How Indonesians could learn from Martin Luther King, Jr.

How Indonesians could learn from Martin Luther King, Jr.

Samsudin Berlian, Graduate Student, Princeton Theological Seminary,
New Jersey

Indonesian people could learn much from King in dealing with
racial injustice. First, they could learn to recognize the
problems and talk about them openly. Before the civil rights
movement in America started in the late 1950s, whites did not see
any problem and most of the blacks kept quiet for fear of
retaliation, which would make their lives even harder. King
brought the issue to the surface, trying to instill courage among
the victims and shame on the perpetrators. Spotting racist acts
was not easy.

People who have lived all their lives in a racist environment,
the ones who enjoy the privileges and those who suffer
discrimination, often consider the social structure they live in
to be God-given and think that all they have to do is to try to
improve their lives within the existing system.

Racism should be differentiated from the attachment and pride
one has about his or her roots. The feeling of pride for one's
origin, family, clan, ethnic group or nation does not constitute
racism. Even the feeling of superiority is not in itself a matter
of racism. Only when this unfounded superiority is translated
into oppressive policies against other groups does it become
racism.

Racism has no scientific basis. The differences within races
are much more significant than the superficial differences
between races. But racism is not only about false belief. Racism
is a major problem because it is mainly about involuntary
imposition of official or public discrimination on a group of
people based on its phenotype. By this definition, racism can
only be put into effect by the state or relatively powerful
groups.

Useful in recognizing racism is the compact definition from
the ICERD (International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination): "Any distinction, exclusion,
restriction, or preference based on race, color, descent, or
national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of
nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise,
on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in
the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of
public life."

Second, King called for resistance. The people, i.e., the
victims, the religious leaders, the intellectuals, and the
general public have to have the courage to resist. Identify the
specific problems and raise a defiant voice. Change the racist
mind-set and embrace inclusiveness in thought and action. Human
rights activists have done this. The majority of religious
leaders and intellectuals still have to follow suit.

Unfortunately, many Indonesians are, by nature, reluctant to
voice dissenting opinions because they want to maintain harmony.
But harmony without justice is not peace. As has been proven time
and again, such an unpalatable harmony has the tendency to
explode into open hatred and violence.

The government discouraged all kind of discussion on the
topics it categorically lumped under the term SARA (ethnicity,
religion, race, societal grouping). Many Indonesians seem to
subscribe to this view. But such a cowardly attitude could never
solve the problem. If a discussion about racial issues were
joined heatedly, it would be a sure sign that there were genuine
problems. Preventing the problems from being aired freely would
not solve them. Only transparent and honest dialog would do that.

Third, the resistance King called for was nonviolent. Most
Indonesians are familiar with Gandhi's nonviolence movement. King
also learned from Gandhi. The struggle against racism should
never be clouded by hate or revenge. The victims of racism, of
all people, should be the first to realize that to emulate the
action of the perpetrators of racism is to become one of them.

Nonviolence is the only option. Even though to remain
nonviolent after a physical clash has occurred is difficult, it
is the only feasible solution. Bitter experience in Maluku and
Poso proved the futility and senselessness of trying to fight
violence with violence. Anyway, it is easier to have open
discussion and dialog between different groups while tension is
still low. It would also be much better for the government to
openly discuss new plans and policies that would affect minority
groups before they were enacted and implemented.

Fourth, the goal of the resistance should be integration, not
one-sided victory. The idea is not to defeat or expel one group
or the other. The goal is to find a solution that would satisfy
all parties concerned. King envisioned a situation where people
of different races lived together in love and with respect for
each other's differences. This could never be done top-down.
Neither government regulations nor handshakes under the media
spotlight could solve grassroots problems.

Fifth, King strove to achieve his goals step-by-step. Although
his ultimate goal is integration, his immediate goal was
desegregation of American society. That meant the end of all
federal and state law and policies that discriminated against
people based on their race. In Indonesia, it means that the
government, national and regional, has to end all existing racist
law, regulations and policies. This could be done at the stroke
of a pen.

Later, antiracist movements should root out hidden racist
policies such as unannounced limiting quotas in university
admissions or discriminatory recruitment in business and the
bureaucracy. There is no shortage of such abhorrent policies and,
as the American experience showed, the struggle would be long.

Sixth, King's concern was not only on racism but also poverty
and militarism. He strived to build good relations with the labor
unions, made efforts to help poor whites -- whose number was
larger than the black poor -- and he was ardently opposed to the
Vietnam war.

To him all these were related issues. His compassion for the
suffering of blacks would not be genuine if not universal. His
love was for oppressed blacks, poor whites, tormented Vietnamese,
and even powerful and racist whites.

When we look at the problem of racism in this country, we also
need to pay attention to the related issues of poverty, the
prosperity gap and militarism, as well as the problem of gender
discrimination.

The first part of this article appeared on Wednesday.