One of the strongest emergent themes in our fieldwork on experiences of racism in Singapore is the use of the "dirty Indian" label that is thrown at Indians by members of the Chinese majority in Singapore.
Participants in our fieldwork often describe experiences of being harassed with labels associated with dirt. These experiences of being labeled as dirty span the lifecourse, from childhood to schools and the university to workplaces to community interactions to media portrayals to interactions on social media.
Brown skin colour is equated with dirt in the hegemonic Chinese construction in Singapore, and in many other Chinese majority countries across East and Southeast Asia.
Brown skin colour is equated with dirt in the hegemonic Chinese construction in Singapore, and in many other Chinese majority countries across East and Southeast Asia.
The term "smelly apu nene" for instance gets used by members of the Chinese majority culture as a tool for discriminating against Indians, often in playgrounds, at other times in classrooms, and yet at other times in workplaces.
Indian women discuss experiences of being targets of racist attacks with references to coconut oil in their hair.
Other Indian participants discuss being targeted with labels of dirt for body hair and color of skin. References to "Indian snakes" similarly are used to depict Indians. Follow social media interactions and you will witness the circulation of this label to denigrate Indians.
The racist behaviors of Chinese Singaporeans are multiplied many times in interactions with low-wage migrant workers in Singapore. Throughout our fieldwork that spans over a decade, our research team documents racist abuses that migrant construction workers and foreign domestic workers are subjected to in Singapore.
The racist behaviors of Chinese Singaporeans are multiplied many times in interactions with low-wage migrant workers in Singapore. Throughout our fieldwork that spans over a decade, our research team documents racist abuses that migrant construction workers and foreign domestic workers are subjected to in Singapore.
The desire for Whiteness forms the basis of the infrastructure of Chinese racism directed at South Asians. This desire for Whiteness is evident across discursive spaces and sites, projecting the superiority of the White skin. Brown/Black/Coloured skin are attached to dirt in majority Chinese discursive spaces.
The authoritarian contexts of many East Asian nations further limit the needed conversations on Chinese racism, often labeling articulations that point out Chinese racism as racially insensitive or threatening to racial harmony. For instance, Indian bloggers and performers have been targeted by the Singapore state for calling out the racism in public and media discourse. Most recently, media performer Preeti Nair was taken to task for calling out the racism of a "brown face" ad run by a state-sponsored corporation on state-sponsored media.
The authoritarian contexts of many East Asian nations further limit the needed conversations on Chinese racism, often labeling articulations that point out Chinese racism as racially insensitive or threatening to racial harmony. For instance, Indian bloggers and performers have been targeted by the Singapore state for calling out the racism in public and media discourse. Most recently, media performer Preeti Nair was taken to task for calling out the racism of a "brown face" ad run by a state-sponsored corporation on state-sponsored media.
Consider in this backdrop the articulations of racism voiced by Chinese about Western portrayals of Chinese culinary practices as "dirty" amid outbreaks such as SARS and Corona virus.
That the origins of the Wuhan virus can be tracked to the live animal markets of China becomes the basis for tactics of labeling, quarantining, and boundary-making in the West. These arguments about Western racism get taken up uncritically by White liberals, pointing to the racist nature of the Western portayals of Chinese. (These White liberal woke-sounding statements are themselves often racist, referring to treatments of Asians and sub-suming the intricacies, power and politics of differences within Asia).
The narratives of White racism then form the basis of Chinese advocacy in White societies. These Chinese articulations of White xenophobia and racism need to be situated in the backdrop of Chinese racism toward South Asians, Africans, and people of colour.
Conversations on White racism toward Chinese using the stigmatizing label of dirt need to be situated amid critical interrogation of the Chinese desire for Whiteness.
This Chinese desire for Whiteness forms the basis of Chinese racism directed at South Asians and Africans, often circulating the narrative of "dirt" that forms a key resource for racist constructions. Whiteness travels in the interstices of Asia and across Asia, in the racist labels used by Whiteness-aspiring Chinese across Asia often to mistreat other dark-skinned races from across Asia.
Conversations on White racism toward Chinese using the stigmatizing label of dirt need to be situated amid critical interrogation of the Chinese desire for Whiteness.
This Chinese desire for Whiteness forms the basis of Chinese racism directed at South Asians and Africans, often circulating the narrative of "dirt" that forms a key resource for racist constructions. Whiteness travels in the interstices of Asia and across Asia, in the racist labels used by Whiteness-aspiring Chinese across Asia often to mistreat other dark-skinned races from across Asia.
How often for instance do Chinese cultural constructions circulate the narrative of the dirty South Asian? How often do Chinese cultural constructions reify racist logics of Whiteness, all the while subjecting South Asians to xenophobia and racism?
Decolonizing racism is an invitation to look closely at the layers through which Whiteness circulates, ultimately holding up White hegemony and cultural categories of White superiority. The label of "dirt" that forms the infrastructure of racism must be decolonized across borders and spaces.
The mobility of Whiteness and the apparati of desire connected with it must be dismantled.
The mobility of Whiteness and the apparati of desire connected with it must be dismantled.