Ethnic statistics negate humanity

By Alfonsus Sirait

JAKARTA (JP): The May riots in Jakarta and the preceding disturbances in a number of towns across Indonesia such as Situbondo, Pamanukan, Rengasdengklok, and Medan have sparked tense debates on ethnicity, mostly on the Chinese ethnic group. The opportunity offered by the Jakarta Post (JP) for the debate has encouraged several people to voice their racial sentiments and single out the Chinese community as "ripe with social and business sins." (Any term "Chinese" in this article refers to "Indonesian Chinese")

Of course, the Post's readers have also been exposed to many statements, articles and letters defending the Chinese. If Donna K. Woodward seems to justify the rapes of Chinese women and girls and any wrongdoing against Chinese by alleging that the Chinese business community is very corrupt, then we have some writers and public figures condemning the rapes and claiming that corrupt practices are not monopolized by the Chinese.

If Sumarsono Sastrowardoyo accuses the Chinese of not being patriotic because a few of them fled the country when their lives were threatened and because some of them, perhaps just like the rogues from other ethnic groups, betrayed the "country" during the Dutch colonial rule, then there were counterarguments to the effect that some Chinese people also risked their lives for the sake of Indonesian independence. Moreover, some Chinese Indonesians have competed fiercely in the international sports 0arena defending their beloved country.

Then we have also Masli Arman who, on the basis of his overseas education and working experience, claims to be intellectual and broad-minded and generous to his needy Chinese neighbors. But some readers interpret Arman's ideas regarding racial matters as a reflection of hypocritical racism and unbearable hatred that may lay deep in his heart towards the Chinese for reasons known only to him.

Racial debates are not without cost, especially for those who fail to see ethnicity as a dividing line. Such people, no matter what race they belong to, are the victims of racial sentiments that are expressed so freely in public. The bitter and painful experience that I have had in following the pros and cons presented in the Post for the last six months has motivated me, with my limited English, to participate in this debate, even though my educational background is way too far from ethnic matters.

Indeed, any effort to disentangle the roots of social disturbances is laudable and needs intensive discussion. But the debate that we have witnessed so far is narrowly focussed. As stated above, the core of the debate has been justification for the looting, rape, and murder of some people of Chinese descent during the May uproar and counterarguments against it.

It is quite alarming that this kind of social unrest is blamed upon certain ethnic groups by stereotyping the whole group as sinners and separating them from others. This accusation totally ignores humanity and our conscience, because human beings share more similarities than they have differences. Therefore, pointing out an ethnic group as the culprit for social problems will be a fatal mistake.

Moreover, the joint fact-finding team established by the government to investigate the riots has announced that the riots were politically motivated. Based on this finding, we can now totally reverse the debate in the sense that, if previously the Chinese were fingered as the culprits, now we can put the blame on people with racial sentiments who are prone to usage as tools of the political power. Any trigger can turn this sentiment into a devastating monster.

Unfortunately, the debate has not improved from the level of "blaming and counterblaming." Worse still is that it has even been diverted in the wrong direction, the ethnic statistics debate, which again targets the Chinese ethnic group.

The rest of this article will highlight the shallow meaning we give to humanity if our views on ethnic statistics and racial sentiment stay at the level we have reached so far, that is to satisfy the need of some people who want to divide humanity into majority and minority groups based on statistical counts.

In this era, ethnic statistics are a very outdated concept, if not a taboo. It is irrelevant to the issues of modern life when our attention is directed to the millennium bug, building of an outer space station in order to observe the universe, worldwide charity movements, monetary crises and the search for a robust monetary system and others. Modern society does not have room for discussing ethnic statistics in order to determine the ranking of ethnic groups. Such a discussion is poisonous to our lives.

To illustrate this stance, let us have a brief look at the building of an international space station which is now in progress as reported by the Post (Dec. 8 and 9, 1998). The reports depict how "the Russian-built Zarya control module and American-made Unity chamber were connected" by the crews of the space shuttle Endeavor.

A bit of fantasy and vision will help us to portray this event as a touching human experience. Keeping in mind that the process involves several nations that were great enemies to each other during the Cold War and that the parts (Zarya and Unity) that now stick together in outer space were produced hundreds of miles away on earth, we can see that this "terrific wedding of Zarya and Unity" is a symbol of human unity.

This spectacular achievement is only possible because humans are now strengthened by their similarities and enriched by their diversity. But this beautiful vision will suddenly vanish once we are fed with ethnic statistics with their potential to bring racism alive.

That ethnic statistics belong to the past is also demonstrated by the aged census going as far back as 1930 referred to by a contributor in the Post.

It is interesting to note that reference to the year 1930, which was precisely between the two world wars, may remind us of the era when colonialism and racism were at their peaks. Hitlerism was blossoming. Therefore, avoiding shallow debate on ethnic statistics is wise because of that debate's potential to create devout followers of Adolf Hitler.

This last section offers some points of view that may help readers in envisaging the beauty of humanity and appreciating the achievement of the whole humankind through interracial and universal interactions. Indeed, these points of view are wide open for further debate and criticism as they will enrich our understanding of humanity.

First, ethnicity is not a human choice. It is a gift from the great Creator, a choice of God Almighty. Therefore, we are required to accept and respect the diversity of ethnic groups just as we accept and respect ourselves. We are not in a position to make any fuss about whether someone belongs to the majority or minority group. If we can respect someone's choice of religion or political party, which we believe is among the basic human rights, then why can't we honor our Creator's choice?

Second, due to the ethnically mixed nature of modern humankind, correct ethnic statistics will never exist. Accurate "ethnic statistics" only apply to animals because a horse does not marry a dog, nor does a lion marry a snake. But human beings are different. More and more modern marriages are not restricted by race and skin colors. Therefore, it is very difficult, or even impossible, to identify many people with certain ethnic groups. Popular singer Mariah Carey, for example, as illustrated in the Post (Nov. 29, 1998), "was born to an Irish-American mother and a father who was half African-American and half-Venezuelan, which makes her one-quarter black." In such a situation, efforts to exploit ethnic statistics will only result in frustration.

Third, more than physical blend, humanity is rich with the "mix of manners, customs, cultures, knowledge, and consciences." Our visions, dreams, expectations, feelings, worries and others are merging and adjusting to each other as a result of our interracial relationships. This process builds up our conscience and upholds our dignity and demands of us that we drop ethnic statistics in the rubbish bin.