I'll agree that there are several who have replaced tolerance
with understanding. But on the same token, there are several others
who do eventually resort to racism under "stress levels"
I've been fortunate as a minority to not have been subject to too
much of racism. But all my brothers have not been as lucky.
I guess one of the issues is defining when Racial Tolerance becomes
Racial Harmony.
Personally I equate
1. Persistent Negative Stereotyping
2. Persistent Racist Jokes pertaining to one race only
3. Explicit Racial slurs
As Racial Disharmony.
1. Persistent Negative Stereotyping.
Consider the case of the Malay:
Several times I've come across people who say the Malays are a lazy
bunch of people. They always like to "lepak" one corner. Today,
this is even a hot topic in Malaysian Politics.
One of the admirable qualities of the Malay Culture, however, is
that, more than most of the other races, they emphasize on the need
for the family unit to be closeknit and strong. As a result, you
find the tendency for Malays to not work to the point of neglecting
their families. This IS a problem with for example a good number of
Chinese Families.
There is no right or wrong here. Its just a different emphasis to
what's more important.
Or agains consider the case of the Indian:
An Indian who doesnt defend his case (against an argument) has lost
the argument.
An Indian who on the otherhand successfully rebuts a case in his
favour is seen as being Egoistic and subject to taunts that "they
just cannot accept defeat..." or "Indians... everything also must
argue".
It is rampant, I tell you. I've come across it several times myself
:p
2. Persistent Racist Jokes against a particular race.
They can be fun if they are isolated and said once in a while
without malice. Or if the person saying it, "plays is fair" and
tells a joke relating to his own. But there are many who make it a
habit to persistently make fun of one particular race and it can be
seen in duress, or close encounters (with the other race), where
they emphasize on the joke again as a confirmation of it.
3. Explicit Racial Slurs
This usually is found in younger children and older folks. I cannot
understand the reason for this. In kindergarten, the chinese
students have a tendency to call the indian students, "Black" or
"Dirty" or "Smelly". I cannot help but think just where is it that
they learnt to call them by those names.
The reason I know many of these things may probably lie in the wide
range of contacts I have. I used to teach in a school and racial
slurs and racism is a commonplace. Fights happened everyday(!) as a
result of this racism.
The other groups of people I love mixing around with are the "Youth
at Risk" which make up an alarmingly sizeable population today.
Same results.
And then there are the supposedly more "harmonious" ones who under
"stress conditions" (like anger/disdain) burst out in a racial
slur. At all other times they can maintain good friendship with the
other race.
I call it Racial Tolerance because the lines are drawn pretty
clearly several times. I may be guilty of being utopian, but true
racial harmony I believe, is when everyone sees himself as being
Singaporean and not from any of the races. They not only retain
their culture, they even adopt the culture of others in their daily
living. I've a group of friends who feel this way and I enjoy their
company most.
