The surge of Black Live Matter movement in the US has sparked many discussions on races across Indonesia. As many Indonesians voiced their support for the US’s Black Community after Gorge Floyd murder, some media spotted the redundancy of their position on the issue of race equality (The Jakarta Post 03/06).Up until today, many Native Papuans are still facing racism outside the Papua Island, particularly from the non-Papuan Indonesians.
The Native Papuans are of Melanesian descent, which are more closely related to the population of Pacific Island states such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and Solomon. The Papua provinces admittedly did not become a part of Indonesia’s territory on the account of shared identity between its people and the rest of Indonesians, but rather due to an inorganic process of colonialization. Indonesia’s idea on a “nation” is consisted of all territory that was colonized by the Dutch Kingdom, including the Papua Island, despite of the distinct culture between its population and the rest of Indonesia. Therefore, for Indonesians who had a little to no prior interaction with Native Papuans, it is easy for them to develop an ethnocentric view against a community whose people have different physical characteristics and cultural backgrounds with them.
Most racism cases against the Native Papuan Community are not systematically conducted under the state’s law or policy, but rather sporadically in form of prejudice and discrimination. This social condition has created a “glass ceiling” that prevents the Native Papuans to thrive outside of their communities. For example, in Yogyakarta, many Native Papuan students are denied the access to accommodation because the landlords are informed with negative stereotypes of the Native Papuan community. In some cases, the Native Papuan also received verbal and physical assault from mobs for conveying their grievances towards the Indonesian government. Casual racism also frequently found in popular media, in which the Native Papuans are portrayed as primitive or uneducated, contributing further to the negative stereotypes that are believed by some Indonesians.
While most cases prejudice towards the Native Papua are rooted from ignorance, it became a dangerous thing when the act is associated with dissent towards the Free Papua Movement. One prime example of this case is the Surabaya incident in August 2019, where members of a local civil organization shouted racial slurs towards Native Papuan students in their dormitory. At that time, the culprits felt that their action were justified since they were confronting the students on national flag desecration—an allegation that is never proven up until today. The incident has told us that there is a “pseudo-nationalism feeling” that is embedded with racism against the Native Papuan community. Hate crime has somehow falsely associated as an act of patriotism, a believe that is based on over-generalization that all Native Papuans are associated, or the very least, supporting the movement.
The misconception of racism and patriotism among non-Papuan Indonesians has blurred the line between social and political problem in Indonesia. Unfortunately, the long-held believe on this problem has created a prevalent misconception even among Indonesian academics and government officials. Discussions on the topic are often considered as “sensitive” and “taboo” in public settings. Many of the events are either ended up cancelled before they are conducted or created controversies among the Indonesian public.
Regardless, the restriction to discuss racism against the Native Papuan community is an ineffective strategy to contain the Native Papuan community’s support towards the Free Papua Movement. To understand this, we must go back and understand the nature of the Papua Conflict. Separatism is a form of insurgency warfare which places influence and political narration as the key to achieve victory. The native population of the conflict area is considered as “neutral population” which has to be persuaded to support one of the waring actors. The neutral population’s support could mean a lot of things in the war: cutting off the separatists’ logistic, intelligence, movement; gaining international support; strengthening control and legitimacy over the territory; and even winning a potential referendum in the future.
In a democratic setting, where political support is a critical aspect in ensuring the continuation of a regime, it is far more advantageous to win the sympathy of the neutral population rather than repressing them. This is because neutral population can participate in the government’s check and balance process and convey their grievance to the public. Any negative experience can affect the public’s approval rate towards the government and might jeopardize the government’s image both in domestic and international level. Therefore, to ensure that the neutral population support is on their side, the Indonesian authority must be willing to address the persistent problems that are faced with the Native Papuan community—Including racism.
Even though the authority has conducted some approaches to win the “hearts and minds” of the population through infrastructure and special autonomy fund, as long as the government does not address the main problem that create a division between Papuan and non-Papuan communities, it is only the matter of time before the issue resurface again in the future. Recognising that Indonesian have a problem of racism might hurt the pride of the nation but dismissing it will only hamper the state’s effort to keep its territory intact.
Admittedly, it is no easy task to change the mindset of a community. The effort can take generations to complete and should be done through multifaceted efforts including education, media, and civil organizations. However, the result from addressing racism will be much more sustainable since it will create a sense of belonging, mutual trust, and promoting further integration and between the Native Papua and Non-Papuan communities. Only when those aspect are achieved; Indonesia can make Papua as a permanent part of its nation.
