Who counts as white?

[muhammad_abuzar]

On January 25 1912, Dr. Sundar Singh gave a speech in the Empire Club of Canada. He advocated for Sikhs in Canada and against the racist migration laws. He claimed that the “[Sikhs] fought with the British and lost their cause; but thanks to the Christian life and influence of men like Lord Lawrence, it was not long till the Sikhs were fighting on behalf of British rule in India, and the story of British rule in India would have been different had it not been for the Sikhs; regiment after regiment was drawn to Delhi and the Sikhs were the first to scale the walls of Delhi.”
Sundar Singh attempting to create an off-white identity for the Sikhs. He draws legitimacy from Christianity. He also claims a culture rapprochement and familiarity with the whites through it. Then he draws legitimacy from loyalty to the British. But he also draws loyalty in opposition to his own creed. In other words, distancing the Sikhs from other brown people was an effort to create a distinct identity. To me the denial of rights to Indian citizens of the Empire is the embodiment of the hypocrisy of this concept of race. How is it that the Sikhs are a ‘martial race’ and of Aryan origins but still not suited for and included in the white identity of white. It because of their customs and their religion.
We have seen in our readings that British converts changed dynamics of whiteness. Meanwhile, Syrians, Iranians and Lebanese tested the limits of what it means to be white. Ironically, the discipline of anthropology which was created in part to confirm, affirm and assert white superiority was also the discipline which helped us understand that whiteness is practically a hoax.
Terms like Caucasian and white can’t stand anthropological scrutiny. But they can endure social and sociological concepts of racial identity. In that respect, we (but mostly white people) have tried to remold this definition. Whiteness went from a western European thing to including much of the Europe. Later it came to include Italians and Greeks. But, if we were to include Mediterranean people, then North Africans and Levantine people. But then it would include Muslims. Now how could we sell the idea of Muslims as the enemies but also including some on them in the definition of whiteness? The concept of off-whiteness to me is a pathetic attempt at gatekeeping and exclusion. It is as if a genetic change occurs the moment one embrace Islam.

Singh, Sundar. Speech at Empire Club of Canada. 1912. Accessed at: https://speeches.empireclub.org/details.asp?ID=62324