A Problem With ‘Problem’

By Charles Sarvan

The use of the word ‘problem’ (preceded by an article and modifier) in noun phrases such as, for example, ‘the ethnic problem’ or ‘the Tamil problem’, is not unusual and yet it can be misleading. Sometimes – certainly not always — the word ‘problem’ can be problematic, if not worse.
For instance, in the West one hears and reads about ‘the colour problem’. But if non-whites experience their skin-colour as a problem in one of those countries, it is because whites make it a problem for them. In other words, pigmentation begins as a problem for whites.
Thereafter and consequently, it becomes a problem for coloured people. In that sense, one can argue, it is not at root a ‘colour problem’ but a ‘white problem’.  Often, when one reads of what is termed ‘racism’ in the West, it translates not into ‘race’ but into a matter of skin colour. (That is why I’ve suggested elsewhere, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the substitution of the more specific term, ‘colourism’, for the vague and unscientific ‘racism’.) For example, a man or woman from Poland (being white) silently walking on a street in Western Europe will not experience antagonism or hostility from those who happen to be anti-Slav. (Some from further East in Europe, though also white, are immediately, visually, recognised and differentiated because of their clothes, for example, the women wearing headscarves.)
With the phrase, ‘refugee problem’, the problem is for the country unhappily having to accommodate uninvited guests in substantial number and, at great cost and inconvenience, play host. From the perspective of the refugees, they see themselves not as a problem but as those trying to escape from a problem, be that ‘problem’ ethnic, economic or both. They hope arrival in the target country will mark the beginning of the end of their ‘problem’. By way of contrast, the ‘unemployment problem’ is indeed a problem for both the unfortunate unemployed and for the government which must create work-opportunity and deal with the consequences (economic, social, political) of having large numbers of its citizens without an income, not paying taxes and on the street — restless, bitter and hostile.
The use of the phrase, ‘the Palestinian problem’ does not make clear that the Palestinians are the dispossessed victims; that they suffer and endure ‘problems’ created by the attitude and action of others. The noun phrase, ‘the Palestinian problem’, conceals underlying causes and may place the blame on the mistreated and injured. The so-called Palestinian problem is one created by others. (It was grievously mishandled by Palestinians, and the ‘problem’ is now experienced, suffered and endured by them.) The word ‘problem’, worse than being a euphemism, may create in some the impression – consciously or unconsciously — that the unfortunate Palestinians are the problem; that they are, by perverse nature, a problematic people. But, of course, they are not the source, the originators, the cause, of ‘the Palestinian problem’. The phrase may be convenient shorthand, but it is misleading and unjust, that is, unless one thinks and feels that simply by the fact of their very existence, they constitute a problem: “They exist. They exist here. They exist here as a separate people with their own land and language, religion and customs. Therefore, they are a problem and must be dealt with.”
Israel succeeds more and more, rejoices in and celebrates its ‘final solution of the Palestine problem’. But because that ‘solution’ is based on force rather than on justice, it becomes more and more of a ‘problem’ for the Palestinians, an injustice and tragedy. Adapting Shakespeare’s words, it’s a case of more light and light for the one, and “more dark and dark our woes” for the other. Palestinians do not see themselves as a problem or as a ‘question’ (the Palestinian question) but as a people waiting for an acceptable ‘answer’ that will come through and with, equitable sharing. Perhaps there are parallels here with Tamils within Sri Lanka. Dispossessed; deeply disillusioned with what the end of the war has visited upon them; having lost trust, confidence and hope in the fairness and justice of the Sinhalese state, many are desperately trying to turn ‘the Tamil problem’ into ‘the refugee problem’.