Atul's Quest
Nader Habibi
Chapter Four
An Appeal to Non-Europeans
In mid-June, only a few days after our last phone conversation, I received an envelope from
Atul. In it, he had enclosed a brief note and a five-page article, which
he said was his independent study proposal.
Hi Dr. H,
Since you didn’t want me to send anything
by email, I decided to send my study proposal by mail.
I’ll contact you after you
have had a chance to read it.
I have already been to the Princeton
library twice, and I have found a lot of useful stuff.
Yours, Atul Divan
An Appeal to Non-Euros
My fellow non-European people of the world,
What I’m
about to propose in this essay
might seem offensive to many
of you, but I urge you to read
this appeal to the end before passing any judgment.
Rather than wasting your time by a detailed and perhaps confusing introduction, I will get to the
point without any further delay. Ever since the
end of colonialism and imperialism, we non-
euros (the Non-white people of Asian, African, Pacific
and native American origin) have proved that we can compete with Euros (the white people of European
origin) in scientific and techno- logical fields. The old racist theories of European superiority have all been rejected in athletic, artistic and scientific
competitions. It is now clear that the
poverty of nations is due to the lack of collective intelligence, which is a function of
organizational culture. At an individual level, we are not less intelligent or less capable
than Europeans. Yet, there is one dimension in which we
suffer from a genetic inferiority, and that is physical
beauty. Let’s face it. Whites are
more beautiful. It is true that beauty
is in the eyes of the
beholder. However, the standards of beauty are universal.
More often than not, what is viewed
as beautiful in one human community is
also praised as beautiful by others.
Not only whites perceive themselves
as more beautiful than
others, but we, the non-Europeans, also see them as more attractive.
Beauty
matters, and it matters a lot. The lack of physical
beauty often causes emotional
trauma. The lack of beauty in people who constitute one’s
community is equally painful. In such a community,
members of other communities are perceived as
more beautiful. How frustrating it is for a young
man to realize that the women of his own
ethnic/racial group, with whom he can socialize
and from whom he eventually chooses a marriage partner, are not as beautiful
as the women of other groups, who are beyond
his reach. How lucky is the person who is
beautiful and has a beautiful partner! How unfortunate is he/she who is less attractive
than the person who is the object of his/her desire! How unfortunate is a community
of people who find themselves
as a group less attractive
than another people! Beauty is
inherited from one’s biological parents. For those
who are born in demographically stable communities, it is
a gift from the communal
genetic pool. Just as the relative
beauty within a community matters, the absolute
beauty level of a society
also matters. Sure, an aboriginal
woman in Australia can claim to be more beautiful than some others, but any fair- minded
observer admits that aborigines of Australia
are far less attractive
than Europeans. It is both
rational and just to call on
relatively less attractive human communities to improve
their physical appearance based on the ideals of their own community.
It is a
fact that, in most corners of the modern world, where Western movies bring the beautiful Hollywood
stars into the homes of
billions of people on a daily
basis, people of European origin are
viewed, by members of most communities, as the most attractive people. Enter the
private
room of any teenager in the Third World.
Chances are that the walls are filled with pictures of blond women and blue-eyed men. The popular magazines
in Third World countries are filled with pictures of beautiful European models. Why would the profit-hungry magazine owners print these pictures
if they weren’t sure that these images were popular? An even stronger piece of evidence is
the fact that endogenous TV and movie stars in the Third World
usually have lighter skin than those in the population in general. So let’s face it, and let’s admit
it. Whites are more beautiful. And let’s
do something to close the gap.
Hear my appeal
For sake
of improving your emotional, social, cultural and
economic conditions, I appeal to you to invest in the physical
beauty of your off- spring and reduce the beauty differential
that will be a cause of suffering for future generations as it has been for us and previous
generations. Beauty is one of
the most valuable bequests that you can leave for your children. This investment
is more crucial for those who have closer contacts
with Europeans and hence suffer more emotional
stress as a result of their beauty differential. The groups
that suffer most are non-European
minorities who live in Western Europe, Australia
and North America.
Because of their relative
lack of beauty, these people are rejected and
marginalized by the majority
European population. If it were not
for their own perception of
unattractiveness and physical
Inferiority, they would not
have suffered so much emotional
trauma in the face of Euro-rejection. Furthermore, they have to compete with Europeans in the labor market, where,
believe it or not, beauty is an important criterion for hiring and
promotion. As we approach
the new mil- lennium, it is
time to break our silence and take corrective action. Why should our future gener- ations suffer the genetic curse of
ugliness? Why should they be
condemned to feel depressed and envious of
Europeans? We hear
each other’s envious expressions about the beauty of the white race
in private and frank conversations all the time, but assume that there is
nothing that we can do about it. If we have enough courage, we can do something about it. Admitting that we
have a problem is 50% of the solution.
We can take action as individuals, and we can work toward
collective action. The solution is to produce half endogenous/half
white offspring.
Nothing to be ashamed of
You might think of my
proposal as shameful and humiliating. Several factors might lead to such a reaction. First, engaging in
racial beautification is an admission
of racial inferiority. Second, in male dominated
societies, the impregnation of
local women from imported sperm is extremely humiliating and totally unacceptable. In such societies a child whose father is a citizen and
whose mother an alien is far better accepted than a child whose mother is a citizen
but the father is an alien. A third concern is that the mixed children will be drawn toward
the Western
culture and the society will loose its independent cultural identity.
In response to the first concern, I
must
say that, when the intention
is good and what is being
proposed does not harm any one, the only thing we should
be ashamed of is shame
itself. Individuals and nations admit to their weaknesses all the time and try to find solutions. In fact,
a major cause of the military and industrial
strength of Western democracies is
their capacity for self-criticism, which allows them to identify
their weaknesses and take corrective measures. Down in
the Third World, politicians and intellectuals openly admit to their industrial
and technological inferiority and
ask the international community for help. No one
feels ashamed of being
underdeveloped. Rather than denying it, most underdeveloped nations have accepted their backwardness
in recent years and have imported
technological know-how and machinery to industrialize. Historically, those nations that
have refused to
accept new technologies and ideas from
abroad, for the sake of national pride,
have not improved their economic
condition as much as others. In
agriculture and animal husbandry, farmers continuously
import genetically modified
seeds and animals to improve the quality of their livestock and
increase crop yield. Coming closer
to our main subject, every
year, millions of non-Euros,
mostly women, spend billions of dollars on plastic surgery
to change the shape of their
nose and eyes and other facial structures
in the hope of looking more European/beautiful. Do you think they should feel ashamed?
If you are not convinced
that investment in long-term
racial beauty is nothing to be ashamed
of, then you should at least concede that it will be a one-shot
humiliation affecting only one or two generations. Without
beautification, every generation of an unattractive race must go through the
humiliating and painful
realization of its beauty deficiency. You should think of the generation/persons
that invest in racial beautification
as sacrificing their pride and facing the
potential humiliations that might follow for the sake of the future
generations. The humiliation and suffering of the
beautifying generation will
help future generations
achieve higher levels of relative beauty and suffer less in the future.
Turning to the second
criticism, it is a well- known fact that most non-European societies and cultures
are patriarchal and, because of their masculine bias, are extremely sensitive
about parental bloodline. The
prevalence of masculine bias is unfortunate. Such a bias leads to the rejection of the least costly method of whitening - namely the importation of white sperm. Biracial children whose
white gene comes from a paternal line
(imported white sperm) will face more
rejection and harassment than others. This attitude, however, will be subject to change through education
and public debate. The alternative of importing white female eggs or employing white surrogate
mothers will be far less humiliating in masculine
societies. This latter
method is more
practical for affluent
male non-Euros who undertake the
whitening process at an individual level.
Finally, I’m not convinced that
mixed children will necessarily abandon their culture
because of their half-native blood.
Cultural identity is acquired
from the environment and, since the social environment of these children will not be any different than that of purely endogenous children, they will
not have any higher tendency towards Western
culture. It is unlikely that these children will experience mistreatment and alienation. On the contrary,
mixed persons of endogenous/European
marriage are usually very popular
in developing countries. (In India, many of them are
recruited into the movie industry or
politics and achieve stardom.) Because
of their popularity
and warm acceptance, they remain loyal to the domestic culture and contribute to its preservation
and betterment.
Racial Beautification has many benefits
The
benefits of racial beautification outweigh its costs, even when the cost of humiliation is high. The direct benefit
of beautification is obvious because of the intrinsic value
of human beauty. At the individual level, beauty leads to higher rates of social acceptance and popularity. As a result, the individual will enjoy more self- esteem and will be more successful in his career. Various
recent studies have shown that more beautiful people face better opportunities
in the labor market. However, racial beautification could have many indirect benefits as
well. In the long run, culture is the most important determinant
of development. An unattractive people will suffer from low self-esteem as a group. Just
as an individual who lacks self-esteem cannot realize
his full potential, a society that is low on
self-esteem will find it more difficult
to grow. As mentioned earlier, widespread low self-esteem leads to prevalent feelings
of anger and resentment towards other members
of the group. These negative feelings will arise not only because
of the intrinsic feelings of inferiority but also because of the insecurity that each member
of the society feels when coming into contact with more attractive
races. Therefore, even marginal improvement in the
average level of beauty will help reduce the feelings of anger and self-hatred in a society.
The
relative position of a racial/ethnic group
in the
international community matters. As a
nation or race becomes more
beautiful, its relative
position improves, and the rest of the world will show more goodwill towards it. More tourists will visit the country, and their attitude towards the endogenous people
will be more cordial. The
community and its members will receive
more support from others, and, hence, each
member of the community can achieve its goals at a lower cost.
If you are dreaming of migration to the West, the lighter the skin color of your children,
the higher their
chances of entry and success. I assure
you: there are millions of
couples in China, India, Pakistan and elsewhere who share this dream. For some, this dream begins in early adulthood
as they learn more about the security and pleasures of living in the West. Others inherit it from their parents, who have no higher
wish for their children than to see them migrate to the
West. For anyone whose heart is burning with the migration quest, whitening is a valuable in- vestment.
It is as important as scientific knowledge
and intelligence. It takes hard
work and talent for a foreign
student to get a graduate degree in the
U.S. But once a young, foreign- born graduate starts
searching for a job, his/her degree
of whiteness plays an important role in his success. Needless to say, the quality of life of an immigrant
and his acceptance in white social circles
will also depend on his skin color.
Racial Beautification is Practical
The difficulty of achieving racial beautification varies from group to group, but it is practical
under all circumstances. Racial beautification could be achieved through collective action or individual initiative. At the individual level, it is most practical and least costly for non- Europeans living in the West. All it takes is a man or
woman with a strong desire. Main
options for men are: a) Marrying a white woman (or at least a
member of a lighter-skinned minority). The drawback to this option is the
limited number of white women who might be willing to marry non- whites.
b) Employing a white woman as a
surrogate mother. C) With the recent advancements
in reproductive science and technology,
it is even possible for a couple to buy an egg from a
white female, fertilize it with husband’s
sperm and plant it in wife’s womb. This way both
husband and wife have a claim to being the natural parents of the offspring.
The
options for women are even less
costly: a) Marrying a white man. (Again it might be difficult
for less attractive non-European women to find a
willing and interested partner),
b) Becoming pregnant from a white man (same difficulty
with regard to finding a suitable partner),
c) Artificial insemination after obtaining suitable sperm from a
sperm bank or other sources.
In a non-European society, individual initiative towards whitening is very difficult. Rich people could go
abroad to obtain white sperm or white eggs. But for others, it might be a big problem.
Besides, it might result in
a very negative social
reaction. In these countries, collective action is more practical. The government
or some non-governmental organization should take the
lead if there is significant support for such a policy.
There is a high possibility that, with
future advancements in genetic engineering, a couple
could alter the physical attributes of their offspring. They could choose the skin color,
eye color and the facial features of each child. Once such techniques become available and af- fordable
to non-Europeans, beautification will be more popular,
because it will no longer involve sperm or egg importation
from an alien gene pool.
Final Comments
I sincerely hope
that my appeal has left a lasting impression on you. As a
non-Euro, I am one of you, and I
share your historical experience.
In response to the European expansionism
that began five centuries ago, our
various
communities have put up a strong resistance. The age of colonialism is over, and non-Europeans living in Western countries have successfully fought
against many types of racism and
prejudice. Many non-European countries such
as Korea, Malaysia and China have overcome their economic backwardness
and are rapidly catching up to the West. Even more importantly,
the Japanese have achieved parity with the West
on technological
and scientific performance.
We have many reasons to be proud and to look to the future with hope and optimism. Yet, now that we no longer view the white
people of European origin as oppressors, now that we have demonstrated
that we are not inferior to them in any performance criteria, the time has come to bring to the surface our deep sense of admiration for the beauty of the Western European race. The time
has come to admit that beauty plays a major role in our
happiness. Just as we invest in
the health
and education of our society, we
must also invest in improving the physical beauty of our people and
reduce the existing beauty gap between
the Europeans and ourselves. As we enter the 21st century
and face the images of Europeans through travel and the Internet
and other advanced technologies in the waiting, the time has come to put aside our shame and our silence and exchange views on how best
we can reduce this beauty differential.
The methods that I have proposed to you for racial whitening and beautification
might not be the best methods available. If we initiate dialogue
and investigate this issue openly, perhaps
more practical and
more efficient methods will be
discovered. So let’s face it. Whites are more beautiful. However, if we take corrective
action now, there is hope for our future generations.
* * *
After reading Atul’s proposal
(which I will refer to as the Appeal
from here on), my first
reaction was a sense
of relief that he did not send it by email or fax. It would have
been a huge embarrassment (not to mention
trouble) if anyone had seen this article and associated it with me in any way. I
could not imagine any minority or anyone from the Third World seeing this article and not being offended by it. At least Atul had enough sense to admit at the beginning that most people would
find his suggestion offensive and shameful. Why did Atul send me this piece? I had asked him for an independent study proposal. Did he misunderstand my
request and think that I wanted him to put his
ideas about whitening and racial beautification in a propaganda-style essay?
One thing that was clear from his writing was that Atul
was a lot more religious about his racial beautification dream than I had initially expected.
The content also raised a question in my mind about the character and personality of Atul. What kind of life experiences would drive a 21 year-old
student of Indian origin to such a state of mind? He obviously
did not feel any racial or ethnic pride. To the contrary, if the Appeal reflects his
personal values, Atul must
be full of self-hatred. On one hand, I felt more
curious about this study and about Atul himself.
But, at the same time, I
felt worried about the consequences of anyone
finding out what Atul was investigating.
What if people
thought that I approved of Atul’s idea?
How will the department react or,
perhaps, be compelled to react, if a minority group got a hold of the Appeal and
took it seriously? At the very least, I would lose my job.
I was torn between these two concerns, and I could not decide what to
do. I heard a voice from my subconscious:
when in doubt, read it again. So
I started reading the
Appeal one more time. Half way through
the second page, my eyes suddenly froze on the
word “development,” and I suddenly
remembered my own secret agenda: Beauty and Development.
In a flash, my inner conflict was resolved. Of course I
wanted Atul to continue his independent
study project. For a few
seconds, my eyes were fixed on that magical word. Then I read
the sentence that surrounded
‘development’ and began to realize that some of Atul’s ideas and concepts were relevant for my research.
Since I had not read the appeal with this
quest in mind, I went to the beginning and reviewed it again with a clear search agenda.
While Atul’s prescription for
whitening was not of much use, he had
made some remarks about the emotional and behavioral consequences of a
relative beauty differential
that I found interesting. If the lack of beauty causes a negative self-image at
the group level, then it could have an adverse effect on social
norms and culture, which
itself plays an important role in development.
It was a crude idea,
but it was well worth investigating.
I found a second interesting idea in the Appeal. A more attractive ethnic
group, according to Atul, enjoyed more popularity and international goodwill.
If there was any way to construct a comparative beauty
index for various
ethnic groups, then perhaps this hypothesis could
be roughly tested.
One could try to see if there is
a connection between the
level of international assistance that a nation receives
and the average beauty score of that country’s residents. Of course one has to control for other factors
that affect international assistance. I could also consider
how the relative beauty of a people could affect
the growth of tourism and the entertainment industry. If beauty
were a determinant of travel destinations, then tourism would
flourish in societies with more beautiful people. Finally,
it occurred to me that perhaps international traders and investors prefer to invest in communities that are more beautiful. By combining these
thoughts, I was able to develop a primitive
flowchart of how physical beauty could affect a country’s
development.
Two days later, I got a call
from Atul. He was wondering if I had received his proposal.
“Yes. And I have also read it.”
”I hope you are satisfied
with it. I tried to explain what I had in mind as clearly as possible,’’ said Atul
with an excited voice.
“Atul, I think there must have been some
misunderstanding. I’m sure you have written research papers in some
of your classes by now. A proposal
for an independent study program
is a clear plan for studying a specific
topic. What you have written is similar to a 19th century political pamphlet. It is anything but a proposal for an independent study,’’ I replied with a critical tone. I was waiting
for a response from Atul, but
the line was silent. “Hello? Are you still there?”
“Yes,” he said with a low
voice. There was silence again. Perhaps
my comment was too harsh. I knew I
had to carry the conversation. “Look Atul, the
purpose of an independent study
project is to help a student learn more about a topic that he is
interested in. It starts by asking the right questions about the
subject and then
reading the right
books and articles to
learn the answers. Your proposal
sounds like you already have all
the answers. I have given some thought to your
so- called “whitening”
proposal. I don’t agree with your recommendation, but if you are so serious about this idea, then we should arrange your
independent study in a way that will let you increase your
knowledge about the practicality and consequences of such an idea. Based
on what you have written in this proposal, I
have come up with several
questions that I think you should concentrate on. However, I can only work
with you if you avoid slogans
and appeals and concentrate on searching for the answers to these questions without any prejudice. Is that acceptable to you?”
“Yes. I accept your conditions
100 percent. I have already done some
literature search and found several articles. As soon as you give me the questions, I will concentrate my work entirely on them. For a
moment, I thought you were going to cancel the whole thing. Please
let me have the questions, and I’ll start working on them right away.”
I had already thought out several questions, but I decided to send them by mail rather than mentioning them over the phone.
This way, Atul did not have any excuse
to ignore any of them.