There is racism and there is racism

Malaysians are a bit too free with labelling this, that, or the other, as racism. Racism goes deeper than just fighting for your own community. Would you label African American Christian priests or African American Muslim imams who set up community centres for ‘Blacks’ as racists?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Jennifer Lopez: 'We're realizing our power'

(AP) - Jennifer Lopez says Latinos in the United States are starting to realize their power in politics and media, and that makes the timing good for her latest undertaking: Lobbying for greater diversity in TV programming.

The entertainer spoke Wednesday at the Cable Show, a communications convention, ahead of new programming set to launch July 18 on the NUVOtv network. Lopez serves as chief creative officer of the English-language Latino channel. 

“It’s an extension of who I am as an artist,” she said about her new role in an interview with The Associated Press. “As I grow in this business, I’ve been in the business close to 20 years now, that creative spark that you have doesn’t go away. It keeps growing almost.” 

Lopez said working behind the scenes is just— if not more— rewarding than performing. 

“Singing and acting and dancing and performing live, it’s always going to be my passion,” she said. “But at the end of the day when you’re given the opportunities to be more creative, to create things more from the ground up, to really, really do things like NUVO, which is, really for me empowering a community that means so much to me.” 

She added, “It feels bigger than me. It feels bigger than just a television show. It’s something that can change the world, the face of television, the way people feel about themselves, how they’re inspired, what they aspire to do and to be.” 

 

The actress-singer-dancer said these are exciting times across the board for Latinos. 

“There’s a big revolution going on, it’s like a media and cultural revolution of Latinos here in the United States,” she said. “We’re realizing our power. We’re realizing that we matter here. You know, we’re not just, you know, the guys working behind the scenes in the kitchens and as a plumber. You know what I mean. We really have influence. We’re really growing as a community and we’ve come into a place where we deserve to be considered and served and catered to and that’s an exciting thing for Latinos right now.” 

Lopez was meeting later Wednesday with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the National Council of La Raza and Sens. Harry Reid and Bob Menendez. 

She said businesses are getting on board too because of the tremendous buying power of Latinos, which is why she is also the creative chief officer of the Viva Movil brand for Verizon. The entertainer is opening a chain of 15 cell phone stores with bilingual staffers starting this month to cater to the Hispanic market. 

While Lopez, 43, continues to undertake creative ventures, she said she will never stop performing. 

“It’s a new day when it comes to women. Where before, whatever, 20 years ago, you were written off by the time you were 25, oh she’s 28, she’s so old. We’re realizing, the world is realizing that women are not even coming into their own until they’re in their 40s, that they have so much to offer. That you can stay in shape, that your life is not over once you have kids and it becomes only about your kids, that to be a great mother, or great parent or great woman in this world you have to be a great individual first, you know what I mean, and that’s very empowering and we’re all realizing this.” 

Lopez said many major actresses in Hollywood right now are in their 40s and in the prime of the careers including Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts and Halle Berry. 

“It’s a new day for women, it’s a new day for Latinos, it’s a new day,” she said.

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If someone from DAP had said what Jennifer Lopez said, the Umno troopers would have screamed ‘racist’. And if someone from Umno had said what Jennifer Lopez said, the DAP troopers would have screamed ‘racist’.

I suppose the best defence against being accused of being a racist is to accuse the other person of being a racist. After all, the best form of defence, as they say, is to attack. So you attack the other person and put them on the defence.

Now, if you can take your eyes of Jennifer Lopez’s picture for just a minute and read the news report, you can see that, according to ‘Malaysian standards’, she sounds like a racist. So are you now going to boycott her?

The reason I posted this news report -- other than so that I can post Jennifer Lopez's lovely pictures, and other than to show our women readers how you can still look good at 43 -- is to emphasis a point. And my point is there is racism and there is racism.

DAP is always apologetic (and will deny it) regarding its ‘Chinese agenda’, if I may be permitted to call it that (because DAP will profusely deny it has a Chinese agenda and will insist that it is ‘multi-racial’). Umno, too, is equally apologetic (and will deny it) regarding its ‘Malay agenda’ (which no amount of denial will change this perception since ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ is its rallying call).

No, my piece today is not to engage in a debate about whether DAP and Umno do or do not have a Chinese agenda and Malay agenda respectively. This is a non-starter debate mainly because we would never reach a consensus regarding this issue. So let’s not even start debating something that we know will never see an agreement.

What I want to emphasis here is even if DAP does have a Chinese agenda and Umno a Malay agenda so what? That does not make you a racist. What is so wrong with fighting for the betterment of a certain community even if it is your own community?

Some people fight for Islam. Some fight for the rights of gays. Some fight for liberalism. Some fight for nationalism. Some fight for socialism. Some fight for capitalism. Some fight for Malay education. Some fight for Chinese education. Some fight for the improvement of the Indian lot. Some fight for the legalising of abortion. Some fight for the legalising of euthanasia. Some fight to restore and preserve old and historic buildings. Some fight for the preservation of the Leatherback Turtles. Some fight to oppose cruelty to animals. Some fight to make cock fighting illegal. Some fight to make bullfights illegal. And the list goes on and on.

Everyone has a cause of some sort. The cause might even be as simple as just making sure that your family is safe and comfortable. But everyone invariably still have a cause even how selfish that cause may be. And your cause may be to fight to improve the lost of your community. That does not make you a racist.

Malaysians are a bit too free with labelling this, that, or the other, as racism. Racism goes deeper than just fighting for your own community. Would you label African American Christian priests or African American Muslim imams who set up community centres for ‘Blacks’ as racists?

They know that there is a serious social problem in the ‘Black ghettoes’ and all they want to do is to take the kids off the streets to protect them from the street gangs and drugs. This does not make these African American Christian priests or Muslim imams racists.

Fighting to improve the lot of your community is a noble cause. It is most unfortunate that the racism label has been given to this cause. It puts people off from doing good deeds when what they do is labelled as racism.

If I express concern that Malay kids in the kampongs are not getting a good diet (which in turn affects their learning capabilities) and I launch a campaign to distribute, say, milk to these Malay kids that does not make me a racist. I suppose if there happens to be one or two Chinese and Indians kids in that kampong and I refuse to also extend this to these non-Malay kids then that would make me a racist.

Let’s be clear about what racism is. And according to Malaysia’s very narrow interpretation of racism that would make Jennifer Lopez a racist as well. But then she is not even though she says, “Latinos in the United States are starting to realize their power in politics and media. We really have influence. We’re really growing as a community and we’ve come into a place where we deserve to be considered and served and catered to and that’s an exciting thing for Latinos right now.”

Maybe I should now say: I am a ‘racist’ and proud of it!