Racism as a Culture?. by Kafhaya Ainsad Rakhma Riky | by English Club SMA Unggulan Rushd | Oct, 2025

— If you think racism doesn’t exist anymore, you’re clearly wrong.

Racism is something I’ve encountered many times in my life. Wherever I go, I still see it. I often wonder why racism is so rarely discussed.

As someone who has lived on three different islands in Indonesia — Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and Java — I’ve witnessed many differences: in culture, economy, education, and even physical appearance.

I remember once telling someone that I wasn’t from Java, and he said that my accent sounded weird.

I fell silent for a moment and asked, “Weird…?” with a hesitant smile.

She just stood there and laughed, “I don’t know… it’s just weird.”

It wasn’t just about my accent — it was also about the stereotypes attached to where I come from. I was once told I was aggressive simply because I’m from Sulawesi.

At that time, I didn’t realize this was a form of verbal racism. I thought it was just a joke. But as time went by, I began to understand how deeply words like that can hurt.

The same thing happened when I lived in Kalimantan. One of my Javanese friends was teased just because his skin was lighter than theirs.

These experiences made me think — Is this all because of a lack of understanding?

Or… has racism become part of how we interact, even without realizing it?

I believe many people make jokes about ethnicity, stereotypes, or physical appearance without realizing the impact of their words. But for me, racism is still racism — no matter how small or unintentional it may seem.

What we can do is learn to understand our differences, not make jokes about them.