The Most Effective Way to Change People's Minds and Combat Racism - Coursework Example

The most effective way to change peoples minds and combat racism Introduction Looking around the world, we find a sense that we are at a crucial moment for a diverse society. Separation and exclusion is seen all around us; suspicion, fear, and ignorance parting communities. At the same time, public figures, the media, and heads of states, who are the people supposed to fight and defend pluralist and inclusive societies, initiate attacks on multiculturalism. While this negative outlook may be so widely accepted challenging it seems to be a hard but important task. Wherever such narrow-minded populist thinking is realized, we are heartened by actions of strength and courage of free-thinking personalities; people who do not fear speaking up for multiculturalism, solidarity, and equality; those individuals who go against status quo to struggle for what they believe in. Stereotypes and prejudices live in all of us but we must look for the most effective ways of doing away with racism. Abolish capitalism The foremost step to combat racism is to launch an attack to the institutions that makes racism legitimate: economic and political powers which consider racism as a respectable but not a shameful idea. We must demonstrate that racism is cowardly, oppressive, and beneath contempt. Individuals should embarrass racists, and show anti-racists that their instincts are correct (Chin 34). The best weapon against racism is our own common sense in addition to unity against exploitation and racist violence. Racism is driven by greed and controlled by power and ignorance. Capitalism must be eradicated in favor of self-management in work places and worker ownership. Abolish governments which create division in protection of a few wealthy and influential people to favor autonomous self-governing groups who coordinate their actions through decentralized federations. Doing away with capitalism, professional politicians and taking back control of the community and work to people who provide productive labor in a community where people have as much as they earn through working in a life time will develop a society where anyone who wants to work can lead a comfortable life. Embrace diversity People must be forced to encounter diversity to a higher level by appreciating other people’s value to the society while embracing and respecting differences. Campaigns to explore these themes may include theatre workshops, film screening, through debates, human libraries, local campaigns, and annual campaigns that focus on the specific prejudices most relevant to the communities in question. NGOs, grass root groups, youth organizations, and the media should use their differences to collaborate and cooperate with each other by collecting expertise, resources, and strengths to achieve a common goal, that is, stronger voice against racism. Individuals can fight racism by opening their minds that the other side of the community has good people too and must be appreciated (Martinez 5). Greater diversity helps eradicate racism through sharing feelings. Discrimination represents a kind of group oppression. Certain groups are labeled as “useless,” “dirty,” “violent,” “greedy,” or “dangerous,” without considering the individual members’ characters in a certain group. A victim is hurt as a single person and surfers from the marginalization individually. Discrimination pain is expressed in shame but often, turned into violence to cover the shame. By sharing encounters of ill-treatment and the sorrow about it among the peers, the shame will finally fade away. Group and individual identity are strengthened by solidarity. Feelings of positive pride in a personal identity emerge and can liberate the way to accept the other person’s pride in his or her specific identity. Diversity can thus become a positive value in each one’s life. Education The battle against racism correlates with the promotion of a society which actively encourages full participation and integration. Citizenship education is beyond the civics concept which emphasizes that students should acquire knowledge and information about practices and democratic institutions within their own regional, national, and local spheres. Learners in active citizenship incorporate economic, social, political and cultural dimensions; it stresses participatory and innovative learning and teaching methods and puts a commitment to central human values like humanitarianism, democratic culture, tolerance, and respect for diversity and difference. In government institutions, recognized human rights motivational speakers can be invited to address students about the issue of racism and its effects. Diversity clubs can be established in these institutions to serve as umbrella organizations to promote respect and harmony for differences (Chin 56). Education is proposed as an important response to racism and promotes harmonious society relations. In particular, children should be exposed to educational programs which reduce bigotry and encourage tolerance. Such programs should be well taught through contemporary research and wide understandings of the complex nature of racial behavior and the contexts where they operate. Anti-racism education aim to directly coordinate with institutional racism by examining teaching methods, school governance, and curriculum to ensure that there is no discrimination. Peer group education is used to fight racism. Racial prejudice is connected with group behavior and group identity. It has much to deal with how an individual perceives him or herself as a distinctive member of an ethical or social group in relation to other groups. Similarly, adolescence is a crucial stage in life development, the time when one’s identity is formed. Loosening family ties can open up to various alternatives of group identity. At this phase of life, ethnicity as a plainly distinctive identity is extremely vital. Education takes its vigor from unfolding leadership potentials of individual youths and relies on in-group principles of youths. It conveys its message via these channels that play an important role in adolescence. Education empowers young people to act and form leadership and gives pride to what they can achieve. Such positive feelings make it easier for youths to look at previous “hurts” causes of mistreatment. The media The media can also be used to combat racism by allowing people to express themselves on matters concerning racial discrimination. We need to continue monitoring, protesting, demonstrating, documenting, and resist any kind of racism through the media. People should raise their voices any time they hear of racial bias across airwave (Chin 134). We should demand employment equity, vigorously challenge and silence those who resist the fight against racism. Responding to those who speak in code words like freedom of expression, national identity, common values, artistic silence, unity, special interest groups, and special privileges is what people should advocate for. Although it has been criticized for promoting racism, the media can play a very positive part in this fight. Through this medium of communication, anti-racism campaign coordinators can raise public awareness about important issues, from the general public to government officials ranked highly and decision makers. Better job security To promote job security among all races, companies should make respect for diversity a core value and articulate it in the employee manual so that all employees are subjected to respecting each other’s background. To ensure that everyone has a right to embrace their culture, employers should give freedom to all racial groups so that they can keep their jobs no matter what. For instance, an employer should learn about the backgrounds of his workers and can even publish and distribute a list of ethnic holidays and the meanings of customs related to their celebration. An on-going awareness programs on the value of human diversity to all workers in the organization will help them appreciate diversity at a higher rate in their daily live (Martinez 6). Promoting a labor market that is open to all and giving special attention to the needs of ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups will combat racism. Appropriate forms of active and preventive policies should be integrated in the labor market to protect the rights of all individuals. Various strategies can be used to ensure better job security for a racism-free society. The most prominent of these measures is individual litigation. Governments must provide administrative and/or judicial procedures that allow individuals to have equal treatments in work places. Complimentary measure in support of people in litigation, especially the right of association should be enforced on their behalf and the creation of equal treatment bodies to offer independent assistance to discrimination victims in dealing with their complaints. Apart from individual, litigation measure, there should be workplace monitoring and codes of conducts to give a conducive environment for all workers. Conclusion Equality is important for all people regardless of their skin color, place of birth, ethnicity, sexual, or gender orientation. Racism, intolerance, and xenophobia are problems that affect all societies, either directly or indirectly. Each one of us has a role to play in breaking down or contributing to the policies developed to discourage racial prejudice. People should take a firm stand against these inhuman attitudes in their own communities and join groups advocating for the human rights of minority groups and take a lead to raise voices about the issue. States should adopt rules to combat racism in order to protect anti-racists. We ought to be a society that is well educated in all social issues and report any cases of racial behavior to higher levels of institutions, thus moving closer to realizing a common vision for an inclusive society (Chin 206). Works Cited Chin, Jean. The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination, Race and Ethnicity in Psychology: Praeger Perspective. New York: ABC-CLIO, 2009.Print. Martinez, Ruben. “Burning Sand.” The Crossing-Los Angeles Times, 26. (2006): 5-6.Print. Read More