Why after being racist towards Papuans, new people are aware and tend to deny their attitudes, this is what a lecturer at UM Surabaya said

• 14 May
• 2022

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Why after being racist towards Papuans, new people are aware and tend to deny their attitudes, this is what a lecturer at UM Surabaya said

• Article
• By Uswah Sahal
• Education
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In a not too long period of time, the attitude of racism towards those who are different surfaced to the public and sparked controversy. From the minister's statement about moving problematic employees to Papua, writings on social media by a professor and chancellor who called desert people and most recently by a senior politician who uploaded a racist tone against Papuan identity.

Responding to this, Radius Setiyawan, a lecturer at the University of Muhammadiyah Surabaya (UM Surabaya) revealed a phenomenon that most of the perpetrators of racist behavior or expressions have recently denied under various pretexts. Especially when it triggers controversy in the public.

"Racist behavior or remarks, which are actually very clear, have a tendency to be refuted under various pretexts. People who act like that could be out of a sense of emotion towards other people, so that they emit racist insults, it could be a slip of the tongue or various other motives," Radius said in a written statement. Saturday (14/05/2022)

Radius emphasized that the various motives above are certainly not what we should consider normal or understand. Precisely this condition is concerning. Racist attitudes can be ingrained and in our subconscious. Expressions of dislike for those who are different or considered violating are easily expressed by labeling the person with a certain ethnic or racial identity that is considered inferior.

"There is a tendency to argue because people often express racist attitudes in an emotional state or out of control. If the level of racism is already at that level, of course it is a dangerous alarm for our diversity," said Radius, who is a lecturer in the Cross Culture Understanding (CCU) course.

Radius who is an alumnus of Cultural and Media Studies UGM also explained that the formation of information in humans which is full of labeling or stereotypes is certainly a problem. In the Indonesian context, this is of course related to various factors. From issues of political history, unequal past relations to traces of colonialism.

"Stereotypes about Papua are an example of how racist attitudes often surface in our public space. These stereotypes have been formed for a long time, so they tend to make a person not carry out a long, careful, or systematic thought process when issuing racist behavior," said Radius who is also a Doctor of Science student. Social Sciences Airlangga University concentration in communication.

Radius also added that the provision of knowledge or insights obtained from childhood is an individual shortcut in giving labels or stereotypes to different people. In Indonesian history, racist attitudes towards Papua certainly have historical roots.

"The history of the conquest of Papua in the past has had an impact on how we perceive Papua today. State colonialism was the trigger for this situation, so that the perception of black people is still placed as immature, backward, stupid and deserving of being insulted or jokes. Typical colonial way of thinking," he said.