This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 2, 2019 - December 8, 2019

Racism is not a phenomenon that is incidental to capitalism but rather forms an intrinsic part of the capitalist economic system. It had been argued that the formative period of capitalism during the 15th century was also the period of the emergence of anti-black racism and the concomitant transatlantic slave trade that fuelled capitalist development in America.

Since then, capitalism has always depended on racism for its reproduction.

Syed Hussein Alatas, in his book, The Myth of the Lazy Native, details how colonialism created an object, that is, the “lazy native”. The purpose of the colonial image of the lazy native was to maintain the natives in an intellectual and moral state that left them inferior to the Europeans, although their numbers were far greater. This enabled the Europeans to not just rule over the natives but justify colonial rule on humanitarian grounds.

An intrinsic part of the colonial discourse on the lazy natives was their subjection to “[g]ambling, opium, inhuman labour conditions, one-sided legislation, acquisition of tenancy rights belonging to the people, [and] forced labour …” all of which were part of the fabric of colonial ideology. While subjected to all kinds of human degradation, the natives were also labelled as ingrates when they critiqued the coloniser.

As international academician Edward Said put it, “The myth of the lazy native is synonymous with domination, and domination is at bottom power”. Said perceptibly noted that Alatas’ work did not merely focus on the discursive effect of power but revealed its total and devastating consequences.

As Alatas himself noted, taking the example of the Netherlands East Indies: “Power falling into Dutch hands was different from power falling into the hands of an indigenous successor. An indigenous power was generally more liberal in trade. It did not destroy its own trading class throughout the whole area and continued to use the products of its own industry. It built its own boats and last but not least was incapable of imposing a monopoly throughout the major part of Indonesia. It promoted the abilities of its own people even though a tyrant was on the throne.”

The European image of the native was founded on colonial racism. The general incapacities associated with the natives were explained in racist terms. Alatas noted that while capitalism in Europe undermined and eventually overcame the forces of feudalism, in the colonies, colonial capitalism preserved aspects of the feudal order, underlying it with racism. A race-dominated status system was created. This reflected the derogatory views the Europeans had of the natives.

For example, British colonial officers such as Thomas Stamford Raffles and John Crawfurd regarded the Malays as being rude and uncivilised in character, of feeble intellect and at a low stage of intellectual development, indolent, submissive and prone to piracy. Furthermore, much of their backwardness and negative traits were blamed on the religion of Islam. European civilisation and its best representatives, and not just the petty officials, small traders, adventurers and politicians, were responsible for colonial racism.

The internalisation of the European image of the native by the natives themselves and the concomitant development of an inferiority complex among them is a vital consequence of colonial rule and a key feature of the post-colonial condition. This internalisation began in the colonial period.

The image which the Malays, Javanese and Filipinos have of themselves can indeed be traced back to the colonial period.

There are Malays today who have in fact internalised this aspect of the colonial ideology. As Alatas noted, “An ideology is never confined to its originating group. It is also shared by those who are dominated by the system of which the ideology is the rationalisation. During the time when slavery was current, there were many slaves who believed in it. They shared the false consciousness inherent in the ideology.” In the post-colonial period, it becomes a condition of coloniality without colonialism.

The internalisation of the European image of the native and the inculcation of an inferiority complex among the natives is a defining feature of post-colonial societies and suggests the continuing coloniality of the post-colonial world. The impact of colonial rule was such that it reproduced its false consciousness among the Malay elite that assumed control of the country upon independence.

This false consciousness distorts the reality. Since the Malay ruling party, Umno, achieved independence from British rule without much of a struggle as compared to what took place in Indonesia, India and the Philippines, there was also no ideological struggle. This meant that there was to be no intellectual break with the European ideological thinking. On the contrary, the leadership of Umno was recruited from among the top hierarchy of the civil service that was trained and nurtured by the British.

In other words, it can be said that the native elite was manufactured by the Europeans. Promising young natives were picked out and had inculcated in them the principles of Western culture. They may have had a short stay in the mother country and returned “whitewashed”, as it were. The result is that we continue to have leaders who claim that the Malays are a backward race that cannot succeed on their own without affirmative action and who might even be lost to history were it not for the Malay party coming to their rescue.

Such an attitude itself breeds racism. The idea of Malay incapacities held by the Malays themselves had led some of them to suggest that the only way for Malays to succeed would be to move against other races. For example, it was suggested that Malays should boycott non-Muslim products. The call took place in the context of much fake news and political rhetoric and was seen by some as creating a dangerous situation, a “ticking time bomb”.

Social media was abound with messages urging Muslims to boycott goods produced by non-Muslims. They were even diligent enough to circulate the names of minimarkets thought to be owned by non-Muslims and, therefore, to be avoided.

Decades after independence, we are still affected by the disease of racism, a direct consequence of colonialism. The only way we can extricate ourselves from these problems is with a new political narrative that is needs-based rather than race-based.

Taking care of people along the lines of their socioeconomic status will also result in helping the majority among this group, who are the Malays. At the same time, the less fortunate among the other races will also be taken care of. Malaysians are pleading with our politicians to cease their bickering and identity politics and take our country away from the edge of the abyss.

Syed Farid Alatas is professor of sociology at the National University of Singapore

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