Vanuatu

Racism *yet again*

"We can ask ourselves, what can witnesses to racist acts and racial comments, do? Oppose the behaviour, not the person - don't accuse them of racism. People are rarely open to listening to feedback if it is not respectful, and if you label the person, you'll lose them. Tell them that comment made you uncomfortable, because to you it's a put- down. Say something. As Martin Luther King Jr. paraphrased the English philosopher Edmund Burke, " all that evil requires to triumph is for good people to remain silent."

Question: is is really possible to seperate the person and the problem, esp. if the received comment is a very sensitive topic for you?

Anecdote: I highly doubt that I have the wisdom to prove it, but my wisdom teeth are coming out (get it, "it is joke" :P). I was pretty determined to ignore the pain, sicne neither CUSO nor OHIP covers dental anymore. But, it eventually got to a point where I couldn't sleep, eat or sit in one place. So, I decided to go ahead and see the dentist. Now, there are two dentists in all of Vila: both of them expats, but one is a French guy and the other Australian. The french guy charges a hefty price for a mere consultation, but is supposedly great when it comes to knowing his job. But that is also why the earliest appointment he had available was 5 days from the time I called. It had gotten so bad that I wasn't sure that I could wait any more, so instead, I called the other Australian dentist. Now, this guy was willing to give me an appointment *that* very day. I should've known there was a reason he was so willing to have patients. Anyway, I go on ahead since the pain was a bit too much to bear and I tell him that I think it might be wisdom-teeth related but have no idea why it's hurting so bad. Now, while I'm in the middle of this sentence, he just takes his hand and *wituhout wearing gloves, OR, washing his hands* puts his fingers into my mouth. I am really not exagerrating when I say: NO warning, no nothing! I stop talking. He asks me some questions about my braces, but I guess, forgets to take out his fingers from my mouth. When he does stop punching my gums, I start explaining what my orthodontist back in Canada is doing to my teeth and so on. And *again*, he just opens my mouth and pushes his fingers into the back-corner of my mouth. All this time, I'm really trying hard not to get angry, to remain patient and giving him the benefit of doubt.

Anyway, as absoultely uncomfortable and painful as taht entire experience was, I find out one of the three wisdom teeth has an infection. He tells me to take antibiotics and writes a prescription for it. What he *forgets* to tell me is that while he has charged me seperately for the consultation visit, he is also charging 2000 Vt ($20 CAN) to *write* the prescription. Again, I decide not to make a big deal out of this specifically because it hurts so much that I am absolutely desperate to get any medication that will decrease the pain. And then, just when I'm about to step out of the office, he says, "what is a nice muslim girl like you, doing in Vanuatu." Needless to mention, there was special emphasis on the "nice muslim girl" part and his voice was dripping with ridicule and contempt. This was truly the last straw, where I got the angriest I've gotten ever sicne being here in Vanuatu. No, I didn't yell, or sware or anything else. Just looked him straight in the eye, told him he was being racist and discriminatory, and that I was very offended. His reply "oh no, I wouldn't wanna be offensive!" Again, this sentence was pumped full of sarcasm as well!

So, here's the question: I don't think it would've been humanly possible (for me atleast) to sit down and *explain* to him why his comment was offensive to me, especially when he not only knew but also intended it to be hurtful. Are you still supposed to "seperate the person and the problem" at that point? Again, the afore-mentioned quote is great and rational and all of good that stuff, but it is also said by a caucasian person who has absolutely no idea what kind of battles people of color and visible religious minorities have to fight on a daily basis.

On a side note, I met a short-term Australian volunteer at the national women's umbrella organization I'm helping out with during my spare time. She further confirmed by belief that Australia is, by far, the last place I want to go as a head-scarf-donning, non-white Muslim**. According to her (and these are here exact words): "If my friends saw me ... I would be ostracized for even sitting here with you, a Muslim." Did I mention that this woman is *very* succesful in the corporate Australian culture, and so interacts not with "simple-minded" people who haven't had the opportunity to step out of their small clusters, but those who have the most influence on the national policies dictating the country's actions.

posted by faa-T @ 5:04 PM