Wednesday, September 2, 2020

COVERING RACISM WITH “FIG LEAVES”

 


Having few friends of different religious or race backgrounds does not qualify a person being secular.


“Racial fig leaves” is an expression coined by Jennifer Saul, a scholar at the University of Waterloo. It reflects the situation when people are prevented by the “fig leaves” from recognizing racism happening in front of them.


“I use the term fig leaves because they serve to barely cover something you are not supposed to show in public. Fig leaves are needed because most white people do not want to think of themselves as racist. Fig leaves work because some white people are so keen to convince themselves that something racist is not racist after all,” according to the professor.


“I am not a racist” is an expression people often use to defend themselves despite their involvement in racist acts or refusing to accept incidents of racism happening before of them.


Instead, they claim to be secular. Having few friends of different religious or race backgrounds does not qualify a person being secular.


-Promod Puri

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