Shari Vaidya - Q2 Blog 6 - We Owe Zayn Malik an Apology
I remember the first time I listened to a One Direction song. It was a hot summer day in 2013 when the song ‘Up All Night’ played on the car radio.
Instantly, I was hooked, and the best part? The cutest member was brown! I remember being glued to the TV in my living room, rewatching the One Direction Sesame Street episode over and over again, and there he was. The face and voice of an angel, Zayn Malik, in his full glory.
Zayn’s time in the band was definitely an interesting time for him. I remember looking at band interviews and thinking about this air of nonchalance that he seemed to possess.
Now that I am older, I realize that this was a defense mechanism.
The first time I registered, the sheer amount of disgusting racism that he faced, I think I was in kindergarten. I remember my parents watching a late-night talk show when the host compared him to one of the suspects responsible for the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013. I obviously didn’t have the intelligence or maturity to understand the comparison. I still remember feeling disgusted by the crowd laughing along to the sick joke, and disgusted by the smug smile on the host’s face.
It seems cliché for me to claim that this ‘off-hand’ comment opened my eyes to not only the racism that Zayn Malik faced (if you are not aware, he faced severe abuse from ‘fans’ after he left the band), but also the racism that brown people face at an increasing rate.
Seeing the label of “terrorist” that seemed to brand Malik just for being proud of his Pakistani heritage, parallels the comments of “curry-muncher, stinky indian,” or “illegal” that brands brown people who are hoping to enter the West for a new life, or even just existing.
And I just have one question to ask: aren’t we as a collective ashamed? Because we should be. We allow individuals who spew hateful rhetoric to hold positions of power in our society. We turn a blind eye when people who are just trying to get through the day are being hurled one racially abusive remark after another. We even laugh and cheer when this happens.
Observing the pendulum swing towards the right makes me think not only do we owe Zayn Malik an apology, but the entire brown community as well.
Hey Shari! Another terrific blog post this week. My sister was overjoyed when she saw your post was about Zayn. She adores One Direction-I know most of their discography because she plays their albums on speakers. She and I didn’t know Zayn faced so much discrimination. I think a part of me genuinely believes racism is only prevalent in the United States. I think of the UK as this utopian version of America with a better accent.
ReplyDeleteBrown hate is unfathomable, its effects are so engrained in our society and have both outright violent and microaggressive behavior. It’s disheartening how one event catalyzed this attitude so much. I think racism towards brown groups is not as greatly discussed or condemned which normalizes it more and more.
At first, when you said that you were able to process racism against him when you were in kindergarten, I was stunned because a child that young shouldn’t be able to comprehend something so cruel. I reflected on when I was able to understand the concept of racism, I realized I too had an understanding of it when I was very young which shows just how exposed we were to it at such a young age.
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ReplyDeleteHi Shari! While I may not have known who Zayn Malik was before reading your blog, you have certainly done a wonderful job educating me on his background! I really appreciate all the links to the things you were referencing—it really helped me understand better what you were talking about. After watching the clip you linked in your blog about Bill Maher’s racist comment, I definitely agree with you. Not only was that comment rude and racist, the most disgusting thing about it was without a doubt that grin. I think “disgust” is certainly a very fitting description of the feel of that grin, but I would also like to add to that; that grin makes him look so punchable. The fact that so many people resonated with Maher’s comment is also truly despicable. What made those hateful comments so uncomfortable was that not only did he seem proud of saying that statement, but so many of the audience laughed along with it. I think that the comment was meant to be interpreted as a joke of sorts, but from the way Maher said it, it felt like he truly believed from the bottom of his heart the racism that his comment was filled with. That abhorrent comment was absolutely unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteThe minute I read your title I knew had to click on it! One Direction is often remembered as this flawless band of hot teenage boys, but the reality many people have to contend with is that they were all human too. I remember seeing some of the online discord over Zayn Malik’s experiences with racism, and I was genuinely shocked; it had never once occurred to me that a 1D member could be a target of racist hatred. Especially since One Direction fans were young girls, it’s hard for many of those people who have grown up with an idealized version of them that someone as perfect and—like you described—nonchalant as Zayn Malik could be called a “terrorist” on the news. I remember one of the questions on our APT Socratic Seminar prep asked us to discuss how being educated about prejudice helps us to fight against it. In my opinion, the treatment Zayn experienced as a brown teenager surrounded by white band mates just exemplifies the importance of teaching people about implicit bias. If people had been able to identify and stop what was happening to him sooner, his suffering would have been taken more seriously rather than passed off as an edgy joke.
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