Confectionary, Ebony's essay

[Tabouli]

The Delightfully Turkish Controversy

Alex (on the pro side):
> Turkish Delight is one of the most wonderful things ever created.  It 
is lovely.  I can't get enough of it.  Try some yourselves before 
taking that biased review to heart!

John (on the anti side):
> Turkish Delight is one of the most horrible things ever created. It is
ghastly. *None* is more than enough of it. Don't try some yourselves before
taking that sensible review to heart (unless you want to be ill).

A controversial confectionary indeed!  (can't quite bring my Australian keyboard to say "candy" - an Americanism punishable by death over here... we say "lollies" and "chocolates").  For those who have not yet sampled it, let me add my own Turkish tale.  As a wee one, the only Turkish delight I sampled was the sort that comes in chocolate, either in boxes or "Snack" mixed centres chocolate blocks. I thought it was ghastly.  Horrid, chemical-tasting hard jelly.  I echoed Rachel's cries about Edmund unto the ends of the earth!  So foul a food was obviously the fruit of evil!

After avoiding it like the White Witch for about 12 years, I saw some freshly made Turkish Delight for 20c a piece in the wholefoods shop in university.  Translucent pink and yellow cubes, dusted with icing sugar.  Feeling that the time had come to Confront My Prejudice, I gingerly bought a piece and was pleasantly surprised... I discovered that fresh Turkish Delight is actually nice!  Soft, gluey, subtly sweet and flavoured. I was still a bit unsure about the rosewater flavour (the pink ones), but after this discovery, I often diverted via the wholefoods shop to buy yellow ones.  The moral of the story is, before you write off Turkish Delight altogether, try the fresh, non-rosewater flavoured variety (and avoid the revolting stuff embedded in chocolate unless you're a true fan)!

Trying exotic chocolate bars is one of the delights of overseas travel.  Australian chocolate bars seem quite different in style from the American ones I've tried (and I'm told Mars Bars here are different from UK Mars Bars!).  Not sure which ones are True Aussie and which are UK imports, but yes, Violet Crumbles (which I thought were called the Great Australian Bite overseas, but evidently not), Cherry Ripes, Caramello Koalas, Picnics (these are good), Snickers... I'd offer to bring over a selection when I come to the US, but I know from experience that in summer chocolate just melts all over your luggage!

Ebony's essay:

Good stuff, Eb.  Sadly, the situations you describe sound all too familiar to my Australian ear (eye?), though here the actual groups involved are different.  In the last few years there have been all manner of debates about whether or not White Australia should apologise to the Aborigines (Australian indigenous people) for attempted genocide (which succeeded in Tasmania), the kidnapping of their kids to be raised in white families to assist in eliminating their culture, not getting the vote until 1966 because they were considered sub-human, experiencing the worst prejudice of any ethnic group in the country, etc.etc.  You'd think an apology was a pretty cheap token gesture, wouldn't you?  But no.  Our worthy PM declared that he would not apologise, because to apologise was to accept blame, and frankly, modern-day White Australia wasn't to blame for stuff that happened over 150 years ago.  Everything's fair now, so They only have themselves to blame if they ain't as successful as white folks.  The other argument (which came strongly to mind as I read Ebony's essay) was that we don't want to give Our Kids a "black armband" view of their own history.  No!  Australians already have enough of a cultural cringe, we want them to feel PROUD of their country!  Therefore, the reasoning goes, schools should do their best to avoid mentioning any of the atrocities visited by their forbears because it might upset their developing patriotism (and, I suspect, stick to teaching them *real* history, i.e. European history, with Australia starting at Captain Cook).

Now, whatever people think of the above justifications, you'd think even the most bigoted would see that an apology has *practical* benefits.  It makes "THEM" feel better at no material cost (unless you can put a price on pride), gives the government some bargaining power in the high moral ground stakes... it might even improve Australia's international image (Tabouli suppresses images of the current asylum seekers situation)!  But no.

Ebony:
> Whenever I get to this point in a conversation about race, and I am 
in mixed company, it seems that this is the point where we play 
the "Whose Group Has Suffered the Most?" game.  It usually
goes something like, "Well, such-and-such-horrible-thing happened
to us in Country X, and we came over here as immigrants, worked our 
butts off and assimilated." <

I really, really hate this "The Most Oppressed Gets The Highest Moral Ground" game.  As if you have to have experienced a certain level of suffering to be worthy of any help or compassion.  There's something intrinsically cynical and nasty about it (I also have some fledgeling theories about how this relates to extreme individualism and obsession with personal responsibility, but they're not ready for public consumption yet).

Reminds me indirectly of a conversation I had years ago with a Malaysian Indian friend of mine (president of the Overseas Students' Association, no less), in which I was unwary enough to say something like "I've always had lots of Asian friends".  He pounced!  "Oh yes, that's what all the patronising white people say, I *like* blacks, some of my *best friends* are black, as if this magically means they're not racist!  What do *they* know about racism?"

I resented this comment. A lot (and quite apart from the fact that he jumped to conclusions without listening properly).  OK, in some ways I see the point, and I know very well that the decrying of the "some of my best friends are X" justification is a popular theme in anti-racism rhetoric.  Nor do I claim total freedom from prejudice.  And even then I was well aware that in Malaysia the Chinese and Malays look down on the Indians, and there is significant racial discrimination there.  However, a little point had escaped him.  Maybe to him I looked "white", and certainly when I went to Malaysia people treated me as such.  All the same, as I pointed out to him, none of the white Australian children I went to primary school with were fooled.  As the only non-Anglo child in sight, I was Buddha Buddha Buddha, Ching Chong Chinaman, go back to your own country, where do *you* come from?, doesn't your mum speak *English*?, bloody Asians taking all our jobs, we're gonna bash you up after school, ya fuckin' Chink.  This with me having been born and bred in Australia, with a white Australian father and a mother who was an Australian citizen.  And not even looking Chinese.

[I couldn't help suspecting that no-one had ever questioned *his* right to be considered "Malaysian", and that he at least had a significant minority of people of his own race around as back-up.  Not to mention the fact that he was obviously a wealthy (international student fees are extremely high), successful Indian doing a Law degree who as president of the OSA was regularly mingling with the upper university echelons and highly respected and liked among the student body, white and non-white]

I er, got a bit strident with him, and I think I convinced him that I might, actually, have some notion of what racism is, having experienced first hand (and endlessly witnessed second hand) what it's like being Not White Enough in white Australia for some 18 more years (at the time) than him in his three years as international student in a multicultural university.  One shouldn't make sweeping assumptions about people's personal level of suffering and oppression and experience of cultural conflict and racism on the basis of apparent ethnic group alone.  "Even" white people can experience prejudice: I remember a white Zimbabwean woman getting very upset that no-one would acknowledge her Africanness (I hate it!  Everyone thinks I'm Australian!  she said to me in despair), and a few white American exchange students getting very distressed by anti-American sentiments among some Australians.  Of course, part of the problem was that no-one would take them seriously: what would *they* know about racism?

A little less competitiveness and presumption, a little more respect and suspension of judgment.

Ebony:
> I was an obnoxious kid then.  Ten years later, I'm a teacher,
still obnoxious, and I still don't trust textbooks unless they
provide full citations. <

I was a meek child, but I've since reinvented myself as obnoxious cross-cultural trainer!  Heh heh heh...

Tabouli.


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