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Viewpoints Dirty words?
Viewpoints Dirty words? | Dirty words? |
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| Thursday, 24 May 2007 | |
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Words like 'mixed race' are used in every day conversations without ever questioning their implications. Francois Josserand questions these terms, and asks if we should be using them. Listening to the recent interview with Dimsum contributors Richard and Ruth Ng about their relationship some questions came to my mind. The interviewer often used of the words 'mixed race' without ever questioning the implications of that very expression. I think the interview and conversation was sufficiently long to spend just a few seconds interrogating these (self-)imposed terms of the debate. Of course this is an everyday expression very frequent in English and there is apparently no reason not to accept it. However, I think there is opportunity to try and question the very words used in these fascinating debates. 'Race' is a late-19th century bogus notion invented by biologists and widely adopted by scientists and politicians at the time. It was later 'popularised', as it were, under the extreme-right wing regimes of the first half of the 20th century, particularly by the Nazis. However, the theory upon which the idea that there are such things as 'races' was later rejected as totally bogus thanks to the progress of biology and genetics since then. (I would be happy to oblige with plenty of references from the literature on demand!) Indeed there can be much more in common genetically between two, say, 'white' people than between a 'white' and 'black' person. The genes that code and determine, to some extent, our apparent physical features represent an infinitesimally small number of the total pool of genes contained in a person's DNA. I can't stop being amazed at the survival of the word in everyday English language nowadays, especially after that bogus notion was totally discredited by its use by racist theorists in the 1920s and 1930s and by the Nazis to justify the horrors that followed. For instance, the word 'race' is very seldom used in French nowadays, except to refer to the darkest episodes of 20th century history. I suppose the last time the word was widely used was under the dictatorship of Vichy France. (This is not to say, however, that the French 'model' - if there is such a thing! - of 'racial' integration is working. Far from it. But if I may, I think this is another debate which we can have another day.) However, the word 'race' is also widely used throughout the ex-British Empire. For instance in Singapore, citizens can only belong to one of four possible 'races': Chinese, Indian, Malay or Caucasian. This is probably the best demonstration of the total absurdity of the notion. (I guess the fact that I came to using the English language quite late in my life is prompting me to ask questions about words used in the English-speaking world. Similarly I now realise how many apparently 'neutral' words in the French language are actually ideologically loaded.) In short, 'races' do not exist. There is no such thing. Therefore the Commission for Racial Equality and everything else with that word should be renamed immediately. But nobody ever seems to raise this issue in Britain today. In fact, I would argue that the constant use of the word 'race' suggests that this racist notion is widely accepted. Of course, this is not to say that they are no cultural differences between groups of people. There are also genetic differences between groups of people, e.g. the gene(s) responsible for lactose-intollerance is often more frequent amongst populations found in East Asia. In short, I am suggesting that the constant use of the word 'race' in English is actually a lazy, apparently innocuous, but actually potentially dangerous, way to refer to a vast array of realities (ethnic groups, cultural differences, skin colour, religious background etc.) that are immensely more complex that the word 'race' mistakenly suggests. 'Race' was a word coined by racists. I would argue that using the word without every questioning it is potentially dangerous - it indirectly condones the ideology of racists. I believe that we should reclaim the very language used to describe our own experience. Let us invent new words or rediscover old words to describe and discuss our lives and feelings. Francois Josserand |
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