The Hindu : Social equality: Lessons from the U.S.

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Wednesday, Dec 04, 2002

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Social equality: Lessons from the U.S.

By Kancha Ilaiah

Dignity of labour and socio-spiritual equality are seen to be at the heart of American life. At the same time, they keep the institutions of the state secular.

THE TURNING point of the American civil war was the seizure of Atlanta, which was completely razed to the ground. In the thick of that seizure, the then President, Abraham Lincoln, signed the famous American Abolition Act. Present-day Atlanta was rebuilt by both black and white labour, but the humiliation of blacks did not end there. Again, it was Atlanta that gave birth to Martin Luther King whose birthday is a national holiday in America.

Now Atlanta has two great museums. One is the museum of Martin Luther King while the other is called Cyclorama — the museum of the civil war. The Cyclorama was a real learning experience. The interpreter, an African-American woman, after showing us the painting of Atlanta's seizure, asked, "did you notice that there is not a single black soldier or woman depicted as having fought in the civil war". "This is a misrepresentation of history. During the civil war, 3,000 black soldiers and several women died in Atlanta alone," she added. African-Americans are that conscious of their history and fearless in telling the world about it.

The civil war started for the abolition of slavery — the whites of the South did not agree with the abolition of slavery. The blacks admit that many whites of the South contributed towards their liberation. However, the majority of the northern whites were for abolition and were willing to fight the whites of the South. What is most interesting is that the civil war was fought by whites and thousands of them sacrificed their lives and property in order to abolish the institution of slavery they had themselves constructed.

At the Cyclorama, three historians — one of them a black woman — narrated the history of the civil war with the help of a network of TVs. They said a white abolitionist called John Brown started it all. A tanner who also employed black slaves in his company, Brown later realised he could not be a cruel master like other whites because the Bible told him that God created all human beings equal. He could not reconcile with the idea that he could believe in Jesus and the Bible and live with the slavery of blacks — who were the children of the same God. He was an intimate friend of his black employees and participated in the tanning work along with them. When Brown saw some white men killing slaves he organised a counter-killing of whites. For this he was sent to the gallows. His death stirred the minds of other white masters as well. The civil war thus initiated by Brown led to the abolition of slavery by Lincoln.

In his just released autobiography, "What Colour Is A Conservative?" the black Republican Congressman, J. C. Watts Jr., says that what made the black liberation possible was the common belief of American blacks and whites in Jesus, the Bible and the dignity of labour. The Brahmins of India — including the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, who through the enactment of an anti-conversion law is on a collision course with the Dalit-Bahujans of her State — do not seem to have learnt any lessons from the U.S. experience even today. Brown went to the gallows, and thousands of white soldiers including Lincoln, laid down their lives for the abolition of slavery.

Not that the black intellectuals did not fight for their liberation. The biography of Frederick Douglas, a black abolitionist of the slave period who edited the first anti-slavery newspaper, says he was a "hero of the faith". The back cover of the book says, "Douglas was particularly hard on those Americans who called themselves Christians but still supported the system of slavery". The Hindus of India have no problem in defining Hinduism as a religion of Dalits/OBCs and Adivasis and supporting the system of untouchability that treats them like lesser mortals.

Mr. Watts reminds black Americans that it was the first Republican U.S. President — Lincoln — who abolished slavery. If the BJP while being a conservative party headed by the Brahminical forces were to work for the abolition of caste and untouchability, any Dalit working with the BJP, RSS, VHP and the AIADMK of Ms. Jayalalithaa could, some day in the future, write a book titled "What Caste is Indian Conservatism?" But they, very sadly, seem to have lost that opportunity. Dalits are being lynched for skinning a dead cow and now Ms. Jayalalithaa enacts a draconian law to get the support of the BJP, the RSS and the VHP. The Shankaracharyas support such laws and the murderous activities of the Hindutva forces without even thinking about the spiritual equality of the Dalit-Bahujan masses.

During meetings with black and white scholars and religious leaders in Iowa, Madison, New York, Dallas, Atlanta, Alabama, Chicago, Milwaukee, San Diego and Denver, I realised how black equality is achieved in American churches leading to political and economic equality. When black pastors preach and black singers sing about the liberation and salvation theology in the churches, white Christians listen with respect. White Christians confess they had committed a sin by treating blacks as slaves.

The African-American scholars maintain their black identity with dignity and self-respect. Such spiritual and social democratic values are responsible for the advancement of blacks in all walks of life. If the political class or the market forces ill-treat blacks, the Church reminds them that they cannot commit any more sins.

America is as religious as it is capitalistically consumerist. More than in Europe, dignity of labour and socio-spiritual equality are seen to be at the heart of American life. At the same time, they keep the institutions of the state secular. India's Brahminical forces failed the nation on all these fronts and kept India at the feet of American capital. Did the BJP or Ms. Jayalalithaa, or the Shankaracharyas or other Brahminical forces ever search their souls and ask why Dalits/Sudras/OBCs cannot become priests in Hindu temples as the blacks of America could become pastors in American churches? Do they think that by indulging in communal riots against minorities or by enacting anti-conversion laws against the religious exodus of Dalits, Hinduism can be saved? If they think so that is the end of their road.

If an intellectual class cannot think creatively, it should at least be willing to learn from others. Other nations do not recognise us though we claim ancient existence. At a meeting of about a hundred American participants in Denver hardly a dozen hands went up when I asked how many of them knew about India. But almost all of them knew about China. Many even know about Pakistan. The world renowned art museum of Chicago is just opposite the place where Vivekananda addressed the World Parliament of Religions but it does not have a single painting of Indians — not even that of Vivekananda. It has a huge portrait of Mao whom the American system opposed tooth and nail. Yet, America could not ignore him because he fought for the rights of the poorest of the poor and worked for liberation of the weakest of the weak.

Mr. Watts says the blacks of America cannot and should not keep quiet if their identity is doubted. If the response of the American church to the anti-conversion Act of Ms. Jayalalithaa is an indication, caste, untouchability and Hindu fundamentalism may draw the attention of the whole world in the near future.

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