Racism in Transnationalism
Transnationalism is the act of reaching beyond or transcending national boundaries, and with it comes diaspora and migration. However, often when these situations occur, racial tensions are a result.
Transnationalism also refers to a recent shift in migration patterns since the 1980s. Migration used to be a rather directed movement with a point of departure and a point of arrival. It is nowadays increasingly turning into an ongoing movement between two or more social spaces or locations.
Migration has been around for centuries, and is one of the most conspicuous features of human history. There are many reasons as to why migration occurs; economic problems, wanting to escape the atrocities of a war torn country, pursue a better life, amongst the few. Unfortunately migration also creates some tensions between locals and immigrants. The difference of culture, habit and language from the origin countries can cause several problems for the immigrants as well as for the locals. This situation even often leads to competition, conflict, physical attack and racism. Is there really a need for racism in this day and age?
Race and Racism are semantically slippery and historically shifting; no single definition hold for either, since both are ideological constructs whose meanings are continually contested, and whose social function and effect may vary considerably across time and space.
“Your car is Japanese. Your Vodka is Russian. Your pizza is Italian. Your kebab is Turkish. Your democracy is Greek. Your coffee is Brazilian. Your movies are American. Your tea is Tamil. Your shirt is Indian. Your oil is Saudi Arabian. Your electronics are Chinese. Your numbers are Arabic. Your letters are Latin. And you complain that your neighbour is an immigrant?”
This popular quote, that quickly spread through the Internet clearly shows how in today’s world, full of Transnationalism and diaspora, the border between two countries is no longer strict, and rather than be separated by them, we have been united by trade, migration and so on.
However, in the case of migration, according to The Economist (2002, p. 10), “Both immigrants and host country often feel ambivalent about the way they live together. Immigrants want to feel at home—but they also want, to varying degrees, to keep their original values and cultures.” This uncertainty then makes some people argue that the number of crimes is equal to the number of immigrants. The more immigrants, the more crime happens.
But racism isn’t just an effect of migration. Migration can be an effect of racism. A key example is the Burmese Indians, who migrated to escape racial discrimination in 1964. This was due to the ‘resident aliens’, as they were referred to by Ne Win, being persecuted for not being ‘pure bred’ Burmese, even though they had been living in Burma for generations and had integrated into Burmese society, they became a target for discrimination and oppression by the junta. . It goes to show how it can be a vicious cycle that the victims are not able to get out of. The fact that racism still occurs, makes it harder for the migrating community to be able to become a part of the local community. It is then the reason why they stick together, making their community and isolated one, which becomes easily excluded and often targeted in conflicts.
In the novel The Devil that Dances on Water, by Aminatta Forna, we see her experiences of racism, through most years of her life. We see it has a natural and casual thing in seventies England:
In the novel The Devil that Dances on Water, by Aminatta Forna, we see her experiences of racism, through most years of her life. We see it has a natural and casual thing in seventies England:
“A man was asking: ‘Is it all right to call black people niggers, wogs and coons?’ He was going up to people in the street and asking them the question. I thought it wasn’t all right at all. I had never heard the words ‘wog’ or ‘coon’, but I knew what ‘nigger’ meant. I couldn’t understand why the man was bothering to ask. But to my surprise there seemed to be lots of people who thought it was just fine.
‘Is it acceptable to call black people niggers, wogs and coons, madam?’
‘It don’t matter. My dad always calls them wogs. That’s what they are in’t they? Don’t really men anything really.’ “(Forna, 229)
This quote shows how ignorant the people are to racism. They are being racist without even knowing it, and shows how racism can be linked to lack of education, and the way a person was brought up. There is nothing natural about racism, and Forna goes on to detail other instances, clearly showing how racism is the effect of migration, but mostly underlined by sheer ignorance to the whole picture.
Racism shouldn’t be a factor in the modern age. Transnationalism has opened a door for societies and cultures to interconnect. However if racism is still an issue, it will be hard for the transnationalism to actually work. Due to the fact that migration happens so frequently racial discrimination should’ve decreased, as humans, as a whole have become more accepting to other cultures. We now interact with different cultures in so many more ways as studying, working and interacting with anyone has become international. Really there is no need for racism, but unfortunately it will always be around, as it is passed on from one generation to the next.
Zak Gibson
Racism shouldn’t be a factor in the modern age. Transnationalism has opened a door for societies and cultures to interconnect. However if racism is still an issue, it will be hard for the transnationalism to actually work. Due to the fact that migration happens so frequently racial discrimination should’ve decreased, as humans, as a whole have become more accepting to other cultures. We now interact with different cultures in so many more ways as studying, working and interacting with anyone has become international. Really there is no need for racism, but unfortunately it will always be around, as it is passed on from one generation to the next.
Zak Gibson
References
The Economist. (2002, November 2). Feeling at home. Vol. 365, Iss. 8297, p. 10]
Forna, Aminatta. The devil that danced on water: a daughter's memoir. Netley, Australia: Flamingo, 2002.
Smedley, Audrey and Brian D. Smedley. (2005) "Race as Biology if Fiction, Racism as a Social Problem is Real." American Psychologist 60: 16–26.
Forna, Aminatta. The devil that danced on water: a daughter's memoir. Netley, Australia: Flamingo, 2002.
Smedley, Audrey and Brian D. Smedley. (2005) "Race as Biology if Fiction, Racism as a Social Problem is Real." American Psychologist 60: 16–26.