The Ethnocentrism: Social Injustice - Essay Example

Topic: Social Injustice Individuals all around the world have a large number of similarities and differences. It is a responsibility of every human being to understand and appreciate these differences. Racism is not justifies in any sense and should be completely removed from our society. As Abraham Joshua Heschel said, «Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” (Brainy Quote). It is not an inborn quality prevalent in human beings but it is something which is learnt from the society and environment. But what is racism? It is a belief that one`s race and beliefs are superior to another. The term ethnocentrism is also used which is a belief that a person`s group and sub culture is superior to that of another person. A racist is an individual who believes that people belonging to different races should be separated and should work in a joint environment. The 21st century has seen a lot of advancements in terms of technology, globalization and shared values and it is surprising to know that racism is still practiced all over world and human being have been unable to remove the act of racism from our society. Racism has existed throughout the history of human kind and it has taken a number of different forms. Racism is done on the basis of culture, language, skin color, gender as well as age and disability. The most famous case of racism has been seen in the western world where discrimination took place against the African-American as they were forced to do slavery on the basis of their skin color. They were believed to be an inferior race and were not given proper rights and opportunities. This kind of racism is still seen today but it has decreased by a large percentage due to laws and regulations. Gender discrimination is another common type of discrimination prevalent in all the countries. Women and other minorities are often excluded from important matters or decision as they are thought to be less capable and worthy as compared to their counterpart. In workplaces, women have to face a glass ceiling as they are not given proper opportunities for promotion as well as improvements and even paid less than men who are working at the same position and same level of expertise. Although there are laws and regulation for this type of discrimination as well but it is still seen today all around the world. Women living in eastern countries, especially have to face discrimination as their families think that their main responsibility is to take care of the children and family at home. As a result of this, they are given lesser chances and opportunities to grow (Anup; Home - Race, Racism and the Law). Racism has been prominent in workplaces and organizations. Workers are facing discrimination as they are not given employment opportunities only because of their skin color, religion or their language. Employees have to face prejudice, discrimination and other acts of stereotype. Prejudice is the tendency to view people with different qualities as being different. Prejudice results in discrimination and stereotyping. Stereotyping is an irrational belief associated with a particular group of people. It is the assumption that all individuals belonging to a particular group have similar characteristics. It also leads to the concept of diversity which is every way in which an individual differs. Managers in organization are working hard to remove discrimination and racism from their workplace and are encouraging people to adopt workplace diversity. Workplace diversity is defined as appreciating the differences in all the co-workers and working together in teams for the betterment of the organization as a whole. The benefits of workplace diversity include reduces costs in terms of absenteeism and turnover as well as better solutions for work related problems as a result of effective team work (Richard & Lane) There are a number of laws and regulations to counter racism in societies. The universal declaration of human rights includes Article 9 which gives all human beings the freedom of speech and to tell their views without any restriction. This freedom of speech has also been used for purposes other than the demonstration of views against discrimination. It has been used to tell views against the minorities and to discriminate against other humans. Racism has also been used over the internet in the form of hate groups as people have started discriminating by posting negative comments about different groups of minorities (Home - Race, Racism and the Law; Anup). Globalization has benefited the entire world and promises to continue to do so. The benefits are seen through the advancement in technology, trade, standard of living as well as communication. On the other hand, globalization has also resulted in an increase in acts of racism as well as discrimination. This is because increased globalization results in greater inequality as the gap between the rich and poor increases. This increase in gap further gives way to discrimination as racists start to discriminate on the basis of poverty or way of living as well (Welfare and Poverty within the African American community). As A. Sivanandan in his article, poverty in the new block, says, “Racism has always been both an instrument of discrimination and a tool of exploitation. But it manifests itself as a cultural phenomenon, susceptible to cultural solutions, such as multicultural education and the promotion of ethnic identities.” He also says that finding solution for cultural inequality would not solve the problem of economic inequality and further measures would have to be taken to remove this act inequality altogether from our society and ultimately , from this world (Home - Race, Racism and the Law). In order to eradicate racism from this society and world as a whole, measures should be taken in the form of cooperation of all the countries. The United Nations took this initiative in the form of a world conference on racial discrimination which was held in 2001. However, the main goals and objectives of the conference could not be achieved as some nations refused to work together on some issues (Home - Race, Racism and the Law). These serious issues could not be ignored as it affects the lives of thousands of people all over the world. Therefore, all countries should work together on a common ground and come up with universal laws and regulations as a fight against racism. Works Cited: "Racism is man's gravest threat... at BrainyQuote." Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. . Daft, Richard L., and Pat Lane. "Managerial Planning and Goal Setting." Management. 9th ed. Chicago: Dryden Press, 1991. 160-168. Print. Shah, Anup. "Racism — Global Issues." Global Issues: social, political, economic and environmental issues that affect us all — Global Issues. N.P., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. . "Non-legal Scholarly Articles - Page 5." Home - Race, Racism and the Law. N.P., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. . . Read More