Let's Get Real : Racism is not cool, my dudes

Let me introduce myself as a person through your point of view. I'm a girl, i have a hijab on, my skin is brown with red undertone, a tad short, chubby, and putting a smile. If someone sees me for the first time in my country, they will not classify me as a 'different group' of people. But that could go in a different direction when i'm abroad. Especially on western countries, you rarely sees a woman of color with a hijab on. I'm just so glad that these days a lot of Muslim have been accepted peacefully in societies across the globe. I thought that days without discrimination will continue on for the sake of humanity.

That until i saw the news about George Floyd.

For all of you that haven't read the news, please spare some minutes to read it. I will only state my opinion on this.

I'm so disappointed.

First of all, i'm questioning my dream of going to the US. Why? I thought US is a melting pot for people and cultures around the world to pursue their dreams. I thought the days of racism has ended, but apparently I was wrong. It makes me question myself, do i want to go there? I wanted to feel safe legally and socially and this news says the opposite. I can't imagine those people who had been treated differently for being who they are. It doesn't matter what race, religion, ethnicity, or anything at all, we all deserves our freedom of being a human.

Some changes needs to be made in order for everyone to feel safe. There's no excuse for that matter, so US, get on with it. 

Then i will move on to the main problem that i want to share.

Racism in Indonesia needs to end.

Living in Indonesia as a Muslim and Javanese girl is probably the most normal thing you could ever be. Since I was born in the famous city of Yogyakarta, it was a staple for me to be called 'Orang Jawa' which means Javanese People. The Javanese people is famous for their humble nature and their hospitality. They are said to be the kindest and most patient. 

As a Javanese person myself, i'm so proud of these internalized and generalized compliment of Javanese people since i was a kid. I grow up to think that, we Javanese people, are one of the most wanted people to have in the community. On the other hand, other ethnicity isn't that much of a concern for me. 

But as time goes on, I learned something so important that it changes my view of the society.

I realized that up until that point in my life, i have been internalizing racism against other ethnicity and races. 

It started when i heard a news about a man who was burned to death because he was falsely judged by the people at a village. The thing was the man was just a mechanic who tried to fix a speaker at a mosque. The villager thought that he wanted to steal the speaker, so they burned him. It doesn't make sense isn't it?

There's another news about a woman complaining and asking for the mosque to lower down the volume of the adzan. She was immediately accused of violating and insulting Islam. She was taken to the court not long after.   

Then I watched a video about the people from Papua talking about how they were treated badly by the society when they tried to pursue their education. They talked about when they were called names and put into the stereotypes that the people have for them. I tear up after hearing what they said. 

The same goes for those who had a Chinese ethnicity. They were called 'Cina' and had some stereotype like they're all rich, snobby, and avaricious, when they were just trying to survive in the society like all of us did.

What's wrong with our society?

We have what is called internalized racism. This kind of people is bad, those kind of people is rude, that kind of people is not normal. Stop that. It's true that we are all different, but that doesn't mean your race, ethnicity, or religion is superior in any way. 

Nobody deserves to be judged and treated differently. 

You see, 'normal' isn't when the society is homogenous, but when the people in diversity can function in harmony, is what i think 'normal' stands for. I'm not saying it's an easy thing to do, but we already pledged ourselves to our country motto.

'Bhinneka Tunggal Ika'

Different but united as a whole.

Let's keep our differences aside, and fight for a better society ahead.