Ethnic statistics negate humanity

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.