Shun racism

Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Watch your mouth” (April 30). Hats off to Miss World Diana Hayden for pointing out that she is proud of her exotic brown colour and that she turned down a fairness cream advertisement because it went against her beliefs.

This is a fitting reply to Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb who had reportedly said that he failed to understand the process of judgement of the crowning of the Miss World contest in 1997, in which Diana was crowned. His comments showcase our double standards. We can simultaneously worship a dark goddess and show our disrespect to a dark woman.

It explains why repeated attacks on Africans are plaguing our country. All these underline the need to censor fairness cream advertisements that associate dark complexion with ostracism and fair complexion with popularity. Repeated audiovisual propaganda by celebrities through such advertisements consolidate the myth of equating beauty with fair complexion and nurture apathy against dark complexion. They make us forget how popular and powerful a dark man in the White House was.

In fact, any such advertisement that corrodes humanity and fraternity needs to be nipped in the bud. Advertisers should learn a thing or two from their Western counterparts who do not hesitate to select Naomi Campbell and Serena Williams to promote their products. Every Indian needs to clean casteists and racist apartheid from his/her mindset before touching the portraits of Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Nelson Mandela, Goddess Kali or Lord Krishna.