I took part in a number of swimming races and road races (marathons) but never took part in the racial tones of the human race, but was a participant of it in direct and indirect ways.
My initial experiences of racial slurs were in Sri Lanka. Born a burgher and of fairer skin it was routine to be called a white cockroach in most stores I patronized in my local town in Sri Lanka. Other Sinhalese boys would yell that there was a white cockroach in the store. To escape assault we just ignored these remarks. However, as I grew up I saw this to be less of a problem in Sri Lanka until I landed my first job.
After interviewing for the job, the Englishman engineer took me down to the workshop where I would start my training as a cost trainee (1960s). No sooner, the Englishman engineer departed the Sinhalese engineer insulted me in my face saying that he expected a Sinhalese Buddhist and all he got was a white Burgher Christian bastard. I ignored those remarks and continued to work as best as I can. The months passed by and there was no problem.
About six months had elapsed and one fine day, the Englishman engineer came looking for me in a rage. He yelled that that was an extraordinary labor cost on a big marine job and I was to blame, as labor hours had far exceeded budget. Hundreds of the 2,000 skilled labor force formed a circle around me and the Englishman engineer to see what was going on. He yelled that he would fire me within a week if this issue were unexplainable. To my surprise, the Sinhalese engineer (who earlier disliked my appointment) explained to the yelling engineer that the customer had requested a host of add-ons and that the increased costs matched increased sales revenue and that the job was a profitable one. The Sinhalese engineer also said that I was doing an outstanding job and was more of a staffer than a cost trainee was. That day I earned some stripes from the racist I once knew.
On another occasion, my office sent me to a local government department to get a copy of an act passed in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. At that office, the government officer requested that I write an application. As I handed in the application, the officer yelled back that I must be beheaded. Moreover, when I asked why, he said because I did not write the application in the official language (Sinhalese). This was the time of the mid-60s when Sinhalese nationalism of language and religion was at its highest point. Anyway, I promised the officer that I would learn the language in the future and diplomatically spoke him into granting me a copy of the act.
Thereafter, I did not surmount racial slurs, as this was uncommon in the corporate environment. However, after this incident I just felt that I never belonged in Sri Lanka. My personal examples are puny compared to the racism that some other Sri Lankans I know have suffered, like physical assault, property burnt, loss of life, physical threats and so on. The UNICEF job to Bangladesh in 1976 was a great escape hatch at that time.
Now I see friends and family migrate and witness a number of interracial marriages. For those who intermarry (Sinhalese/Tamil, Burgher/Sinhalese, Burgher/Tamil, Buddhist/Hindu, Buddhist/Christian, Asian/White, Asian/Black, Black/White, Arab/Asian, and White Jew/Black Christian) we can only feel deep gratitude and admiration for their bravery. All the race combinations I have listed are only those that I have evidenced and attended the matrimony. Love has known no boundaries for these people, in either race or religion. It is no surprise though that the relatives inherited by interracial marriages sometimes do not bring happy occasions to the interracial marriage and they must pack their bags and leave sooner than the rest. So goes the saying that you can choose your friends but not your relatives.
I wonder why people must harbor racial hang-ups when an individual is not responsible for his or her race or religion.
Comments