I foun this video on youtube, which is is a discussion between 4 students participating in an American high school exchange program. I find this really interesting to hear this conversation between these students from different cultural backgrounds during the late 50,'s a decade after the shift to independence for India, and how this event gives way for an open discussion between perspectives and stances.
The overall theme is 'prejudice,' but also encompasses the colonial rule and effects of western dominance upon India and Africa - Kenya and Ethiopia etc.
Nalini Nair, was the Indian representative in this panel. Often -- and especially a decade ago -- it was quite rare to come across platforms that presented discussions and views of south asian females. I observed that Nalini commented in an honest way and held her ground when challenged by the british student representative, who had very patronising and 'politely' disparaging opinions on colonisation and segregation.
There is a part where the British student, John Goulden, seems to assert that education is only delivered through a western system, however, previously he claimed that Ethiopia mustn't be 'westernised' by mixing the Blacks and Whites within society. This type of ideology is one that has infiltrated the whole of society and I feel is the basis of ongoing colonialism within each and every society. It's an ongoing refusal by descendants and defenders of colonisers to acknowledge ideas besides of their own. It lies parallel to ideas that I am looking at addressing through my work, such as disrupting perspectives cast by colonisers and ongoing contribution to this perspective by dominating media, 'art' and such other platforms that uphold this view - whether knowingly or through such ignorance. Of course this type of dominance extends beyond just white colonialism to totalitarianism within governments and societies, but i feel this video perhaps provokes some of the clashes between democratic thinking and colonial/opressive ideals, in a way that makes us think about this in the current day.
Here is the video from YouTube:
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