We are still waiting for the dream to come true, the one where “people will be judged not by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character”. In 1963, Martin Luther King shared his dream with an America that was highly segregated and where black Americans were a colour, not a person. Today was the day, in 1968, he was assassinated for being bold enough to dream of justice, respect and emancipation.
Nearly half a century on from King’s assassination, America has travelled from establishing civil rights all the way to electing its first mixed-race president. But as tumultuous events in the US in 2014 have shown – from Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson to Eric Garner’s shooting in New York – the equality due to non-whites is still distant.
It’s easy to point to the US and its repeated proclamation that it is bringing liberation to oppressed peoples around the world, while so many of its own citizens suffer. But to do so without admitting that racism is endemic in our own cultures and countries is hypocritical.
It’s time to shine a spotlight closer to home and speak an unpalatable truth: racism is pervasive and toxic in our own cultures.
Across South Asia, women with pale skins are preferred for marriage, black men are rejected. Darker skinned actresses don’t get to be Bollywood icons. Whether it is the huge industry of skin whitening creams, the determination of what colour skin is “beautiful” or who gets to be in positions of management or political power, ethnicity, caste and colour still hold a powerful role that is not tackled at a fundamental social level.
Some of the racism is subtle. White workers in the Gulf are expats, brown workers are labourers. Those with brown skin who cross over into management are confusing for the social order based on ethnic origin, often treated less well.
The non-white world complains – and rightfully so – of being treated as the “other”. For too many, the standard of the full complete human being is still the white Christian.
Yet we must admit that those who are “othered” are often themselves guilty of racism too. I’ve heard it too often: the complaint about suffering discrimination for being Arab/Asian/African (insert any ethnic group) while in the same breath disparaging someone for having dark skin or coming from a particular race.
Those who are victims of racism should be the first to root out such toxic discrimination, not plead exemption. Worse, victims of racism are forcibly silenced, because the wider population of which they are part suffer a broader discrimination and they are told they shouldn’t be airing their dirty laundry.
We need to say enough: we will not tolerate racism of any kind. That’s the legacy of Martin Luther King. Fifty years on, the global struggle persists.
King gives us a solemn warning, one that must not be forgotten whatever colour we are: “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish as fools.”
Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and blogs at www.spirit21.co.uk
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
MATCH INFO
Karnatake Tuskers 114-1 (10 ovs)
Charles 57, Amla 47
Bangla Tigers 117-5 (8.5 ovs)
Fletcher 40, Moores 28 no, Lamichhane 2-9
Bangla Tiger win by five wickets
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The five pillars of Islam
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
- Ghaziabad, India
- Hotan, China
- Delhi, India
- Jaunpur, India
- Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Noida, India
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan
- Peshawar, Pakistan
- Bagpat, India
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
