THE ROLE OF DOMINANT ETHNICITY IN RACISM

Hegemonic racism In his mapping of dominant racisms, David Theo Goldberg (1990, p.xii) points out that racism has usually been considered "an ahistorical, unchanging social condition always presupposing claims about biological nature and inherent superiority or ability." Teun A. van Dijk (1993, p.122) sees racism as a form of group dominance in terms of power abuse, or "self-interested control over and as a limitation of access to socially valued resources (residence, citizenship, housing, jobs, wealth, education, …

…Nast's Traveller (Torregrosa, 1997, p.150) about a "troubling underside": Behind the harmonious overlay and progressive image of the country, the old racial and religious rifts simmer. With a multiracial population--60% Malay, 35% Chinese, 10% Indian-- Malaysia had endured ethnic strife in years past. Few talk openly about this, but in private, my Chinese and Indian acquaintances complain, sometimes bitterly, about the advantages that the Islamic government grants indigenous Malays, the Muslim majority whose origins are rooted in Malaysia.