Black as Evil

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

>I take exception to any suggestion that ideas such be banned because they
>are "dangerous."  We are free men and women and may speak as we
Ideas need not be banned, but the manner of discussion and the
selective and repetitive assertion of certain ideas makes one
wonder where the discussion is headed. And also to question how
the said ideas are formed in the first place.

>one.  The discussion has been carried on in fairly good humor, and none of
>us, I trust, are racists.

Debatable. I join you in expressing the hope that none of us
is racist. However, it seems to me that those who have shown
the most enthusiasm on this thread are not so sure. They seem
to believe that many list-members are indeed racist.

If I may summarize the predetermined conclusions sought to
be established by a few (?) list notables, supported by some
ottu-UtukiravarkaL (check with the Tamil specialists for the
meaning of this term) -

1. The "Aryan" texts, Veda and Avesta, gave birth to the idea
that black is evil. Ergo, these people were the original racists,
as are their descendants today. However, they became racist only
after they entered India. They were not racists when they lived
in their original homeland, wherever that might have been, for
they never encountered black skin (kRshNa-tvac) there. Judaism
and Christianity have only borrowed the black vs. white divide
from Persian sources, as proved by repeated assertion.

2. In opposition, "Dravidian" India, from Indus valley times,
regarded white as bad, and made widows wear white. They also
celebrated black, and welcomed the black rain-cloud, and said
the god mAl/nArAyaNa was black in color. Ergo, this is a 3000
year old subaltern tradition that represents the "real" India.
Therefore, (Western) Indologists should all shift to Dravidian
studies if they want to study the real India and if they want
to denounce the problematic racism in their own historical
legacy in Europe and America.

There are a few variations built into the above song, but this
is the theme and the refrain.

Best regards,
Vidyasankar

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