Fighting to end racism and discrimination against descendants of the African Diaspora through a year of global activism
“A Call For The End of Global Apartheid" (http://www.blogher.com/ member/ivory-simone), an article written by me, was my declaration of war against the insidious evil of “anti-black” racism, a poisonous root of the legacy of slavery and a venomous expression of widespread social and cultural biases, that continues to diminish the hopes and limit the potential of descendants of the African Diaspora wherever they live in the world.
A number of people challenged my use of the word apartheid because it was a form of racial oppression specific to South Africa and its long history of anti-black terror tactics. However, the systemic marginalization of black peoples by international governments through policies and practices that limit their access to housing, employment and education, which stigmatizes dark skinned people making them the object of derision, ridicule and hatred while subjecting them to unequal treatment under the law is a form of apartheid. That these governments marginalize, penalize and demonize black people solely because of their race is irrefutable, so what we’re actually quibbling about with regard to my use of the term “apartheid” is the severity or degree of oppression created by an individual nation’s anti-black policies. In other words, those fixated on the term seem to suggest my use of it is an “overstatement” of the problem unless I can show a foreign government’s racist policies are similar to those of the South African apartheid system.
Firstly, apartheid in South Africa was used by a white minority to maintain power over a black majority, and, except for the African continent and parts of the Caribbean and Central America, very few foreign nations have black majority populations. Therefore, some of the most inhumane features of that system, the Group Land Act and pass laws, haven’t been duplicated elsewhere—at least not yet, which is my point.
The reason we must speak out about this problem is to discourage and, hopefully, prevent governments from using more repressive measures against their native and/or immigrant black populations. A situation that could easily happen because, sadly, when a foreign government abuses and mistreats a black minority group living within its borders, the international community tends to adopt the attitude many communities had about domestic violence twenty years ago, “it ain’t none of our business”.
Finally, if I had titled my article, “ A Call To End Global Jim Crow-ism”, evoking memories of the separate and unequal policies of the United States 70 years ago, would those objecting to the use of the term apartheid have been more comfortable with this historical reference? My concern is that we may become so distracted by such academic arguments, we’ll waste precious time and stray off message, which simply stated is—working together to end global racism. For this reason, I’d be happy if people choose to call this the “OneWorld/OneLove Campaign”, (because at the end of the day that’s the goal I’d like to achieve), so long as we stay on message.
In speaking to friends and colleagues about my desire to move beyond merely discussing the problem to combating it, I heard time and again, global apartheid or anti-black racism is a complex issue; too complex to lend itself to simple solutions (an assumption this campaign will challenge).
For instance, even the origin of anti-black beliefs varies among nations. Logically speaking, those nations that engaged in the African slave trade should be at the top of the list of perpetuators of anti-black racism. Yet, surprisingly or not, these nations have made the most progress in redressing the social ills heaped on the backs of descendants of the Diaspora. Whereas many societies/governments that never participated in the African slave trade have the most virulent anti-black belief systems. I’ve stated before and will do so again, “I’m curious about why people from so many world cultures have learned to hate blackness.”
Doubtlessly, the source(s) of these negative views of black people come from a number of places, including, to name a few, the world media, or as a result of colonization by nations with deeply ingrained anti-black beliefs or as a consequence of native people groups using skin color to reify class/clan/ distinctions.
Not only must we contend with black/white racism, there’s also the hybrid “dark skin vs. light skin” intra-group racism to combat. For example, in countries like the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean nation with a well documented color divide, anti-black policies are based on degrees of darkness. Light-skinned people of color actively discriminate against and oppress their darker skinned countrymen.
Although the scope and complexity of this problem boggles the mind, I’m a firm believer in the “power of one”. One person committed to positive change can become a catalyst for “that change” in his/her neighborhood; a transformed neighborhood can become a change agent for a entire city; and, a transformed city can create positive change in an entire state or province, and so on and so forth. In order to get the message out to the world, I’m relying on the incredible power of social networking. It is an amazing vehicle for connecting people to causes and to each other.
In short, I believe the success of this campaign will depend on its effective use of the social networking apparatus to spread its message of “ending global racism”, and its ability to make a connection with people to inspire them to do two things:
1. Join the effort
If you’re on facebook become a member of the “A Million Voices Against Global Racism” Group. Here’s the link http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_130975403632717
2. Commit to taking action
The United Nations has declared 2011 The International Year of People of African Descent. Follow this link to read the resolution:
http://www.un.org/observances/years.shtml
In observance of this special year devoted to People of African Descent, I’m asking people of conscience to commit to doing at least one activity during 2011 to raise awareness about the problem of global anti-black racism and/or one activity designed to combat it.
Another important part of the campaign is sharing our ideas, stories, opinions, comments and thoughts about this difficult and painful subject with each other and the world; as well as documenting our individual and/or group activities designed to raise awareness about the problem or to combat it. To facilitate this community connection, I’ve created a facebook page entitled, “The Lift Every Voice Campaign Against Global Racism”. Here’s the link to the page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lift-Every-Voice-Campaign-Against-Global-Racism/186798531332150?ref=sgm
One of the first “anti-black racism” awareness activities I propose doing is a Kabuki inspired “Flashmob” Protest against the glorification of “whiteness” and the vilification of “blackness” that is pervasive in Asian countries. More details about this event will be posted on “The Life Every Voice Campaign Against Global Racism” page—so visit the site frequently for updates.
I readily admit I don’t have answers on how to solve this problem but I’m convinced working together as a community of people determined to end this global sickness, we’ll find solutions.
Ivory Simone is an author and poet based in Bangkok, Thailand. She has published two books through lulu.com: “Havasu Means Blue Water” (a literary fiction) and “The Rainy Season, The Poems, Prose and Writings of Ivory Simone”. For more information about Ms. Simone’s books, visit her author’s page at: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/ivorysimone .
You can also hear her bi-monthly podcasts about expat lifestyles on the BlogTalkRadio show “Take A Bite Out The Big Mango” at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ivorysimone
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