In order to further understand one situation, it can be useful to compare it to another situation in which there are similarities. This approach can be helpful when comparing two instances of systemic injustice. The best way to do this is by describing the situations, conducting an analysis of the situations, and then forming opinions about the situations as well as discussing hypothetical ideas about what should have occurred. Then it can be determined if the situations are at all similar. The use of this comparative approach can bring about broader conclusions that further the understanding of each situation.
Now with this in mind, we can look at two real-world situations that involve systemic injustices. One of the situations involves the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico. The second situation involves another relationship but abroad in India between the government and a religious minority. These two situations will be presented and analyzed. Then differing opinions on the situations will be presented as well as thoughts on what should or should have occurred. Finally, after careful analysis and comparisons, we will be able to answer a few questions. What kind of systemic injustices are these examples? Are both examples of systemic racism? If not, then what are they examples of or are they something more complex?
The first situation is an ongoing instance of systemic injustice involving the United States and its unincorporated territory Puerto Rico. An unincorporated territory means that Puerto Rico is under the control of the United States and is granted fundamental human rights, but not full rights granted by the U.S. Constitution. Puerto Rico is at the mercy of the U.S. for its needs and survival. The island was hit by Category 4 Hurricane Maria in 2017. Thousands of people died and there was 90 billion dollars’ worth of damage. For context, Puerto Rico’s GDP in 2016 was 103 billion dollars. The island of Puerto Rico now depends on the U.S. for economic aid. Congress has approved 20 billion dollars of aid but only 100 million has been spent since 2017 which is less than one percent. This is highly unusual. States within the U.S. have suffered from national disasters in recent years and those states have received most of their allotted economic aid.
The second situation is also an ongoing instance of systemic injustice, but it is occurring abroad in India. This instance involves Sikh farmers and the Indian government. Problems arose when the Indian government passed new legislation that would drive down prices for crops thus driving down profits for Indian farmers. Sikhs live in the Indian state of Punjab which comprises 3% of the nation’s land but produces 50% of India’s surplus in crops like wheat and rice. The fears among Sikhs are that the laws will drive their industry into the ground and will allow larger corporations effectively to buy them out. Sikh farmers began peacefully protesting the new legislation. They began to ride to the capital of India, New Dehli, and demonstrated outside of the city. The situation took a turn for the worst when the Hindu nationalist government began to discredit the movement with religious bigotry. The Indian government began to label the Sikh protesters as radical people who want to secede from India and create a Sikh nation state thus spreading fear throughout the population of a new violent uprising.
Farmers take part in a rally as they continue to protest against the central government’s recent agricultural reforms, in New Delhi on January 26, 2021. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP) (Photo by SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Now we can analyze each situation and determine why these two situations are systemic injustices. The unequal treatment of Puerto Rico can only be attributed to the relationship that it has with the United States and its constitutional ambiguity. A territory works as the Other in this relationship or slave in a master-slave dynamic. The systemic injustice is one of unequal treatment to territories in need of help compared to U.S. states. Identity also plays a role in this treatment. The people of Puerto Rico are native Spanish speakers and racially diverse. Two things that are different from most states and completely different from those that oversee the release of this economic aid to Puerto Rico. This has had a devasting impact on Puerto Rico’s economy and has delayed economic recovery.
The situation in India is also a systemic injustice because the Indian legislature and Supreme Court are using the system of government to tamp down on the nation’s reliance on Sikh farmers. Identity is at the core of this injustice. India is seeing a resurgence in Hindu nationalism that seeks to push down another religious group and uses economic means to an end. The Hindu nationalist government benefits by shoring up its support among the Hindu dominant population and large corporations get a larger hold over the farming industry.
“…I know how brutal it can be…this has to end peacefully.”
Now that we know these situations are systemic injustices, we can begin to look at opinions on the situation and think about what should have occurred and what should happen to right these wrongs. For the situation in India, opinions within the Sikh American community have been very supportive of the protests. Yuba City, California is home to the largest group of Sikh farmers in the United States. In fact, the city has elected two Sikh mayors. Sikh immigrants from India have held multiple rallies in support of the protests. Some have even lamented that, “On one hand I feel glad I’m here, on the other I feel guilty I’m not there.” They also have thoughts on how the situation should be resolved saying that “I have family that was affected by the violence in the 80s and 90s. I know the violence that the Indian state can enact, I know how brutal it can be…this has to end peacefully.” What does a peaceful end to this situation look like? The consensus among the Sikh community in India seems to be negotiations that modify or repeal the legislation and a complete stop to the appeals to religious bigotry by the government. That last final point is in mind of many Sikhs in India and abroad. They do not want to see a return to violence.
The situation in Puerto Rico is likely more accessible to a broader audience in the United States because it deals with an American territory. For the most part, there seems to be agreement that this wrong should be righted: there must a complete disbursement of the aid that Puerto Rico needs. After that is where disagreement begins. Some people in United States and Puerto Rico believe a federal investigation should be conducted but that does not seem to be getting any traction perhaps because territories have little rights compared to states with more autonomy. One solution that could empower the people of Puerto Rico is to grant the island with voting members of Congress instead of the current non-voting members of Congress who do not have the right to vote on legislation that could affect funding for their territory.
With all of this information in hand, we can finally answer the question. Are both of these situations examples of systemic racism? For one, the India situation is definitely a case of systemic racism but it is less clear with the Puerto Rico situation. The situation in Puerto Rico could be brushed off as simple bureaucratic incompetence about a territory no matter the racial identify of its inhabitants. Perhaps this is a stronger example of classism in which citizens within states disregard citizens who inhabit territories. The citizens within states do not want to grant the Other with the same rights that they currently enjoy. There is probably a racial component to that thinking because the people of Puerto Rico are diverse and bilingual. However, this is still ambiguous therefore the argument of classism with racial undertones seems to be the strongest answer to the question.
The government in India cannot be let off the hook. This situation checks many boxes: racism, religious discrimination, and xenophobia. The situation is also less ambiguous than the Puerto Rico situation because the appeals to racism, religious discrimination, and xenophobia are out in the open. Countless Hindu nationalists in India have used social media to broadcast these messages. A famous example of this was when an actress by the name of Kangana Ranaut sent out a tweet to her three million followers indicating that the Sikh protesters were terrorists. The India government has crafted a movement that incorporates legislation and cultural figures into the struggle. The Other in this are clearly being mistreated because of their ethnic and religious characteristics.
This entire approach of comparing two systemic injustices has helped us further understand both situations. The mistreatment of Sikhs in India and the United States territory of Puerto Rico are open-and-shut instances of systemic injustices because they involve a government being used to mistreat an entire group. The ability to identify systemic injustices is a good skill to have but it is not enough. The next task is the ability to determine the type of systemic injustice. This is done by asking one question. Is this an example of a racist injustice? If you cannot determine an answer, then a helpful approach is to compare two injustices. In what ways are they similar and different? If one is clearly a racist injustice, then you should be able to spot similarities in the other injustice. Maybe the injustice is ambiguous but comparing it with another injustice can help further your understanding of the injustice and bring you to a more complex answer to the question.
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