US President Donald Trump has been slammed across the world for his xenophobic attacks against people he perceives as outsiders. In a barrage of tweets, Trump had written that those (referring to four women democratic congresswomen) who don't like the US should go back. Three out of four of them were born in the United States.
What many don't know is that while this is xenophobia on a larger scale, racism exists across the world. A BusinessTech report said that India is the second most racist country in the world with 60 percent of the population facing racism by their own countrymen.
One Twitter user from India also tweeted a story of a little girl who was teased by her friends due to her appearance. One boy allegedly called her a 'Chinese girl' and another called her a 'chicken roll'.
"This is my friend's Instagram account, which she runs in her daughter's voice. The experiences of a child growing up in Bangalore. Ching lives in Bangalore. Yesterday she spoke to her mum about casual racism in her school bus, among kids. #bengaluru #bangalore," Sabbah Haji Baji, a Twitter user wrote.
Sabbah attached two photos of an Instagram post which the little girl's mother runs for her. In the post, the mother wrote in the girl's voice, "My school bus is a privately owned and operated school bus because the school's buses don't pick up KG kids and drives students only from Std. 1. So we have students from Joseph's Boys, Cotton Boys, Sacred Heart Girls in my bus."
She went on to say, "One day, I told mum that the boys in my bus are naughty on our way back home. One called me "Chinese Girl" and the other one called me "chicken roll". I didn't like it. It wasn't nice."
The girl went on to say that her parents made her feel better. In a P.S., the girl said, "If you're the one teasing people or calling people names, STOP IT. It's not nice."
This is my friend's Instagram account, which she runs in her daughter's voice. The experiences of a child growing up in Bangalore.
— Sabbah Haji Baji (@imsabbah) July 25, 2019
Ching lives in Bangalore. Yesterday she spoke to her mum about casual racism in her school bus, among kids. #bengaluru #bangalore pic.twitter.com/9JhfbnMPeq
What was sad was that students who are barely five or six years of age said this which shows how the parents and other elders in their lives address those who do not look like them.
In India, people are constantly made fun of their looks, if they do not look like how Indians normally do. Many are called "Chinki", "Momos seller", "drug dealer" and if the person is dark, they are outright called ugly.
Migrants from Africa are also discriminated against and even subjected to racial violence. For example, in March 2017, a disturbing video surfaced of a mob of men attacking a group of Nigerian students in a mall in Greater Noida. The violence increased rapidly when they were beaten up with steel rods and chairs.
With these instance occurring at an alarming rapidity, one thing which is for sure is that Indians cannot accept those who do not look like them. When this was pointed out, an AAP MLA from Delhi said, "If we really had any problem with black people we would have never shared houses with Tamilians."
