Malaysia: Race should not be an issue

[Harold Schiffman]

Race should not be an issue
Behind the Headlines
By BUNN NAGARA


We may soon witness the end of 'white America', but then why should it
matter anyway?

THE United States will no longer be a "white" country in only another
generation, according to demographic projections. Some current
minority races would have grown proportionally until, by 2042, "white
Americans" would become a minority. This had been forecast only four
years ago to occur in 2050, but now it is seen as happening earlier.
It could be seen to happen even before 2042.
 Part of the reason is that Hispanics are not considered "white", and
their numbers are expected to double in proportion by the next
generation from the current 15%. Likewise Asian Americans, from the
current 5% to 9%.

While the black American population would remain constant in
percentage terms, the white population is ageing, with accordingly
lower fertility. Another reason for the declining white share of the
population besides reproductive rates is immigration, particularly
with Hispanics and Asians.

One drop rule

But if white racialists are concerned over this decline, it must be
said that social class and upward mobility may be accompanying
factors. The more middle class and solvent a segment of the
population, the lower the fertility rate as well.

Another reason for the numerical decline of "white America" is
something of a blowback as with Hispanics: the white policy of the
"one drop rule" concerning the offspring of white-black unions. US
nationals, however "white-looking", are considered black so long as
they have even one drop of black blood in them.

This would include any US citizen with however little or distant black
parentage, as well as all those with all-white patrilineal heritage
and some black matrilineal background. It has the effect of increasing
black numbers and diminishing white ones.

Despite occasional denials, the one-drop rule had been inherited from
the overtly racist attitude of the US slave-keeping era. That
mentality can in turn be linked to racist aspects of the English
language, with words like "miscegenation" with their nuances and
implications particularly relating to earlier laws against
inter-racial marriage and sex.

By the 1960s, the US "black pride" and civil rights movements helped
to promote black consciousness, turning a stigma into a platform and a
pulpit. Since the 1990s at least, some black voices had already been
saying that there were no more pure white Americans any more.

That assertion begs a more basic question: Is there such a thing as a
"pure race" as is commonly understood? Not really, according to modern
anthropology, which tends to conclude that the notion amounts to
little more than genetically inherited physical characteristics.

Then the grey areas become even fuzzier when such genetic inheritance
is never conclusive, and the physical characteristics vary more within
each "racial" group than between different racial groups. Furthermore,
besides race, there are other related categories like culture
(traditional beliefs and practices) and ethnicity (identity based on
culture).

The common understanding of "race" is often too wide and general to be
useful in policy terms, particularly when it is cynically manipulated
for political reasons.

In South Africa, Chinese were considered "coloured" under apartheid,
then "white" when Pretoria wanted business with Taiwan. They became
disadvantaged after apartheid ended and were excluded from special
provisions for blacks, so the Chinese sued and won reclassification as
blacks.

All societies evolve, and they tend to evolve towards greater and more
complex mixing. But almost universally, people's individual identities
change faster than society's institutional set-up and its preparedness
to accommodate such changes.

Mixed parentage

This makes the present US presidential campaign, for example, more
interesting, having produced the first serious black minority
candidate in Barack Obama.

Many of Obama's supporters are young people, because John McCain is
obviously from a different generation and also because Obama is of
mixed parentage.

Thus the appeal of "change" in Obama's message goes beyond
transforming government policy and Washington's formalities. But
hurdles remain in his presidential bid, including those from Hillary
Clinton's camp, and so the frequent temptation to flip-flop.

If Obama becomes president, his credibility will hinge on staying true
to his message of change. That could mean the United States becoming a
truer social manifestation of its melting pot image, and perhaps the
world's most prominent example of a pluralistic society.

If its domestic social relations are also seen to improve steadily, it
could be a positive example to the world. But such national role
models are not limited to countries that are rich, powerful and large,
so that smaller countries with progressive social relations can serve
as well or better.

Malaysia is known as a very multi-racial and multi-cultural society,
and part of its strength is its relatively large minorities and their
agreeable social relations. Evidently, for the country to be stronger
and more successful, it has to build on these qualities.

Unfortunately, there is sometimes silly misunderstanding of serious
policy concepts like Bangsa Malaysia, a single Malaysian race. While
the different cultures and ethnicities may remain distinct and
flourish in their own right, race as a social construct can be
reconfigured for the betterment of the nation.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/17/focus/22107442&sec=focus

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