II of X: The Int'l Day for the Elimination of Racism
were carried out. Not only was PKI pound and prohibited, Baperki was also forcibly shutdown and many of its activists imprisoned. Chinese mass media was banned, and room for political activity restricted. The trauma and fear of politics have made the Chinese further entrapped in non-political activities, and isolated from surrounding circumstances. This becomes one of the causes for the prevalence of anti-Chinese prejudice in the Indonesian society.
While racism is a problem far greater than simply sentiments against the Chinese, the case against the ethnic Chinese shows how deeply rooted racial prejudice is in our nation. Racism in Indonesia is indeed an immensely complex problem which touches many spheres of life and is manifested in many action: from it discriminatory behaviour to great atrocities.
Fighting Racism: How it began
The fall of Soeharto has allowed for the rise of the fight against racial discrimination. We remain grateful to the student movements which have forced the retreat of Soeharto, in turn allowing a large room for the public to speak up and finally break the repressive silence. Many people are now speaking, organising, forming committees, forums of all sorts. Minority groups which have been politically shoved aside by the New Order regime are joining in the fight. Non-government organizations, mass organizations and political parties now flourish, including organizations campaigning against racism.
The rise of these organizations have encouraged minority groups to stand up and fight for their rights as citizens of the nation. Unfortunately, there organizations are not fulfilling their roles and mission to the fullest extent possible. Until today there is not one forum which is able to unite these groups or anti-racism organisations in one long-term program
Why a long term program? While our campaign for the abolishment of racist laws regulations and policies and the enactment of the proposed anti-racial and ethnic discrimination act may succeed, this alone cannot guarantee that racial violence will not recur. A democratic state does not necessarily on its own create a democratic society which upholds human rights.
The problem of racism is not only the problem of systematic discrimination carried out by the government against a particular ethnic or religion, which may be categorised as vertical racism. Racism is about prejudice which has sedimented in the minds of the people; it is a horizontal problem, which manifests itself through violence. This prejudice has been nurtured for many decades, reproduced in many different formats and has become part
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