Racisim Will Always Exist
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Racism in one form or another will always exist. Discuss.
Racism is a dark stain on society that has been there for hundreds of years. It is defined as a belief or doctrine that draws political or social conclusions from the idea that humankind is divided into biologically distinct races1. Even though many wars like the USA Civil War
and World War II gave birth to ideological revolutions; unfortunately, people around the world are still suffering from racism. Some of the issues that lead to racist behaviour are social status for ethnic minorities, skin colour, cultural and ideological differences, and the role of present day media.
Ethnic minorities are usually deprived from the social status that dominant ethnic groups have. They live in impoverished areas because many of these people were first brought to the country they live in as slaves, or as workers who did jobs that were classified a low skilled jobs that the locals did not practise, or simply came as immigrants seeking political asylum. As a result, those people started seeking illegal methods in order to improve their economic status or simply to feed their children, thus became looked down upon and seen as criminals by the locals. At the same time, others were resented for taking high skilled job that was seen as more suitable for a person from a dominant ethnic group. This problem will never end unless the economic conditions and educational system of these ethnic groups improve. If
Heywood, A, Politics, 3rd Ed. (Hapshire: Palgrave Macmillan,2007) Pg.120
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not, then these illegal sorts of behaviours will increase due to poverty and lack of education and equal opportunities. Such behaviours become rationalized by these groups because of their situation and the cycle will never end as their children will be brought up to in the same standards of life their parents had. Thus, any action of crime will be condemned on these groups and associated with them by default.
It cannot be generalized that all racists have the same reasons for being chauvinistic. Physical appearances play a huge role in differentiating races. Skin colour is the most common of these yet it is not the only one as the Nazis for example used the shape on the nose to differentiate Semites from Aryans. The real difference however lies within the culture, beliefs, traditions and such. Many people are racist toward black people, because when first brought up, they were conditioned to believe that they are the superior race (whites), and more importantly; were taught to believe that the colour black symbolizes evil, whereas the colour white represents goodness. Consequently they were shaped to become intolerant, and look down upon black people and see them as inferiors. In order for this to change, people need an ideological revolution. People need to stop believing that some of the basic ideas they inherited are true, and start using logic by reflecting on what type of society they live in today. This however, is hard to achieve as a rebellion on ones society might seem as a taboo, unless there is a majority that is hungry for change.
With all the development we have seen in the field of education, there is still a lot more to achieve as racism is still present within the new generation. This is true, as society and parents have a fixed set of rules that are expected to be followed by their children, resulting in these children becoming racist like their parents. However, this is not the only reason for why racism still exists. As in many countries like the UK, there are faith-based schools; there are
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more than 7,000 in the UK.2 Having faith schools alienates the children from the rest of society, depriving them from the understanding of other cultures, thus resulting in the
inability to coexist with others as they have not experienced before. With language and culture being additional barriers, this causes fear within people, for people are naturally scared of the unknown. This can be seen as ethnic minorities form sub societies within the larger society they are already living in. These ethnic groups end up alienated from the rest, and seen as the cause of danger, because of the crimes some of their people commit. As a result, these ethnic societies do not only become victims of racism, but racist themselves; ultimately there are divided communities, and this concept continues to be practised and inherited by the generations.
Governments have a huge influence on this matter, as they could stop the establishment of faith-based schools as primary schools, and be considered only as an after school curriculum, in order to ensure that everyone still have their rights. The establishment of more diverse schools will help achieve a better understanding of other races, thus better understanding of different religions and cultures. However, as we see in the UK, the Church has a huge influence on government decisions on this matter. Another example which illustrates governments influence on this matter is the war on crime here in the UK. One of the many fliers that promote the danger of crime, has the picture of