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By Root 1764 0

contributions by market-dominant minorities would be highly visible and directed at large numbers of ordinary members of the disadvantaged majority. To be sure, any material redistribution effected by these contributions would itself be desirable, but as a practical matter the more important consideration may well lie in their symbolic implications. A principal focus of nationalist and ethnonationalist anti-market reactions in the non-Western world has been the humiliating domination by “outsiders” of a nation’s economic symbols: oil wells in Latin America, gold mines in South Africa, forests in Burma and Indonesia, Lomonosov porcelain in Russia, or other sectors that have come symbolically to be associated with national identity. Perhaps market-dominant minorities can turn symbolism around in their favor.

A good question for market-dominant business communities to ask is whether there are, in a given developing country, important national sectors or symbols to which they could make visible, valuable contributions. Thus, such communities might learn from the recent example of a number of wealthy businesspeople in the United States, who, in several highly publicized gestures, have donated tens of millions of dollars toward scholarship funds for inner-city children. Along similar lines it might be an important demonstration of national solidarity for market-dominant “outsider” groups, which are often urban-centered, to fund rural development projects. In societies where child mortality is a constant source of sorrow, the contribution of new hospital facilities, water treatment plants, or even just antibiotics would certainly be appreciated. Major conspicuous contributions to infrastructure providing tangible benefits to ordinary citizens are another possibility.

Given the extraordinary needs and deficits of developing societies, the opportunities for building interethnic goodwill are plentiful, and there is considerable room for creativity. For example, many have observed the tremendous unifying power of sports all over the world, across both class and ethnic lines. In the United States, nothing has improved race relations more over the last two decades than the idolization of such figures as Michael Jordan, Sammy Sosa, and Tiger Woods. In France the national soccer team is now invariably “a rainbow of colors from France’s imperial history.” Thus, out of the twenty-two glorified members of the team that won the world trophy in 1998, eight were black or brown-skinned, including a Ghanaian adopted by a French priest.

41 In Indonesia, where anti-Chinese sentiment is about as fierce and entrenched as it can get, ordinary pribumi citizens openly adore Susi Susanti and Alan Kusuma, ethnic Chinese badminton stars (now husband and wife) who won gold medals for Indonesia at the Barcelona Olympics—the first golds ever taken by Indonesian athletes.

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Odd or trivial as it may seem, contributions by “outsider” groups to a national sport or team—perhaps by funding the acquisition of a star soccer player or by donating athletic facilities—may be a way of deploying the power of national symbols constructively. (Indeed, the feeling of passionate, almost irrational identification with a favorite sports team bears a certain resemblance to nationalism and ethnonationalism.) I am certainly not suggesting here that a few strategic charitable contributions will cure ethnic conflict. Anti-Indian sentiment remains intense in East Africa despite the philanthropic efforts described above, and in a shocking and disappointing recent incident, Susi Susanti’s car was vandalized in Indonesia as part of an ethnic hate crime.

43 There are no easy fixes for group hatred.

But there have been moments from which hope can be drawn. In a now-famous gesture in 1995, with all of newly democratic South Africa watching, Nelson Mandela embraced the country’s largely white rugby team by donning its green and gold jersey and attending its world championship game. Mandela’s gesture, coupled with the ensuing victory, produced a moment of rare ethnic