Abstract
In July 2019, a Singapore government linked E-payment advertisement featured a Singaporean-Chinese celebrity depicting various ethnicities including wearing brownface to portray an Indian man. In response, Singaporean-Indian siblings Preeti and Subhas Nair produced a rap video containing expletives lampooning the advertisement for its racism. Singapore adopts a stringent policy towards public discussions of racial inequality and racism as they are seen to threaten its racial harmony. Authorities acted swiftly and banned the video. However, the perceived anonymity of online forums have made them a quasi-public sphere for race issues to be “freely” aired. This paper examines the reactions to the two incidents in order to conceive the nature of public discourse on racism in Singapore. We argue that policing of discourses about racial inequality inadvertently normalizes racism. When confronted with allegations of racism, online threads reveal a denial of hurt, defensiveness and micro-aggressions, exposing feelings of victimisation and racial equivalence.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1239-1260 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Ethnic and Racial Studies |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| Early online date | 27 May 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Keywords
- brownface
- ethnic minorities
- Indians
- multiracialism
- racism
- Singapore