September 23, 2004
My comments on prejudice.
This is what I wrote for my editorial, but I didn't write in my blog today, so it'll get a double life:
Put a STOP to prejudice
Once upon a time when I was six years old and moving to Ethiopia with my family, I held an inconsistent set of beliefs. I’m not saying that all my beliefs are consistent today, but what I believed then was an example of the absurd. I believed:
a) that Africa is one big desert
b) that there is no vegetation in Africa
c) that there are no cars
d) that the sky is cruel and cloudless, and that the sun is scorching
e) that all people in Africa live in trees, and so would my family
When we arrived in Ethiopia, the first thing I noticed were all the beautiful flowers lining the car-filled roads, the clear blue sky, and the smiling people (who did not live in trees!). Happily, I rid myself of those images quick-smart as we settled into living in the beautiful city of Adis Ababa in the year 1989. After that, moving to Zambia, then Kazakhstan, then Vietnam, Finland, Spain, and finally, to Australia, has been an experience happily free of twisted preconceptions.
I don’t know. Blame discovery channel. National Geographic. All those documentaries that focus on all the negative or quirky aspects of countries that aren’t thoroughly westernised. Whatever the cause, it’s painting a rather twisted view of the world.
Now, I’ll do myself a favour and forgive my preconceived notion and prejudice. After all, I was only six years old, and quite impressionable. What I don’t understand is how adults in this day and age fail to think for themselves and truly believe that all Africans are starving, or that all of Malaysia is just coconuts and beaches (Hello! These places all have an airport! How do you think all those visitors got there? An airport surrounded by beaches and huts, or by starving children??! And hey, they might not show it on the doco, but the camera crew is staying in the nearest five star hotel!)
Now surely, this is going to raise a few controversial eyebrows, but honestly, I think prejudice and racism is more inbuilt into a lot of people than they really want to admit. You’ve got the real, outspoken racists, who will openly tell you that their own race, skin colour and culture is supreme and greet you with nothing more than a series of taunts. Luckily, this has been a slowly dieing group from the days of Martin Luther King, Jr. to those of Nelson Mandela. However, the fight is not over. People may be too scared to voice their prejudices, but that doesn’t mean they are not there.
Here are a few questions I’ve been asked in the past few months, by educated adults:
1. “Are there proper hospitals in India?” (asked by a doctor!)
2. “So how do you get clean water when you are in Thailand?”
3. “Is it all ice and polar bears and in Finland?”
4. “Were there lions and giraffes in your backyard?” (I kid you not!)
5. “So how was living in all those countries, was it bad compared to Australia? It must be so nice for you living in a first world country now.”
So here’s my two cents worth at dispelling some myths:
1. India is known to have some of the best doctors and best hospitals in the world.
2. From the tap, or the supermarket.
3. Yes, in the winter. Perhaps in the zoo. And all the houses are built from ice.
4. Sure, but the dogs ate them. And I hate it when the rhinos tear up the flowerbeds. And the monkeys get jammed in the air-conditioning. Doh!
5. Is there some sort of objective measure of good that all countries are measure against? How can one country honestly be ‘bad’? What makes one country ‘better’ than another? Just as all people are different, so are countries. What I enjoy, you dislike. There are no definitive ‘good’ or ‘bad’ people or places.
Oy! People! Pick up a book! Cultural tolerance? Such a thing wouldn’t be necessary if we’d all make an effort to educate ourselves. Human understanding is what this world needs. Learn a little about your neighbours and maybe we can finally stop bring so ignorant.
fon @ Thursday, September 23, 2004 link to post * *