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Jakarta Post

Fighting fear together

Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and Hillary Clinton are not hated because of what they have done or because of their personalities. They are hated because millions of men do not like who they represent — minorities in power. 

Mario Rustan (The Jakarta Post)
Bandung
Mon, November 7, 2016

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Fighting fear together Ahok is not the one to blame for the demonstration. He may have made an ill-advised statement, but the threat against him is driven by political strategy instead of pure rage. (JP/File)

W

e are experiencing two-front anxieties this month. Many Americans I know have voted early and are urging other Americans to vote. In Indonesia, everyone was concerned about the Nov. 4 (Friday) protests, especially Chinese-Indonesians.

They are not scared. They know they will prevail. More Americans would vote for Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump. Many Indonesians knew that no riot would happen in Jakarta.

(Read also: Q&A: How did the anti-Ahok rally turn chaotic?)

Still, things are worrisome both in Indonesia and the US and in several other countries in the last leg of 2016. 

How come neo-Nazis were permitted to come out to the streets, openly stating their intention to harass non-white voters? 

How come people here were able to call for an attack, even murder, on gubernatorial candidate Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama with impunity, or casually reference the May 1998 tragedy on live television?

It is mind-boggling that hatred is a mainstream thing in this decade. We live in probably the safest time in history, where murder is at an all-time low, where more countries are opting out of the death penalty and where more safety measures are enacted on contact sports, blue collar jobs and transportation. So why does hatred increase instead? 

Aspects of the hatred also seem related. Bigots in Indonesia quickly learn about and repost online memes appropriated by Trump supporters, such as Pepe the Frog (whose creator would vote for Clinton), anime girl avatar and the epithet SJW — Social Justice Warrior. 

Both sides also share a conspiracy theory of a Jewish global conspiracy. It does not matter that many Western bigots are racists who hate Muslims and people of color, as Indonesian bigots have no problem with the revival of Nazism and with racism and sexism.

There are attempts to understand the anger among men in America that drives them to support Trump, and anger among men in Indonesia that drives them to support hardline Islam. Working class white men are left behind in 2010s America, where they are losing out to women and foreign workers in a digitalized economy. 

Poor men in Jakarta, on the other hand, are angry with Ahok’s tough policy against slums, and without civil groups or political parties to back them, they turn to radical Islam.

Understanding the source of rage is good, but too much effort is put on understanding the majority male while ignoring the minorities, the targets of their hatred.

What has baffled African-Americans and American women throughout this presidential election is the ignorance of editors and analysts on how Trump’s campaign has affected them. 

African and Muslim Americans can’t sympathize with people who yearn for conditions prior to Civil Rights or who think that all Muslims are Islamic State (IS) members or refugees from Syria. Many African and Hispanic Americans, after all, are poorer than the average white Americans are.

American women cannot sympathize with people who support a candidate who can’t stop making vulgar comments about women, and can’t comprehend why the media treated the hunt for Clinton’s emails more seriously than the accusation of sexual assaults committed by Trump. 

Survivors of sexual assault recalled their traumas when Trump was on TV and when his apologists made fun of women. 

The situation is different in Jakarta. Many Chinese and Catholics are critical of Ahok’s reclamation and eviction policies, and are dismayed with public support for his actions. The recent outrage driven by Islamists, however, equates Ahok with all Chinese and all Christians, and even labels Muslims who support him as traitors.

Ahok is not the one to blame for the demonstration. He may have made an ill-advised statement, but the threat against him is driven by political strategy instead of pure rage. Say another Chinese and Christian Governor of Jakarta is more restrained in making statements and more humane in dealing with the slums of Jakarta. 

He or she would face the same racist attacks and Islamists would lead the charge, although behind them are other conservatives with different motives.

(Read also: Ahok and hate speech: The (unexpected) outcome of democracy)

This newspaper gets it right when saying that Jakartans are “stoic but anxious”. More than worried that another anti-Chinese riot will break out, Jakartans are concerned with how easily people give in to anger and hatred. 

Chinese-Indonesians are upset that they are once more not welcomed in their own homeland. The denial that “this is not anti-Chinese, but about defending religion” is as bad as being openly racist. 

Jewish-Americans, African-Americans and migrants are also not scared of intimidations against them, but they are angry with the way they are hated by fellow Americans. Women are dismayed with how they are both objectified and loathed by men they never met before.

Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and Hillary Clinton are not hated because of what they have done or because of their personalities. They are hated because millions of men do not like who they represent — minorities in power. 

Majority groups in every country in the world fear that they will lose their privilege. British citizens who voted for Brexit were more worried about living next to Muslims and Africans than about the economy or EU regulations. “Patriotic” Americans who will vote for Trump support Russia and some seriously believe that Clinton will allow millions of Syrian refugees in, even as Syrians (including Christians) are running away from IS and from the Russian-backed Syrian government. 

Being a model Chinese-Indonesian will not cut it for the hardliners here. They hate the Chinese not because of inequality and social relations. They hate the Chinese because the Chinese are Indonesians too. Political privilege is built upon fear and hierarchy. 

The backlash against minorities happens everywhere because the fear is crumbling down and the hierarchy is challenged. 

If bad people can unite over the same enemy, so can good people. Our enemy is bigotry. The way to fight it is through communication among progressive and well-meaning people. The struggle will go on into next year, but we will pass this November storm together.

 

***

The writer is a columnist for feminist website Magdalene.co

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