Shomporko Desk: The merciless, broad daylight murder of George Floyd has reignited the age old white-black racism row in the USA and also in other white-dominated countries, where the black community is allegedly being discriminated. Racism, however, is not limited to black and white, and the menace is as widespread as humans as a species.
George Floyd didn’t die in vain and the mass protest commenced with his death across the USA and some other parts of the world. Blacks, along with whites, Hispanics, South and East Asians, Latinos are raising their voice against racism, a poison that not only divide but demean humanity also. However, racism is too widespread and deeply rooted to get rid of overnight, and it is a problem in every society, in one way of another. Unfortunate, we, the Bangladeshis, are no exceptions.
Blacks are also subject to racism and often humiliation on Bangladesh also. I can share an experience of racism in Bangladesh. Many years ago, a few black students lived next door to my sister. My sister didn’t want my nephew to visit their apartment and talk to then though those guys were simply int’l students. I personally find black people good and friendly, but people in BD are kind of afraid of them and needless to say, their fear is utterly unnecessary.
Not only to the blacks, we- the Bengalis– are racist within us, and our racism is multifaceted. We are racist to people from certain districts; we are racist to those with darker skins tone; we are racist to the poor; we are racist to certain professions; we are racist to people from other religion; we are racist to people from other communities, and so on. The list of our racism traits would not be a small one. Even expat Bengalis living in Canada and other countries have not been able to free themselves from racism. We generally confess our faults but never really try free us from it thus narrow-mindedness, groupings, gossips, blame-game prevail among us, make our life bitter.
Many of us are sharing George Floyd news, posts on the social media, expressing solidarity to the protest. Some have physically attended the procession with a catchy slogan, ‘Black Lives Matter’, and these are all very good signs. These sings show that we still care for humanity, urge for equality, crave for diversity. However, George Floyd’s sacrifice would go in vain if all our anti-racism efforts remains confined in social media and processions. It is high time that were do some self-reflect to identify traces of racism within our heart and consciously uproot them forever. If we can do so, that would be a true revolution against racism.
