I find it interesting that though the two instances of disrespect were executed by Blacks, you conclude Whites are to blame.

"The way this white supremacist system pits black people and immigrants against each other is truly tragic."

There stands a hefty leap of logic. You're looking for respect from the very people you insist on scapegoating. Perhaps that works on the cloyingly guilt-ridden Whites, but those are few in number.

PirateCaptain,
Ever hear of divide and conquer? Seriously, communities of colour united pose the biggest threat to the power of the dominant kkkulture. Check yourself.

As a fellow Desi American- I am proud of you. Your strength, your passion, your spirit- all of you. What happened to you was completely unjust, and I join you as a sister in the fight against racism. My heart hurts for you, and yet I also find joy in knowing that you continue to stand up for yourself, and for all of us.

PirateCaptain, I think what you're missing is the point Rinku Sen makes in today's RaceWire post on "College Hate":

"...stereotypes have their roots in demographics, and demographics have their roots in policy and practice."

Stereotypes and bigoted attitudes get produced and reproduced by racist social structures that are a lot bigger-- and more stubborn-- than any one person's attitudes. And those racist social structures-- like immigration policy-- aren't controlled by black folks.

Sonny's not letting anyone off the hook-- "I want to beat the crap out of him" isn't the voice of someone making excuses for bad conduct. What he's pointing to is that to eliminate racism requires social change, not just individual change.

On another point, I'd ask you to take a step back & re-read your words, "You're looking for respect from the very people you insist on scapegoating," and think about how they'd sound to someone on the other side of the color line. Is respect, or equal and fair treatment, something that Sonny (or anyone else) only gets if they meet your standard? Not saying this was your intention, but it makes it sound like fair treatment is a gift from white folks, to be bestowed only on those who qualify by having the "right attitude."

None of this has much to do with whether you, or me, or any other white person walks around feeling guilty. That's irrelevant. You're not guilty for someone else's individual misconduct-- but we have a collective responsibility to work for racial justice.

We live in a white supremacist state and thus imbibe its values. Ultimately it is whites who have institutional power and set up society in such a way in that people of color often feel they have to compete with each other for slices of the pie instead of joining together to demand a different pie.

Also want to say-- Sonny Suchdev, thanks for your post. Both raw and full of clarity. A well-written narrative has the power to bring people inside another person's experience, and yours does exactly that.

God bless you Sonny.
Respect.

JGrrr wrote: PirateCaptain,
Ever hear of divide and conquer? Seriously, communities of colour united pose the biggest threat to the power of the dominant kkkulture. Check yourself.

If groups were to demonstrate inter-minority acceptance, it would encourage overall "colorblindness" -- but clearly this story demonstrates there is little interest in tolerance between minorities. Spell check yourself.

Peter wrote: I'd ask you to take a step back & re-read your words, "You're looking for respect from the very people you insist on scapegoating," and think about how they'd sound to someone on the other side of the color line. Is respect, or equal and fair treatment, something that Sonny (or anyone else) only gets if they meet your standard?

Way to miss the point, which is -- the author blamed Whites for the actions of Blacks. People of color are intent on scapegoating Whites because they are a convenient target. As a White person reading this story, and finding myself blamed in the conclusion, I am affirmed in my belief that minorities are more invested in assigning blame for their own misfortunes and flaunting victim status than accepting that all groups (even Blacks, even South Asians) show bias against one another.

Pirate captain, I almost wrote "walk the plank". I am restraining myself with difficulty. Your post reads like a threat: "WE will not respect you if you call OUR culture racist. We won't let YOU inside the circle unless you treat us sweet." Your post in itself proves the white supremacy of the culture--you keep for white people the right to include, the right to decide to respect Sonny as an example of the Other. You not only threaten Sonny, you take a tone that claims to speak for an entire group of people, the whites, in threatening to refuse him respect for "scapegoating" white people. You don't speak for me. You can't make me afraid to acknowledge the human truth that Sonny presented through recording the precise details of his own experience in his own social location. So instead of asking you to walk the plank, I will turn my lily white back and give you the back of my blonde head--and leave you hoist on your own petard: the group of whites YOU define as abrogating to themselves the right to approve another human's reality is a shrinking one, a circle I refuse to enter.--Norma

Thank you, ColorLines for putting up this really powerful testimonial. Thank you, Sonny - for sharing the raw emotion that you felt from this... we hear about bias and discrimination, but it's the personal stories that will move people to think more critically. We're with you, brother.

i appreciate the responses of norma, peter, buria, and jgrrr to the pirate's defensive and quite racist assumptions. this notion of scapegoating whites is totally absurd and completely ignores the fact that racism is about POWER. that's why i made the statement i made about how blacks and immigrants have been pitted against each other historically in this country (by a white supremacist system), and i'm sure we can all come up with many many other examples from all parts of the world that have been infected by colonialism.



anyway, a conversation i'm more interested in having is how to build more unity and solidarity across communities of color - and not in the "colorblind" way that pirate thinks we should tolerate each other. one of the things that was striking to me about this happening is that it was in nyc - the first city i've ever lived where sikhs have quite a visible presence. but i've also found since living in nyc for the last several years that communities of color, even among activist/progressive types, are quite segregated.



thanks for all the supportive and meaningful comments.

I got exactly that point: creating unity and solidarity across communities of
color; not what pirate captain got. Perhaps it's because I have been thinking along those lines. For instance, my granddaughter is very light skinned; we are a multi-racial family (Asian, Black, Hispanic, White, I am White and had several children. My children married across racial lines. The first time my little granddaughter was called "sand n.." by another child of color, my heart broke and I was to begin to learn the kind of pain inflicted on the innocent. She is a teenager now, tall, proud, straight backed, beautiful and alone. There is a rage in her under the surface. Not black enough and not white. Is this white supremist society we live in responsible for this divisiveness? YES

Pirate Capitan, listen to Norma.
Recognize dominant society as dominant. the powerful versus the powerless. dont take what sonny is saying personally, just do something to change it. Or else you are absolutely guilty of perpetuating an unjust status quo. And THAT you can take personally. You are not alone in your ignorance but its nothing to be ashamed of. But for backing out of reality by implying that members of dominant society could EVER be considered "scapegoated", you should be.

Thank you, D*cakes, Sonny, and the whole gang. You have affirmed my position on this matter.

I went to the Yuba City Sikh Festival a couple years ago. Be assured I was literally one of a handful of white people amid 60,000 Sikhs. I went with an open heart and got as I expected -- when the shift of power changed and they were the dominant demographic, they reacted as any group would.

Most were indifferent to my presence, some were kind and inviting, and quite a few were rude and hostile.

I'm not ignorant. And I won't accept the blame for Blacks being disrespectful to Sikhs.

Hi, I'm a turbanned Sikh. I went to an Ivy league school. I can confirm that in my experience when I had difficulties with colored students it was because I would witness that white students and instructors would encourage - through the use of very subtle non-verbal communication built up over 100s of years - black students to be difficult with me. This was my experience and it obviously is not an isolated experience.

Brown is the new black. All turbanned and middle-eastern men are the enemies of whites, not blacks. But blacks have always been controlled by whites on a psychological level by 100s of years of slavery and post-slavery slavery.

Divide and conquer is an age-old western stratagem. It is happening in Iraq now, where the insurgency is being described more as a civil war than a revolt against occupiers. Moreover, the civil war is being stoked by American forces and media who realize that a united Shiite-Sunni Iraq would make their occupation more difficult.