Lets remember the principle on which Australia was founded: racism
As 26th January marked the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of British convicts to Australia, let's remember the principle on which Australia was founded: racism.
Let’s not beat around the bush. To call Australia Day a racist celebration is not an exaggeration, it is a statement of fact.
When British explorer, Captain James Cook, chanced upon the land we now call Australia, he named it “Terra Nullius” — in other words, no man’s land. He looked around at the people who had lived there for 50,000 years and with one sweeping flick of the wrist, nullified their…
What does belonging mean to those exiled from home?
“For us at that age, we didn’t comprehend the full situation of leaving the country and moving to somewhere else. To some extent it was an adventure, but it was frightening as well because we had the army guarding all the way to the airport, [and there was] very rough treatment at the airport,” my uncle, Jitesh Sanghvi, explains to me on the phone as I ask him about his experience as a refugee.
In 1972, Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, announced his policy to expel all “Indians” — as he referred to them — from Uganda within 90 days. Amin…
Since 2018, the Office of National Statistics has conducted surveys regarding the gender pay gap in the UK. What has been revealed is that even in industries where women make up the greater workforce, men earn on average more than women. That is not to say that women earn less for the same work — technically that would be illegal — but that women are lacking in positions of leadership, or do not apply for higher paying roles.
Several suggestions have been made as to why this might be the case. Vicky Pryce, the author of “Why Women Need Quotas”…
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Or so the saying goes. But are people in power simply human and inherently flawed, or should they be held to a higher standard than the rest of us?
I began thinking about this question when I came across the essay ‘Annihilation of Caste,’ written by Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of India’s Constitution and a member of India’s Untouchable caste. The polemic addresses India’s problematic relationship with its Untouchable caste citizens and likens it to ideas surrounding race in America, stressing that equality cannot be met in India through the practising of Hinduism…
My family (which, as someone of Indian origin, includes my extended family) has a policy of donating 5–10% of our income to charity. This is an honourable practice, in theory. Much, if not all, of this money goes towards charities operating in our native Indian state of Gujarat, supporting medical clinics, eye hospitals, schools for the disabled, micro finance initiatives and food donations. But as a well-off family living largely in the West, are we falling prey to white saviour complex, believing our donations to be vital to the smooth running of organisations in India?
White saviour complex or ‘The White Man’s Burden’
…and why I’m reconciled to this fact.
My boyfriend and I had a conversation. It went something like this:
Me: Sexism is ever-present
Boyfriend: But how do I know if I’m being sexist if no one has ever told me this?
Me: Has this never come up in conversation between you and your girlfriends (of any description)?
Boyfriend: No.
Me: Oh.
Boyfriend: Exactly, so how do I know where to look and how to start, especially given my long working hours and when there are other things I’d like to read about and learn about that I’m actually more interested…
Before my first date with my new partner, I’d resolved that I wasn’t going to try to impress. That isn’t to say that I meant to saunter into the pub in tracksuit bottoms and lounge wear, but I was determined not to doll myself up (which I enjoy doing on occasion). I wore a patterned dress, a denim jacket and trainers and I didn’t replace my glasses with contact lenses. If he was going to like me, I’d decided it would be for who I am, not for an image I created of myself.
For some reason, my plan worked…
Writing about race hurts. When I find myself involved in a conversation about race, I immediately seize up. I begin to shake. I’m waiting for someone to deny the existence of racial inequality, to pour scorn over an apparent desperation to be ‘PC’, to lay claim that their life has been just as difficult as any person of colour’s. I want, desperately, to enlighten them with baffling words of wisdom, to explain just how central race has been to my understanding of self. But instead, I remain silent and overlooked. And I walk away dejected, angry at myself for lacking…
History is not an object. It cannot be dug up from the earth and placed in a museum. It is not a mural that needs preservation, nor is it an inscription on a tombstone that tells of itself. History is a story. It is written. And I am in the process of writing it now.
On 7th June, protesters of the Black Lives Matter movement collectively pulled down a statue of Edward Colston, a former slave trader who is said to have donated huge sums of his earnings to Bristol charities. Since then, debate has been raging about the role…
Priti Patel sparked controversy (a term I’m sure she’s familiar with) when she claimed that she didn’t need a lecture on racism having been subjected to racist bullying as a child. But experiencing racism and being a person of colour does not exempt one from holding racist ideals.
Priti Patel and I share an alarmingly similar ethnic background. Like her, I was born in London to a father who had emigrated from Uganda to the UK. And like her, I have been subjected to racism (though through largely implicit forms that tend to infantilise). …
Neha Doshi
English teacher. PhD candidate in waiting. Irritating know-it-all.
