I recently took the longest direct flight that Cathay Pacific offers - the 18.5 hour flight from Hong Kong to New York, with a layover in Vancouver. I watched two films: Midnight in Paris and "The Life and Times of Sara Baartman: Hottentot Venus". The latter movie really made an impression on me.
"The Life and Times of Sara Baartman: Hottentot Venus" retraces the life of Sara Baartman (1789-1815), a South African slave girl from the Khoisan tribe who was coerced by a Dutchman to travel to England for a "better life". Sadly, she was in fact cheated to perform in a freak show under the name Hottentot Venus in London, and later in Paris. The performance in London was degrading where Baartman was forced to dance in a cage, and the one in France was even more exploitative . She later became a subject of scientific research against her will. And as interest in her began to wane in France, Sara became a prostitute in order to support herself and drowned her sorrows in alcohol. Baartman passed away at the tender age of 26. Her brain, genitals and parts of her skeleton became exhibits at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris. There is also a cast of her nude body on display. So even in death, Sara Baartman could not escape humiliation.
This movie shocked me and raised my attention in slavery, racial discrimination and exploitation. I was aware of these issues before but had never been exposed to them in such stark, graphic terms.
When I arrived in New York, I visited the exhibition of Peter Sekaer, the photo "Prison Chain Gang, Georgia 1936" reminded me of the Sara Baartman movie and the gross injustices that people of colour faced in the past. In one of the captions, Sekaer said that in the Segregated South, whenever there was a crime, a black person would be arrested in random. Even if another black person were found to be guilty later on, it didn't matter - the falsely arrested person would not be acquitted. The verdict was quite clear: one black was just the same as any other. It was equal injustice for all.
Obviously, racial injustice has come a long way since Sara Baartman and Georgia in 1936. But racism has not been eradicated; it has merely morphed into more insidious and subtle forms. Some people argue that racism reflects a deep-seated animal instinct: we are naturally wired to fear those who are different from us. But if so, then this instinct is more like the appendix in our intestines - a leftover from our evolutionary past without any serviceable functions now. Moreover these vestigial instincts/organs could be detrimental to us if mistakenly activated - just like an appendicitis.
Fortunately, evolution has endowed us with higher cognitive abilities to override our biological instincts. So while innate prejudices remain, we can work towards greater understanding and tolerance by embracing and celebrating our differences. In the words of Mary Catherine Bateson, a cultural anthropologist: 'the real winners in a rapidly changing world will be those who are open to alternatives and able to respect and value those who are different.'
As appeared on Tatler 17/10/2011