Rajkumari Singh defines a Coolie “To be an Indian or Chinese laborer who has emigrated under contract to a foreign land”. I never really heard of this word nor its origin until I read the text, “I am a Coolie”. Although I am completely in agreeance of Guyanese people reclaiming of the word proudly, I can also see why many of them along with other people of East Indian descent from Guyana would prefer to leave the word in the past. The word, coolie, was “a European’s name for a hired native labourer in India or China” as Singh described. Any word coined by Europeans in relation to marginalized groups is motivated by racist ideology or this sense of racial superiority. For example, during the height of slavery in the 18th century, The n-word with the “-er” attached, was referred to not just any slave but a black slave as way to belittle them while empowering whites as a superior race. Today, the context of the word has changed and many people especially the popular culture (music industry) are pushing for the frequent usage of the word as a source of empowerment. I think this word should be left in the past along with slavery. Slavery is one of the most brutalities that I know of and feels very personal so whenever I hear someone use the word regardless of what race the person is makes me very uncomfortable and deeply disturbed. I am surprised in the first place that this word still lingers today and is even more popular in youth’s vocabulary. Many people defend the word’s usage as meaning, “a friend” and even some go to the extend of saying that the ending of the word has been changed from”-er” to “-a” and therefore, the meaning is not the same. Regardless of how it is spelt today or what it means today should not be an excuse for anyone other than black to use the word. I don’t even think the black community should be using the word because, it motivates other races especially whites to feel the need to use it too. A white person asked to stop using the word would argue that someone is using the word and therefore it is okay and they don’t want to “feel left out”. Even words used to target LGBTQ communities such as “queer” and the f-word are also now being reclaimed as terms of endearment when those words used to be derogatories that have been used against them in the past. Now today, some people use the n-word, the f-word, and “queer” in the historical context to attack the targeted groups. Every marginalized groups should have the choice to decide whether or not they want to accept certain terms in the context of words of endearments. Within marginalized groups, there are varieties of opinions and experiences so the fact that one is fine with one term doesn’t mean all of the group is fine with that term.
Month: March 2018 (Page 3 of 3)
The first few chapters of A Brighter Sun allowed me to see the topics we are discussing in class personalized through the characters in the novel. In the beginning, we follow a young Indian couple, Tiger and Urmilla, as they are thrown unexpectedly into the realities of adulthood and struggle to discover what it is to be a man and a woman. On their journey, they meet a creole couple Joe and Rita and we begin to see the stereotypes discussed in class being used in fictionalized dialogue. In one instance, Rita complains to Urmilla about her aggressive husband, and asks her “Why we creole can’t live like Indian, quiet and nice?” (31) even though Urmilla knows that they share the same hostile reality. We also see racial tensions in this novel when Tiger and Urmilla’s family disapprove of their friendship with Joe and Rita, “Is only nigger friend you makeam since you come?… Indian must keep together” (47). After studying indentureship in the Caribbean, we get to experience a characterized personality of a freed man. There is a character, a drunken Indian man named Sookdeo, who had “come to India to work as an indentured labourer on the white man’s plantations” (65). Also, in class, we learned that a majority of the Chinese population in the Caribbean became shopkeepers and were known as the “perfect settlers” (Williams). There is a Chinese character called Tall Boy who owns a successful bar and shop, with which the town appears to depend upon. Reading this novel we gain a new viewpoint on the specificities of race and ethnicity in the Caribbean.
Works Cited
A Brighter Sun by Sam Selvon
“Stains on my Name, War in my Veins” by Brackette F. Williams
I found our class discussion on the term “hegemony” to be very interesting. Some useful starting terms that served to build towards an actual definition were “oppressed accepts the imposition of values of the dominant group” and “coercion” (Moonsammy, 2018). At first, I considered that the term “coercion” was too pejoratively connoted to be used to describe hegemony, but after we were given a legitimate definition of the term, my understanding was enriched. Hegemony was defined as a “process by which subordinated groups internalize the value system of the dominant group” and that “after dominance is gained, this process is rethought.”
Moreover, this definition was paired with the idea of “givers” and “takers.” Initially, I was unclear on how these ideas were connected with the term hegemony. However, after looking back at my notes, I found the Baronov and Yelvington reading to be extremely useful in unpacking denotations. The definition of the term “mestizaje-créolité” helped me understand the idea of givers and takers. Mestizaje-créolité is defined the concept that those groups that gave the most in the past are now the most privileged (Baronov and Yelvington 240). This term was a little confusing to me, after realizing that all of these terms connect with the term multiculturalism, terms became comprehensible.
Multiculturalism is defined as a term which embraces all peoples while emphasizing the important contribution, and the importance of maintaining each individual cultural identity (246). The result of this embrace is a reverse hierarchy, where the subjugated are seen as the “givers” or those that contribute most to the nation, while the “takers” are viewed in a negative light. Nonetheless, the ultimate question becomes: how can one prove that they are a giver or a taker, and how is it possible for a subordinate group to make any decision based on entitlement to resources when dominant groups set the parameters within which the subordinates operate?
Works Cited
Baronov, David, and Kevin A. Yelvington. “Ethnicity, Race, Class, and Nationality,” in Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean, edited by Richard S. Hillman and Thomas J. D’Agostino, 226-40. 2nd ed. (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 2009)
van Leeuwaarde Moonsammy, Patricia. “Post-Colonization.” Lecture, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, February 27, 2018.
The story of Saheedan Ramroop is really that of a super-hero and brings up the invincibility of an East Indian woman who despite her inferiority status of a woman, brings change in her community. I think it is important to talk about figures like her in history because women like Didi and the impact that they have on their societies gets ignored for the simple fact that they are women, and also for the reason that history often revolves around the contributions of man. What really appeals to me in her story is that when gets offered the position of foreman, she rejects it even if it meant rejecting the opportunity of “living better” because this tells you that Didi was never about the money but about not abusing her own people, but rather protecting them and fighting for them. Didi put her ideals and her people’s happiness first, which is something that not everyone can do. She was special.
Throughout my life, I have come to hear, learn, and have conversations about words that are considered derogatory. Some words are just disrespectful and rude when said to any individual, however there are other words that are historically rooted that mean much more when said to certain peoples of different races, religions, etc. The word “coolie” is something I had not heard about until very recently, but as I read I have become to realize that it is very similar to some other derogatory words that I know. The origin of this word is very similar to the word “nigger”, while one was used by white people to label and belittle indentured servants, the other was used to do the same for African slaves. The most interesting thing about some of these words is how the groups who were once labeled by them, take the word, bring power to them and use them openly within their communities. Time and time again we have seen marginalized groups use words that previously were oppressive towards them, and confidently make the word apart of their cultures and identities. It was interesting to see that the word “coolie” took this path as well, and how people like Rajkumari Singh find beauty in it and feel as though it represents heritage. However, for me this always brings up the conversation of who is allowed to participate in the appreciation and renewal of the word “coolie”. I have struggled with this issue for the n-word, and constantly wonder who should be allowed to say and use it, if anyone. Now that I reflect more, I think to myself if anyone has the right to even argue if people can recreate, use, or not use these words. I am taking rural education this semester, and in knowing peoples from rural backgrounds are very marginalized even though they might be of a privileged race, it seems as though the word “redneck” might be able to enter this conversation as well. Again, it is a word that for a long time has been used to setback specific groups of people, but some of these people also have come to accept the word, and have made it parts of their identities. In the end, words are extremely powerful and fascinating, and it will be interesting to see how different words change in meaning and power for the upcoming generations.
I found a very interesting article that nicely links our class discussion of indentureship and colonialism and our new focus on coolies. The article, “Link emancipation to indentureship and reparations” by Dr. Vishnu Bisram was found on www.carribeanlifenews.com and features writings that reference the heinous existence of indentureship. One reading Dr. Bisram mentioned I found particularly captivating. “Not slaves—coolies. Have you not heard it said that when God closes one door he opens another? When the doors of freedom were closed to the African, the Lord opened them to a tribe that was yet more needful of it—the Asiatick.” (taken from Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies (2008)). I find myself wondering how it is that something as fundamental as freedom can be defined for others. The levels of freedom were disputed between slaves and indentured servants. As referenced in Rajkumari Singh’s, I am a Coolie, the definition of the term ‘coolie’ is also disputed between being negative connotation for a menial labor worker and hardworking, resilient people of Indian or Chinese descent who emigrated to foreign lands. In the PowerPoint presentation on coolies that was shown last class, it was made evident that keeping up appearances of fair labor directly impacted the portrayal of the institution of indentureship. As long as inconsistency remains between the system of slavery and indentureship, the image of the two will be misconstrued, and terms like ‘coolie’ will be misused.
https://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2017/8/2017-08-11-oped-indentureship-and-reparations-cl.html
I always ask myself why does race matter so much? I think it is a very confusing and mind boggling question. In this class, we have read so many pieces and watched many videos and although the word “race” brings a lot of discrimination and separation I think it also reveals strength and resistance within a people. The “Coolie” reading was especially interesting to me. A word that was used to tear down a group of people and belittle them, can be reclaimed and used to empower them. I feel like usually we try to forget words and names that belittle us. By this author taking the word and reclaiming it, I think that she has also taken back some of the power that the oppressor held. She is honoring the people that came before her and acknowledging what they went through and also making sure that it doesn’t happen again. I think it is important to know the history of terms like these to be able to understand the history before us.
New data realized reveals that Milwaukee police stops are driven by racial biases. It notes a huge amount of police stops are made without reasonable suspicion as required by law and disproportionately subject Black and Latino people. This is a violation of the 4th Amendment and fostered by deep-rooted stereotypes. To figure this out, David Abrams created a study making it clear that police stops come to racial and ethnic minorities at higher rates than whites, and that factors other than race and ethnicity do not explain those differences. He found even in non-racial factors — including crime rates — traffic and pedestrian stop rates in Milwaukee are both more than six times higher for Black people than for white people. Furthermore, this analysis shows that searches of Black and Latino drivers are more than 20 percent less likely to lead to the discovery of drugs than searches of white drivers — even after controlling for factors other than race and ethnicity. Thus, millions of Black and Latino people are being unlawfully stopped and frisked by police in their everyday lives, showing minorities are still unequal in the eye of law in 2018, a disheartening notion. A factor contributing to this related to Prashad’s article from class is the sudden surge of white supremacy. He remarks this also leads to colonialism, posing an unfortunate possibility in the future. We need to correct this fallacies in our government system to prevent repeating history.
Link: https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police-practices/new-data-reveals-milwaukee-police-stops-are
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