When my friend Chidrup and I talked about racism in the US, there was a big chunk of information missing from his understanding: He didn’t know about the history of white domination and the enslavement of African people in the United States for nearly four-hundred years.
It was hard to tell Chidrup the truth. I’m proud of my country, but ashamed of this: I told him that black people were treated as animals and commodities for centuries in our country. And although theoretically slavery ended with the Emancipation Proclamation, many abuses continued on through various cultural and institutional means long after that. When you take a look at prison populations and other life-challenging inequities that exist today, you see a continuum—back to slavery.
It is hard to own up to the truth.
When I handed Chidrup this chunk of history, the pieces fell into place for him. One minute he was puzzled by black Americans and the next, his compassion was palpable.
Why would an ambitious young man from India suddenly feel such a swelling of compassion for descendents of enslaved Americans?
Just as school children in India may be unaware of American History, we don’t typically learn (or remember) the history of India.
Chidrup can identify with black Americans because the British subjugated his own people for hundreds of years under colonial rule. As Chidrup put it: “They raped our women and dominated us, they destroyed our economy and taxed us, they stole our resources. ”
Take a look at this 18th century painting of a British family and their servants in India, and you’ll understand immediately. It is virtually indistinguishable from paintings of white families with the enslaved men and women who served them on American plantations during the same period.
Although the Indians were able to oust British rule in the 1950s, the legacy of damage to an ancient and prosperous culture is still felt today—almost sixty years later. India has started to recover as an economic force in the global economy and Chidrup is part of that recovery. But he knows that the scars of history are neither visible nor quickly healed and the legacy of slavery and abuse is not easy to overcome no matter where in the world it occurs.
The legacy of my own British ancestry is a part of me, as is being a white woman in my own culture (and being a “gringa” in Mexico for that matter). I sometimes think that when people use the term “tolerance” they aren’t necessarily thinking about how tolerant the victims of racism have been toward people like me. I am humbled because I know that privileges and benefits have fallen to me because of the genuine suffering of others—albeit from circumstances I would never have wished on anyone. Nevertheless, I truly appreciate the generosity, grace and forgiveness that comes my way.
The point is worth saying another way: racial tolerance isn’t just about putting up with people who are different than you. It is also deeply appreciating the fact that—despite all—they are putting up with you.
Chidrup has completed his internship and is returning to the University of Illinois in Bloomington. Many good things have come from our friendship and will continue to, but it was still a bit sad when he brought dinner to my house to share with me on his last day in Chicago. I will miss him.
Monica Rix Paxson
& Chidrup Jhanjhari
