression of an
entire race of people, yet I was
never informed of the years of
generational trauma that would
linger
into
my
young
adult
years. I was taught racism and
discrimination
are
wrong,
yet
was never directed to systemic

instances
of
racism
prevalent
within institutions like education,
healthcare and the justice system.
Students sitting in public school
classrooms are becoming more
diverse, yet educators rarely hold
discussions on how to combat the
social issues which may lie in their
future.
Racial equality should be an
integral
part
of
conversations
in all communities of diversity
and injustices of the past and
present should be at the forefront
of our depictions of American
history. To bring about this wave
of understanding, schools need
to
have
greater
transparency
of the American narrative of
continual racism and oppression.
Racism and discrimination need
to be defined and explained to
students at younger ages. There
should not be any hesitation in
addressing these topics, as this is
not political but rather about our
existence. To believe that racism
and discrimination will one day
be eradicted is foolish, but to
acknowledge past and present
wrongs is not.

high
school
sophomore
Devi
Vishwakumar who must navigate
her life after her father dies and
seeks to rebrand herself. Despite
the truth, Devi is not marketed as
attractive or charming. Instead, she
is made to seem like a moderately
attractive awkward nerd who is
desperate for approval from a boy
— putting effort into outfits that
clearly do not match and being
clumsy in almost any scene where
she seems attractive. In contrast to
her characterization, her cousin,
Kamala, is fair and has glowing
light skin, and is always depicted to
be naturally beautiful and talented,
having men fall all over her for her
beauty.
This show, while an extremely
beautiful stride in representation
in media for young Southeast
Asian Americans, easily plays into
this age-old notion that light skin
tends to equate to beauty. This is
not a new practice — when famous
Bollywood Actresses became well

known in American pop cultures,
such as Deepika Padukone and
Priyanka
Chopra,
they
were
notably made to look lighter with
their makeup. Even in Bollywood,
actors and actresses such as Kajol,
Bipasha Basu, and Rekha are all
darker in person. However, on TV
and in movies, they are made to
seem much lighter through the use
of makeup.
The
origin
of
this
notion
associated with fair skin can be
traced back to Euro-centric beauty
standards. A dissertation written
by a University of Massachusetts-
Boston graduate explains these
standards as praising “fair skin,
long straight hair, thin lips, [and a]
small nose,” comparing people to
the most prominent physical traits
of a white woman. This comparison
is unfair, considering that these
traits are not normal for so many
different
ethnic
communities.
Several Indian women are blessed
with rich, dark skin, but are

constantly rejected by the Indian
public, modeling agencies and
Bollywood casting groups.