'Bule' and racism<\/p>\n
On July 29, 1995 The Jakarta Post published two letters On
\nracism (1) and (2).<\/p>\n
Originally, Mr. Baskoro wrote a letter entitled Western view
\n(June 22, 1995), which may, or may not, have been his title. I
\npersonally found this letter to be racially biased, xenophobic
\nand a slur on the expat community. Evidently, so did Mr. Ross
\nGulliver, who replied to this letter in On racism (July 17,
\n1995).<\/p>\n
I found Mr. Gulliver's letter to be well-balanced, thoughtful,
\nand a pretty fair assessment of the problem. His comment that,
\n\"it is impossible for a foreigner to walk 100 meters in Jakarta
\nwithout attracting some abusive racial comment\" and \"this is
\ndoubly true for mixed couples who are bombarded with insults
\nwherever they go,\" to be especially on the mark.<\/p>\n
Actually, Mr. Gulliver was being generous. Let's make that 50
\nmeters, and 10 in crowded areas. As for mixed couples -- my wife
\nis Indonesian and we have given up going out together in public
\nareas.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Reksodipoetro in her letter Racism (2), July 29, 1995,
\nsays that Mr. Gulliver must have some sort of problem. She says
\nthat she moved here in 1974 and has been married to an Indonesian
\nfor 18 years. She goes on to say that, \"as a bule (as Indonesians
\nrefer to Westerners) I have walked around Jakarta for 21 years
\nand have never attracted an abusive racial comment.\"<\/p>\n
Obviously Mrs. Reksodipoetro has never heard words like:
\nslope, frog, wop, whitey, dink, patty, pom, greaser, guinea, spic
\n-- the list is endless. Perhaps the next time someone calls her
\nbule, she should ask that person to explain the real meaning to
\nher. Meanwhile, keep on walking Mrs. Reksodipoetro.<\/p>\n
JIM SCHARF<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bule-and-racism-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }