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Thursday, June 25, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com MICHIGAN IN COLOR
Colonial indoctrination and colorism
in India
SUNITHA PALAT
MiC Staff Writer
As the Black liberation move-
ment gained traction over the past
month, I, like many others, have
taken time to learn, understand
and reflect on the systemic racial
prejudice ingrained in this country
against Black Americans. However,
from a broader perspective, I’ve
also taken the time to look intro-
spectively and reflect on the silent,
learned biases I’ve experienced
throughout my life and how to
actively combat them — especially
within the Indian community. In
India, there exists a conglomeration
of different skin tones, shades of
brown, languages and cultures, but
like most diverse nations, prejudice
and innate biases continue to per-
petuate. Most recognizable to me
is colorism on the spectrum of skin
tone.There is an old Indian home-
remedy recommended for expect-
ing mothers — mainly those with
a darker, “musty” tone — to drink
saffron milk once a day to make
sure their child will be “blessed”
with fair skin. Many Indian fami-
A customary ‘chill culture’: the dangers of
being politically correct
AAKASH RAY
MiC Staff Writer
Graphic by Hibah ChughtaiI
A customary “chill”: the dangers
of being politically correct
In today’s racial climate, terms
such as “micro-aggressions” and
“gaslighting” have become main-
stream terminology when address-
ing racism at the micro-level. Many
are content as they find their lived
experiences being summed up by
these newly-coined terms. Others
are stunned, learning for the first
time phrases they once thought
were nonchalant actually attrib-
uted to a toxic culture of ignorance
and apathy.
These terms are now being rede-
fined and in doing so, are creating
awareness worldwide. Facts and
statistics are more readily avail-
able than ever with infographics
about systemic racism flooding
social media platforms. However,
I wonder what change will truly
come about if American society
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does not expand their emotional
bandwidth to feel and share the
feelings required to push forward
for change.
Within social circles, it has
become increasingly familiar to
avoid the uncomfortable. It’s not
that people don’t know what’s hap-
pening. Individuals instead instinc-
lies, secretly or not, hope their
child is born with a lighter com-
plexion due to the increased lik-
ability and desirability they would
possess in society, but the quest for
fairness does not end here. Skin-
lightening products, like “Fair &
Lovely,” “Pond’s White Beauty”
and “Lotus Herbals Whiteglow”
are commonplace in Indian gro-
cery stores, and make up an indus-
try expected to be worth over $24
billion by 2027 globally. The media
portrays lighter-skinned families
in advertisements and TV shows,
and Bollywood favors lighter-
skinned actresses like Aishwarya
Rai, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina
Kaif (who is also half-white) as the
stars of films, creating an inaccu-
rate ideal for Indians to look up to.
This representation issue has been
addressed more recently by certain
actors and actresses’ campaigns,
like Nandita Das’ “Stay Unfair, Stay
Beautiful” campaign, but many stay
complacent. Yet, colorism might be
most noticeable at the grassroots
level. Comments from Indian rela-
tives or acquaintances like “The
bride is pretty, but dark,” “Oh, she’s
so beautiful and fair!” and “She’s so
dark, hopefully the baby won’t be as
dark,” continue throughout the life
of a “darker” Indian individual, and
serve as microaggressions pinning
a negative connotation on those
with a darker shade of brown.
Indian society has been primed
for years with the notion that fair-
er skin is simply better. It means
you’re more attractive, a more
desirable spouse and even a more
sought out employee or leader. But
where does this colorism come
from? Some scholars point to
Ancient India and the construction
of the caste system, which divided
labor among different groups with
the intention that each class had an
equally important role to society.
Yet as time passed, misinterpreta-
tion occurred. Higher status went
to more “noble” occupations — reli-
gious Brahmins, education related
jobs — and lower status belonged
to those who worked dirtier, more
labor-intensive work outside. And
as a result of this outdoor work,
these people naturally became
darker-skinned.
tively evade discussion around
issues, often citing a lack of educa-
tion on the topic as an obstacle for
productive dialogue. Subsequently,
a culture of “chill” passivity has
swept over discussions of race and
associated injustices. This past
school year, I occasionally spoke
about systemic issues of inequality
like voter suppression, the prison-
industrial complex and discrimina-
tion in healthcare with some of my
peers, only to be met with little to
no enthusiasm. Instead, the ensu-
ing conversation was very surface
level and treated as an afterthought
to the rest of the discussion. I
believe we have grown accustomed
to glossing over the negative details
and instead become hyper-mellow
to the point of insensitivity in
regard to human life. Being “chill”
means to ignore what’s happening
around your bubble, to not care and
to not feel.
Graphic by Hibah ChughtaiI
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