File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1996/96-11-13.154, message 87


Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 12:15:56 -0500 (EST)
From: Siddharth Chatterjee <siddhart-AT-mailbox.syr.edu>
Subject: Re: M-I: Re: Racism and the nation state




On Mon, 11 Nov 1996, R Pearson wrote:

> > From: Adam Rose <adam-AT-pmel.com>
> > To: marxism-international-AT-jefferson.village.virginia.edu
> > Subject: M-I: Racism and the nation state; Sexism and the Family
> > Date: 11 November 1996 09:44
> > 
> Adam writes: 
> > Racism is bound up with the nation state, which did not predate
> > capital.
>
> For once we agree: racism originates with *capital*. But why do you argue
> this?
> 
> Russell
> 
> 
The above is a very restrictive statement. Racism probably originated
with class society and class society existed before the advent of
capitalism. Descriptions of varna (color) abound in the ancient Indian
texts. The invading "Indo-Aryans" who eventually settled in the Northern
plains, described the Dravidians (the pre-Aryan civilization) in terms
of color. The origin of the caste system in India is attributed by
some to this racism of the "Aryans" (literal meaning of the word "Arya"
in Sanskrit is one who is "well-born"). Even today, marriage between
Brahmins (a minority) and non-Brahmins is frowned upon. If one looks at 
paintings and figures of the various deities in India, it becomes
evident that the godess Durga,who is slaying the Asura (someone
like a demon but not exactly) is pale-skinned and rides a lion 
while the Asura is dark-skinned and his animal is the buffalo. The
sole exception among the gods is Krishna (one of the chief interlocuters
in the Bhagvad Gita),who is actually, blue-skinned,while his 16000 female
consorts are pale-skinned. On the whole, what a racist, sexist society,
and that too, a pre-capitalist one!

S. Chatterjee  
    



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