Martin Jacques is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics. The death of his wife, Harinder Veriah, in 2000 in a Hong Kong hospital triggered an outcry which culminated in this summer's announcement by the Hong Kong government that it would introduce anti-racist legislation for the first time......discuss: "...In our 14 months in Hong Kong, I learned some brutal lessons about racism. First, it is not the preserve of whites. Every race displays racial prejudice, is capable of racism, carries assumptions about its own virtue and superiority. Each racism, furthermore, is subtly different, reflecting the specificity of its own culture and history. Second, there is a global racial hierarchy that helps to shape the power and the prejudices of each race. At the top of this hierarchy are whites. The reasons are deep-rooted and profound. White societies have been the global top dogs for half a millennium, ever since Chinese civilization went into decline. With global hegemony, first with Europe and then the US, whites have long commanded respect, as well as arousing fear and resentment, among other races. Being white confers a privilege, a special kind of deference, throughout the world, be it Kingston, Hong Kong, Delhi, Lagos - or even, despite the way it is portrayed in Britain, Harare. Whites are the only race that never suffers any kind of systemic racism anywhere in the world. And the impact of white racism has been far more profound and baneful than any other: it remains the only racism with global reach. Being top of the pile means that whites are peculiarly and uniquely insensitive to race and racism, and the power relations this involves. We are invariably the beneficiaries, never the victims. Even when well-meaning, we remain strangely ignorant. The clout enjoyed by whites does not reside simply in an abstraction - western societies - but in the skin of each and every one of us. Whether we like it or not, in every corner of the planet we enjoy an extraordinary personal power bestowed by our color It is something we are largely oblivious of, and consequently take for granted, irrespective of whether we are liberal or reactionary, backpackers, tourists or expatriate businessmen..." Get it all here
Not me. I lived for years in a country where I was a racial minority. So now I have the best of both worlds: complete enlightenment AND being white!
Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race You lived in a place where people "looked down on you" for being white? I'm not buyin' it. Maybe you were singled out as Other, maybe treated differently, even discriminated against at times. But this didn't come from a cultural sense on the part of your host nation that whites were intellectually/physically/morally "inferior" to their race. No such culture exists on earth, which is of course Jacques' point.
Re: Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race Well good, because that's not what I was selling. If you'll look at the quote I selected, you'll see that my point was that having lived as a racial minority for a few years, I don't take my whitenes for granted. Meaning that before I lived in Central America, I did take my whiteness for granted.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race Ah. That makes more sense. I was looking at the first sentence you cited about the prestige of being white even in non-white countries.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race I am white in a non-white society (Taiwan). Generally, whites are very much respected here, much more so than Indonesians, Philippinos, Thai and Chinese who come here either as workers or foreign brides. Mandarin and Taiwanese-speaking whites are accorded even more respect.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race Someone with more brains & ambition than me (which is pretty much everybody) should go to census.gov and see if my suspicions are correct. Utah & West Virginia are 2 of the most homogeneously white states in the union; but they also have the lowest per capita incomes. With Karl Malone in LA and John Stockton retired; I think that Chiapas now has a higher per capita income than Utah.
That is racist! Everyone knows that Latinos are above blacks now. Anyway, welcome back, Universal. Got anything that isn't race related?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race Yea, but, those West Virginians save money on not going to the dentist and they teach Driver's Education alongside Sex Education. Plus, never forget that in Utah you can save money from divorce lawyers by getting married a second and third time. Besides, those churches don't pay taxes.
Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race When the blacks call the police on a white guy, who do you think the police will tell to put their hands up when they arrive?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race That prestige certainly exists (at least in Central America- I can't speak for other parts of the World). Because if you're norteamericano and in Central America, there's a 99% chance you either work for the U.S. government or a U.S. corporation. Which means you're educated and you have money: the two most important "prestige" factors in that part (and I would guess any part) of the world. An interesting sidenote: El Salvador is one of the only countries in the Western hemisphere with no persons of African descent in their population (El Salvador never had slavery, and it was against the law for a black person to spend the night in the country until sometime in the 70s). I met only one black guy while I was there and he was from the U.S. and working for a U.S. company. He said he'd never been treated with such respect or prestige in his life (he was from Georgia), but was fully aware he would never be allowed to take even the maid's daughter out to a movie.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race Dude got a bad deal. What good is all the respect in the world when you have like no chance of getting laid...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race I took Japanese for a year and half in college. Japanese girls thought it was cute to see a white guy like me speak their language; but I did not impress anyone enough to get my Set Piece into the Penalty Area, if you know what I mean. But one of my fellow Gaijins did receive some Extra Special Private Tutoring from an exchange student.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race I got a Japanese girl into bed while in college. All I had to say was "Take it off, bitch." In English.
In college I used to discuss this topic with my friends quite often. We would formulate rankings of how well our parents would accept men of various races if we brought them home. While I don't doubt all that stuff about whites getting respect all over the world, I'm not sure that it applies in every specific situation. A culture might respect whites but not necessarily want one in their family. For example, my Korean friend's ranking went: 1. Korean 2. Chinese or Japanese 3. White 4. Southeast Asian 5. Latino 6. Black Of course, there were variations depending upon economic status and religion. For example, any white lawyer would probably be preffered over an unemployed Korean Baptist, but an unemployed Korean Catholic would definitely beat a white Jewish lawyer.
Agree with just about everything, but he overgeneralizes and this: ... is bullshit. And saying whites are never the victims [of systemic racism] hurts this piece because it ignores examples that he may have never encountered or he may feel are too specific or small to include in this piece. "Sem essa de alemão."
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jacques - The Global Hierarchy of Race It sounds from your anecdote like this guy might be confusing prestige with politeness. No way is this a sign of respect.