Micros and macros in ethnic relations
For us who have close, personal inter-racial and inter-religious friendships, the greatest fear is always that there comes a day where we have to choose sides.
Nicholas Chan, TMI
This is not a far-fetched, apocalyptic imagination at all. The Syrians, while always cognisant of their sectarian differences (in the context of a Sunni majority ruled by an Alawite minority), did not expect that these differences would one day lead to a life-and-death situation until the civil war broke out.
And these situations could happen abruptly, sometimes things spiral out of control overnight.
Without the gift of hindsight, few would have imagined genocide breaking out in Rwanda as the Hutus and Tutsis spoke the same language, attended the same churches, schools and bars, lived together in the same village and worked in the same office.
Intermarriages were common.
Some would even argue that if it weren’t for the Belgians, the racial categorisation between Hutu and Tutsi would not exist at all. I wrote about the Rwandan genocide in greater detail in a previous article.
When all hell breaks loose, who are your friends are no longer important. Which side are you on and who you are matters more.
The Christian and Yazidi minorities being systematically wiped out in the Middle East would know the best.
Many have to feign to be in a different religion, or convert, just to stay alive in the face of the sword. Who you are (or identifies to be) is your fate.
Worse, people are also expected to rat out their friends or neighbours. The motivation to do so is often not for self-interest (that’s not to say self-interest is not a driver of self-identity, see for example, someone who is Ridhuan and T), but pure survival.
You either betray your friends, if not, you are treated as a betrayer of your own race or religion.
