Orphaned Response (r)

[treved@xxxxxxxxxxx]

It sounds like there is some kind of a war going on in this conference
topic.  Some of it unintelligible and some hurtful. I am interested in what
is behind such outburst originating from some innocuous comment.

I have noticed the periodic emergence and racist comments in several topics
over past year.  I gather it is something that is not going to go away.
Racial conflict is something that the whole world is dealing with at this
time. (It has been trying to deal with it for a very long time). I am not
surprised that it rears its head in this conference.  Perhaps the world
needs to learn about inter-racial relations and we just can't seem to get
it.  I personally have a lot to learn and devote some of my time towards
this end. I live in Australia which affords me opportunity to attend to this
issue.


I recently had a conversation with an Aboriginal Australian in which I was
accused, as a migrant, of coming to the country and treating Aboriginal
Australians as third class citizens and with contempt and disdain. Although
I personally did not abuse and mistreat any Aboriginal person I did
represent a body of people who on the whole are guilty. I have to admit
(much to my shame) that when I first came here I adopted the attitude of the
dominant white culture towards Aboriginal Australians.  I could see the
truth of that accusation and promptly apologised for my lack of awareness
and sensitivity to the plight of this country's original inhabitants.  I am
now obliged to bring to attention, whenever I can, the fact that we must
first attend to the rights of the Aboriginal Australians.  It has become a
fundamental exercise in social and personal awareness for me to consider the
position of privilege I occupy and look for the social, political and
economic inequity upon which that position is built.  It is fundamental for
decent people to use their positions of privilege to work for equity for
all.

The Chinese and Indian population in Burma are decendants of migrants.  I
doubt that there is any dispute in this.  Many have intermarried adding to
the rich and complex social fabric of the country.  But there is also
history that calls for some form of reconciliation between the indigenous
peoples and the migrants' decendants.  In Burma the British colonial
government imported foreign (Indian and Chinese) workers and business people
in order to bypass the indigenous Burmese resistance to colonial occupation.
For economic reasons (justified or unjustified) these people served the
goals of the occupying forces.  Did they have any awareness that the
indigenous peoples were being deprived of their rights and privilages?  Were
they aware that they were part of an oppressive colonial regime?  Would I be
too far off track in saying that prior to the nationalisation of businesses
most of the commercial sector was dominated by Indian and Chinese?

I am not surprised that some resentment dwells in the background and is
bound to influence relationships in the community.  I suspect some of these
sentiments came to the fore in the 1967 riots, instigated by the military
government.  I also suspect that Gen. Ne Win successfully exploited the
situation.  It is such a common practice for people in power to use this
tactic and we suckers fall for it time and again.  At a personal level most
people I have known have had good relationships across different races in
Burma.  I experience the conflict mainly in the ideological interactions.  I
hope we can keep from falling victim, yet again, to the divisive forces.  I
hope we can put on hold our differences till after we have dealt with the
more immediate and common enemy SLORC.  There is much to be healed in us
all.

In our strong feelings we cannot help but become irrational.  It seems like
a particularly human condition.  I beseech, nevertheless, all my brothers
and sisters, to choose their comments carefully and to avoid "put downs"and
"labels".  They do not seem to contribute to discourse and only cause pain.
Don't we have enough pain?

Lets work towards meaningful and respectful relationships between peoples of
all races, colour and creed.