One often hears about biological and computer viruses mutating frequently to escape detection and possible annihilation. Given the strong societal and legal taboo against racism, this sociological virus has also mutated into several subtler and more insidious forms. Of these, denial of racism is the most pernicious.

Denial of racism protects the dominant class members' personal and societal self-esteem and precludes any scruples of conscience. "If the charges of racism are false, I am not part of any wrong-doing, so I can rest easy," is a typical rationalization. The dominant class, to quote George Orwell, also has the "power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets of facts." Thus, when charges of racism are undeniable, great care is taken to present such cases as occasional, incidental and individual, not institutional. Calling the longstanding and widespread caste-based discrimination in India as "atavistic" (Sumant Kowshik's letter to the DI, Oct. 23) is an instance of this ruse.

Renowned scholar and activist Teun van Dijk notes that mitigations — downtoning or using euphemisms — constitute another form of denial. Thus, the virulently repressive nature of the caste system is conveniently masked by reducing it to "simply a symbol of cultural identity" (Sumant Kowshik). Another manifestation of this is to pretend that racism is only practiced by a minuscule loony right and justify it on the grounds that such abnormal behavior by a small fraction of people is unavoidable. The euphemists' acknowledgment of racism in the loony right lends more credibility to their broad denials, particularly if they take care to harshly denounce racism.

An innovative way of denying charges of racism is to reverse the charge — the accuser is accused of oversensitivity and exaggeration, of seeing racism where there is none and sometimes, even of fomenting racism. For instance, those who support the collection of racial data (that could show a pattern of, and hence, deter racial discrimination) are often accused of being race conscious, as if the dominant class is race-blind.

Another ruse that's commonly adopted is to set a very high bar for what qualifies as racism, so that racism disappears from public discourse. Thus, notwithstanding any ideological similarities, a racist ideology can't be equated with Nazism until it has already taken several million lives. The directive principle of this mode of denial seems to be: "Don't act until it is too late."

Whatever the mode, denial of racism is most damaging when it is part of public socio-political discourse, for then it reaches a very wide audience and persuasively helps mold public opinion to the desires of the dominant class. When the dominant consensus is that there is no racism, anti-racist struggles have to start by proving racism exists.

On caste-based discrimination in India, Human Rights Watch says: "Some 160 million (dalits) live a precarious existence, shunned by much of society ... at the bottom of India's caste system. Dalits are discriminated against, denied access to land, forced to work in degrading conditions and routinely abused at the hands of the police and of higher-caste groups that enjoy the state's protection ... Over 100,000 cases of rape, murder, arson, and other atrocities against dalits are reported in India each year ... the actual number of abuses is presumably much higher ... these cases are typically related to attempts by dalits to defy the social order or demand minimum wages and their basic human rights ... In what has been called India's 'hidden apartheid,' entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste. National legislation and constitutional protections serve only to mask the social realities of discrimination and violence faced by those living below the 'pollution line.'"

Despite the mountain of evidence (details to follow next week), some people still deny racism in India exists. There is much truth in the saying: "None so blind as those who refuse to see."

Ra Ravishankar is a graduate student in engineering. His columns appear Wednesdays. He can be reached at opinions@dailyillini.com.