The 'fairness' doctrine

Back from our annual trip to India with a lot of things swirling through my head. Along with the repeated reminder that I have to blog about some of them at the least. So, what do I write about first--the racism, maybe?

I live in a predominantly Caucasian country (A) where I belong to a minority race and come from a 'brown' country (B) which does not recognize race but aspires to be 'fair' (read light skinned). This trip from A to B, however, took me through three different continents and very different manifestations of race. On our way, we had a 9 hour layover in London. The visa regulations on their official website stated that if you have a passport from B and a visa from A, the immigration officer could allow you to go out into the city. Therefore, when we arrived at London immigration, we went up to the officer on duty and asked if we could head out into the city. My husband, a citizen of A, could go out without a visa but my case demanded further inspection. Our Caucasian officer conferred with his colleague, an Arabic woman, who was very hesitant to let me step outside the airport, and then went to check with his boss. When he came back and told us that I could go out too, I asked what had prompted the decision. And his answer was 'we understand that you do not want to spend such a long layover in the airport'. I was very happy to be able to go out and did not let a caustic remark slip out about how I wondered if the immigration decision would have been as favourable if my husband had not been a citizen of A.

When we reached B, my husband was continuously feted by much older people, who asked for his opinion on topics that he had likely never given a thought to (like how to develop an eco-tourism complex). Just fyi, my husband teaches communication. Without him asking for any extra attention, people shouted from across a lake asking him to pose for photos.

The stories don't stop though. On our way back through an oil-rich desert nation, we had to pass through a security checkpoint in the airport. Part of the check included taking off belts, shoes...you know the drill. The officer on duty told the poorer-looking citizen from B right in front of my husband, very rudely, to make sure he took off these items and put them in a tray. But when my husband forgot to take off his belt and walked through the scanner, the same officer very pleasantly said 'Sir, don't worry, you don't have to bother about that'. As I felt angry and helpless (you just know better than to protest in an oil-rich desert nation), I had to bite my tongue again instead of pointing out the unfairness on display.

It is easy to say that colonialism left an indelible mark on countries like B but if we, the citizens of these countries don't change things, nothing will ever change. The Economist Intelligence says it is better to be born in Switzerland than Nigeria. While it will make a huge difference to the privileges you will receive, how can a citizen of A be better than a citizen of B just because he or she was born in A? A thought that always baffles and hurts me.