How Indonesians could learn from Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/p>\n
Samsudin Berlian, Graduate Student, Princeton Theological Seminary,
\nNew Jersey<\/p>\n
Indonesian people could learn much from King in dealing with
\nracial injustice. First, they could learn to recognize the
\nproblems and talk about them openly. Before the civil rights
\nmovement in America started in the late 1950s, whites did not see
\nany problem and most of the blacks kept quiet for fear of
\nretaliation, which would make their lives even harder. King
\nbrought the issue to the surface, trying to instill courage among
\nthe victims and shame on the perpetrators. Spotting racist acts
\nwas not easy.<\/p>\n
People who have lived all their lives in a racist environment,
\nthe ones who enjoy the privileges and those who suffer
\ndiscrimination, often consider the social structure they live in
\nto be God-given and think that all they have to do is to try to
\nimprove their lives within the existing system.<\/p>\n
Racism should be differentiated from the attachment and pride
\none has about his or her roots. The feeling of pride for one's
\norigin, family, clan, ethnic group or nation does not constitute
\nracism. Even the feeling of superiority is not in itself a matter
\nof racism. Only when this unfounded superiority is translated
\ninto oppressive policies against other groups does it become
\nracism.<\/p>\n
Racism has no scientific basis. The differences within races
\nare much more significant than the superficial differences
\nbetween races. But racism is not only about false belief. Racism
\nis a major problem because it is mainly about involuntary
\nimposition of official or public discrimination on a group of
\npeople based on its phenotype. By this definition, racism can
\nonly be put into effect by the state or relatively powerful
\ngroups.<\/p>\n
Useful in recognizing racism is the compact definition from
\nthe ICERD (International Convention on the Elimination of All
\nForms of Racial Discrimination): \"Any distinction, exclusion,
\nrestriction, or preference based on race, color, descent, or
\nnational or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of
\nnullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise,
\non an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in
\nthe political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of
\npublic life.\"<\/p>\n
Second, King called for resistance. The people, i.e., the
\nvictims, the religious leaders, the intellectuals, and the
\ngeneral public have to have the courage to resist. Identify the
\nspecific problems and raise a defiant voice. Change the racist
\nmind-set and embrace inclusiveness in thought and action. Human
\nrights activists have done this. The majority of religious
\nleaders and intellectuals still have to follow suit.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, many Indonesians are, by nature, reluctant to
\nvoice dissenting opinions because they want to maintain harmony.
\nBut harmony without justice is not peace. As has been proven time
\nand again, such an unpalatable harmony has the tendency to
\nexplode into open hatred and violence.<\/p>\n
The government discouraged all kind of discussion on the
\ntopics it categorically lumped under the term SARA (ethnicity,
\nreligion, race, societal grouping). Many Indonesians seem to
\nsubscribe to this view. But such a cowardly attitude could never
\nsolve the problem. If a discussion about racial issues were
\njoined heatedly, it would be a sure sign that there were genuine
\nproblems. Preventing the problems from being aired freely would
\nnot solve them. Only transparent and honest dialog would do that.<\/p>\n
Third, the resistance King called for was nonviolent. Most
\nIndonesians are familiar with Gandhi's nonviolence movement. King
\nalso learned from Gandhi. The struggle against racism should
\nnever be clouded by hate or revenge. The victims of racism, of
\nall people, should be the first to realize that to emulate the
\naction of the perpetrators of racism is to become one of them.<\/p>\n
Nonviolence is the only option. Even though to remain
\nnonviolent after a physical clash has occurred is difficult, it
\nis the only feasible solution. Bitter experience in Maluku and
\nPoso proved the futility and senselessness of trying to fight
\nviolence with violence. Anyway, it is easier to have open
\ndiscussion and dialog between different groups while tension is
\nstill low. It would also be much better for the government to
\nopenly discuss new plans and policies that would affect minority
\ngroups before they were enacted and implemented.<\/p>\n
Fourth, the goal of the resistance should be integration, not
\none-sided victory. The idea is not to defeat or expel one group
\nor the other. The goal is to find a solution that would satisfy
\nall parties concerned. King envisioned a situation where people
\nof different races lived together in love and with respect for
\neach other's differences. This could never be done top-down.
\nNeither government regulations nor handshakes under the media
\nspotlight could solve grassroots problems.<\/p>\n
Fifth, King strove to achieve his goals step-by-step. Although
\nhis ultimate goal is integration, his immediate goal was
\ndesegregation of American society. That meant the end of all
\nfederal and state law and policies that discriminated against
\npeople based on their race. In Indonesia, it means that the
\ngovernment, national and regional, has to end all existing racist
\nlaw, regulations and policies. This could be done at the stroke
\nof a pen.<\/p>\n
Later, antiracist movements should root out hidden racist
\npolicies such as unannounced limiting quotas in university
\nadmissions or discriminatory recruitment in business and the
\nbureaucracy. There is no shortage of such abhorrent policies and,
\nas the American experience showed, the struggle would be long.<\/p>\n
Sixth, King's concern was not only on racism but also poverty
\nand militarism. He strived to build good relations with the labor
\nunions, made efforts to help poor whites -- whose number was
\nlarger than the black poor -- and he was ardently opposed to the
\nVietnam war.<\/p>\n
To him all these were related issues. His compassion for the
\nsuffering of blacks would not be genuine if not universal. His
\nlove was for oppressed blacks, poor whites, tormented Vietnamese,
\nand even powerful and racist whites.<\/p>\n
When we look at the problem of racism in this country, we also
\nneed to pay attention to the related issues of poverty, the
\nprosperity gap and militarism, as well as the problem of gender
\ndiscrimination.<\/p>\n
The first part of this article appeared on Wednesday.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/how-indonesians-could-learn-from-martin-luther-king-jr-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }