Desi News Corp - Index

Desi News Corp - Desi News - Feb 09 - Index

nor were Indians waiting in line
treated any worse.
So there is hope, then?
“Oh, I can’t say for sure that
there is. Knowing a little about
India – there is a hierarchy in religion,
isn’t there? – there’s always
going to be a lower class that’s
treated differently. I don’t see that
changing for a long time.”
But Castro is a big fan of
India and most things Indian.
“It bothered me to see the
conditions under which people
live on the streets and also the
men urinating everywhere in
public, but I also saw really
fancy houses and the high-end
equipment and top-quality machinery
at the plants that we visited
– comparable to the best
in the world.”
Everyone was very kind and
friendly, she says, and she loved
all the bustle and the liveliness.
“I like a little bit of confusion!
I’d sit in a car and be
amazed at how they manoeuvre
through that crazy traffic!”
And she loved the food.
“I suffered no ill effects
though I had heard horror stories.
Honestly, I tried everything
and it was delicious! And all
those gorgeous clothes!
“I can’t say if I can live there
for a long period, but I always
leave saying, ‘What an experience!’”
L
atchman Narain holds a
PhD in Counselling Psychology
and runs two anger
management centres in Toronto.
With over 20 years of counselling
experience and nearly 10
years of experience in anger
management and immigrant issues,
he is perfectly positioned
to comment on the issue of reverse
racism.
“I do believe it is true to a
degree that we practise reverse
racism,” he says. “Though from
the psychology point of view,
‘reverse racism’ may not be the
exact right term, it does capture
the essence of this behaviour.
There are expressions such as
‘white is right’ or ‘white worshipping’
– racist in themselves,
– that though extreme, have
some kernels of truth.”
We judge ourselves by selfimposed
‘white’ norms. We look
down on other Indians with accents,
for instance, while overlooking
accents in non-desis.
That self-rejection translates into
self-hatred. When a person
hates himself, that hatred
is revealed in behaviour towards
other people belonging
to the same group.
If you reject yourself,
to a degree, you are going
to project that on others
who remind you of your
inadequacies.
Some of us don’t like
what we see in the mirror;
we suffer from
low self-esteem.
Self acceptance,
or the lack of it, is
the core issue, says
Narain.
How often have
you heard a young
desi claim he or
she doesn’t like
desi food because
it smells? They are
comparing their food to
what they perceive to be
white, mainstream – and
acceptable – norms.
“Many South Asians
think they have made it
when they reach the west;
they see another brown
person as a threat,” he
says.
The position at work,
and social and economic
status can all be perceived
to be under threat
by the new brown kids
on the block. And hence
the resentment.
Many in the first waves
of immigrants worked on
the shop floor, as janitors at
airports and in minimum wage
jobs at factories. Then along
comes the new wave. Educated,
affluent, these immigrants may
• ABOVE: Astrid
Castro in an outfit
she picked up in
India.
“There is still the
perception that
those who are darkskinned
are people
who work outside
in the sun and,
therefore, lower
on the social
ladder.”
ASTRID CASTRO
NARI MAVALWALLA/DESI NEWS
February 2009 Desi News 15