Indonesia told to learn from U.S. on ethnic equality

Indonesia told to learn from U.S. on ethnic equality

Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia should learn from the United States on how that country
has integrated those of Chinese descent into its society, says a
scholar from the University of Indonesia.

"We have to take a lesson from the history of the United
States on how that once-racist country eliminated discrimination
against Chinese Americans," Parsudi Suparlan, head of the
American studies program at the state-run university, said after
addressing a seminar on Chinese Americans here on Thursday.

Parsudi said the U.S. started the fight against racial
discrimination by scrapping its discriminatory laws and policies,
and persuading its Caucasian citizens to treat Asian migrants,
including those of Chinese descent, as equals.

The empowerment program was promoted and campaigned for both
among Asian and non-Asian citizens so that they could assimilate
an integrate in a humane and natural manner, he added.

According to Parsudi, the government should revoke some 60
laws, regulations and policies which are considered
discriminatory, and launch a campaign to promote an assimilation
program if it wanted to made people of Chinese descent an
integral part of Indonesian society.

Racial discrimination against Indonesians of Chinese descent
would continue in the country unless the government revoked all
the discriminatory regulations and policies.

"Both Chinese Indonesians and indigenous people should also be
encouraged to assimilate in a natural manner," Parsudi said.

He said that a hundred of years ago, the United States used to
be one of the most racist nations in its treatment of Asian
migrants and blacks.

"At the time, Chinese Americans, particularly laborers, were
the target of insult, anger, violence and even murder by white
Americans," he said, citing the 1882 immigration law, which
banned the Chinese from entering the Unite States.

However, Congress scrapped the immigration law in 1943 so as
to end legalized discrimination.

The repeal of the law was partly due to the fact that China
under the rule of the then president Chiang Kai-Shek declared
itself a democratic state in 1937, waged war against Japan, and
campaigned against discriminatory treatment of the Chinese in
America.

"The (political) situation made China an ally of the United
States, with both of them having the same enemy, namely fascism
in Japan," Parsudi said.

The U.S. government under president John F. Kennedy repealed
other discriminatory laws in the 1960s, and most American people
backed the antidiscrimination measures.

"This turned the racist and monocultural American people into
a multicultural nation that respected differences and ethnic
equality as they do now," he said.

Consequently, he said, ethnic Chinese citizens were given
equal right as regards education, business, culture and other
sectors of life in America.

"They then began to abandon their Chinatowns to assimilate
with and live along side other Americans ... The Chinatowns later
were turned into attractive tourist attractions there," he said.

Many Chinese Americans have even been appointed or elected to
strategic positions, including former Cabinet member Elaine Chao,
Congressman David Wu, and governor Gary Locke in Washington.

In Indonesia, discrimination against the ethnic Chinese has
prevailed since colonial days, during which period their role was
limited to trade.

Under former dictator Soeharto's 32 years of rule, a large
number of rulings were issued to restrict the roles and movements
of ethnic Chinese.

However, several of the rulings were scrapped during former
president Abdurrahman Wahid's short spell in office. And
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's current administration has
declared the Chinese New Year to be a national holiday.