M.I.A. Quotes
Basically, when I went to school in Sri Lanka from age five onward, the classes there were sometimes sorted into a hierarchy of your skin tone. So the fairer-skinned kids sat at the front row, and the darker-skinned kids sat at the back by the poor ones who played out in the street all day long.
M.I.A. Interview. Pitchfork, Condé Nast, 2010.
This quotation explains why so many of the Southern poor so actively supported the racist Slavery system even though they could not afford slaves and received no direct benefit from slavery or the discrimination against free Blacks. The poor were not at the bottom of the totem pole, and therefore had a dignity and social status, that the poor in a racially integrated society never possessed.
He saw great similarities between the terrible Indian Caste system and the different socio-economic classes of the West. Brahmins are the high caste Indians and the Sudras are low caste.
There had been an Ethiopian aristocracy that via inbreeding had tended to have lighter skins and that created over the centuries a discriminatory society based on skin color. Although a brutal, criminal, dictator, he initiated some worthwhile reforms although his methods were reprehensible.
Many Indians follow a rigid caste system where all people are born and divided into 5 social castes which are immutable—there is no caste mobility. An “untouchable” –the lowest Indian Caste—even if he make a million dollars—is still an untouchable and the higher casts would have nothing to do with him. Most upper caste people would not allow an untouchable physician to treat him or an untouchable cook to prepare his food. The Caste system is illegal under Indian law, but the majority of the Indians still follow it.
Paz was the Ambassador to India
Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam MBE, known by her stage name M.I.A. (/ɛm aɪ eɪ/), is an English rapper, singer, record producer, and activist. M.I.A.'s songs are marked with evocative political and philosophical commentary. Her music combines elements of alternative, dance, electronic, hip hop, and world music with eclectic instruments and samples.
