After Nina was crowned Miss America I was witness to the furore that ensued with quite a few irate Americans calling her an "Arab" and littering Twitter and Facebook with other hateful comments. With a lag time of about half a day, there was another net wave snubbing these comments, in turn, making them even more widely read and talked about. There were "responsible" journalists and bloggers condemning these racist outbursts and setting hyperlinks to these very sites that they were disapproving of. Of course, I read all of it, just like any normal person would browse through an info bit and delve deeper in net history to unearth more grime about the issue. There was also praise for Miss Kansas who is exceptionally beautiful and accomplished, and who, according to most Americans, is the "real Miss America". FYI, she is the most conventional American blonde - right out of a teeny bopper Hollywood movie (and here, even I am being racist!).
Now I am no judge of a beauty pageant - I find all these girls amazing - they are perfectly sculpted, confident, radiant, outgoing - so sure of themselves and to top it all, they are Neuro-scientists and doctors and Nano-engineers.
Another parallel media bite that cropped up in this frenzy was Naomi Campbell talking about racial discrimination on the ramp, where most designers choose more white girls for their shows. Naomi and her camp accused these designers of being racist and demanded that a model cannot be chosen for her colour.
Now this set me thinking. We have two instances here where girls are facing discrimination on the basis of the colour of their skin - well, that's so unfair, you would say. But think about it - these ladies are on a platform that is gauging them on their looks, and whether we like it or not, the first thing you notice about anyone - is not their shoes / eyes (let's cut the crap) - but their colour - white - pasty white, American sun kissed white, Australian surfer white, brown, yellow. It's inevitable. We can't beat ourselves up for noticing the largest organ of the body - the skin. While Campbell creates a "Diversity Coalition", isn't that in fact, racist to being with?
Being discriminated at a desk job or in the meritocratic world for how you look or your background is definitely racist. Agree cent percent. But when you are in the business of showcasing a designer's creation that the designer probably visualized on a certain hue - well, can you really ostracize them? Also, when you are in a beauty pageant - people WILL talk about how you look - hullo!
Of late we have a resource from the Australian subsidiary working with us for a few months. When we are going for client meetings, sometimes we tag him along to "use" his accent so that the client is floored! So whether you like it or not, you are mesmerized with an accent and you tend to pay more heed to what they are saying. I remember Anshuman Gaekwad, once talked about a certain Coach for India brought in from Australia - "When the players hear the same thing we say with an accent, they like it better!"
Let's face it - Indians are the most racist of the lot - we may win the sympathy vote with the baggage we carry of the Raj and the brown skin we adorn, but we can be so judging and prejudiced ourselves - from a Tam Bram to a Bong Bram, from a Khanna to a Mudaliar, from a Konkani to a Kashmiri Pandit - everyone is asking for surnames, castes, eating habits, ancestral villages - so as to discriminate - and put into the sterotypical moulds that we all have built.
I just think we should cut ourselves some slack - we are all racist at the end of the day - coz we are observant to begin with. We cannot but help notice the colour of the skin of people we come across. But we cannot judge people at their work on the basis of their skin. But if the work involves showcasing your appearnce - well - that's something to ponder over, init Naomi?!
Now I am no judge of a beauty pageant - I find all these girls amazing - they are perfectly sculpted, confident, radiant, outgoing - so sure of themselves and to top it all, they are Neuro-scientists and doctors and Nano-engineers.
Another parallel media bite that cropped up in this frenzy was Naomi Campbell talking about racial discrimination on the ramp, where most designers choose more white girls for their shows. Naomi and her camp accused these designers of being racist and demanded that a model cannot be chosen for her colour.
Now this set me thinking. We have two instances here where girls are facing discrimination on the basis of the colour of their skin - well, that's so unfair, you would say. But think about it - these ladies are on a platform that is gauging them on their looks, and whether we like it or not, the first thing you notice about anyone - is not their shoes / eyes (let's cut the crap) - but their colour - white - pasty white, American sun kissed white, Australian surfer white, brown, yellow. It's inevitable. We can't beat ourselves up for noticing the largest organ of the body - the skin. While Campbell creates a "Diversity Coalition", isn't that in fact, racist to being with?
Being discriminated at a desk job or in the meritocratic world for how you look or your background is definitely racist. Agree cent percent. But when you are in the business of showcasing a designer's creation that the designer probably visualized on a certain hue - well, can you really ostracize them? Also, when you are in a beauty pageant - people WILL talk about how you look - hullo!
Of late we have a resource from the Australian subsidiary working with us for a few months. When we are going for client meetings, sometimes we tag him along to "use" his accent so that the client is floored! So whether you like it or not, you are mesmerized with an accent and you tend to pay more heed to what they are saying. I remember Anshuman Gaekwad, once talked about a certain Coach for India brought in from Australia - "When the players hear the same thing we say with an accent, they like it better!"
Let's face it - Indians are the most racist of the lot - we may win the sympathy vote with the baggage we carry of the Raj and the brown skin we adorn, but we can be so judging and prejudiced ourselves - from a Tam Bram to a Bong Bram, from a Khanna to a Mudaliar, from a Konkani to a Kashmiri Pandit - everyone is asking for surnames, castes, eating habits, ancestral villages - so as to discriminate - and put into the sterotypical moulds that we all have built.
I just think we should cut ourselves some slack - we are all racist at the end of the day - coz we are observant to begin with. We cannot but help notice the colour of the skin of people we come across. But we cannot judge people at their work on the basis of their skin. But if the work involves showcasing your appearnce - well - that's something to ponder over, init Naomi?!
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