Racial Discrimination in Higher Education Institutions - Case Study Example

Running Head: Religious Discrimination in Higher Education s Racial Discrimination in Higher Education s Instructor: Course: Date: Abstract Discrimination is the treatment against an entity mostly a group or an individual on the basis of the category or class and this is in disregard of the merit the individual or the group may be having. It can be categorized as the behavior deemed to be promoting a certain group or an individual and this is known as an affirmative action. It can also be categorized as an action that is directed against an individual or a group and this is known as redlining. Religion discrimination is the action of treating a certain group or an individual on the basis that the group or the individual believes in a certain region. This has been witnessed in many Western countries despite the fact that many of the Western countries’ constitutions have a statute of Freedom of Religion. This act can be considered to be practiced by the uneducated but it is worrying to note that religion discrimination is a vice even in some educated quarters especially the education institutes. One of the institutions that have been noted to still possess this backward behavior is the higher education institutes where religious discrimination is a reality. This paper will look to which extent religious discrimination is a reality in higher education institutions (Clark, 2002). CIVIL RIGHTS ACT TITLE VI The Civil Rights Act was passed into law in the year 1964. It states that the federal government will not discriminate anybody on its services on the basis of color, race, religion and nation of origin. This was particularly on the services that required financial assistance from the federal government. This include even education because the government spends a lot of resources on the education of the citizens of the country (Peter, 2002). CASE STUDY In the course of this study, I undertook to interview Mohammed a student at the Michigan State University. Mohammed is an Arab from Iran and conforms to the Muslim faith. He is studying Social Sciences at the University and his main discipline is Sociology. I chose to interview him on the basis that he is vulnerable to various types of discrimination especially considering that he is an Arab, his country of origin is in conflict with the United States where he is residing and mostly because he can also be discriminated on the basis of his religion. I also chose him because on the basis that he studies Sociology at the University, he has come to understand how different people act and why they act in that particular way. INTERVIEW SETTING Mohammed is a serious student and so he does not have any free time to waste during the weekdays. However, on weekends he involves himself with leisure and when I asked him if he could do an interview with me, he chose we do it on a Saturday afternoon. Although he lurks around the university’s library during the weekdays and sometimes on weekends when he is studying for an examination, most of the weekends he spends in his room with the company of some of his friends where he engages in games like chess. However, he chose we do the interview in the University’s cafeteria. We both agreed on a Saturday afternoon at the school cafeteria. DATA SUMMARY Harassment In the higher learning institutions religion discrimination is manifested in the harassment that the people of minority religions are harassed within the institutions. This comes from both the colleagues and the staff of an institution. Mohammed asserted that in his institution, he has experienced harassment from both the colleagues and the staff of the institution. This means that religion discrimination is subjecting the students who believe in other faiths (Nancy, 2002). Worship Facilities Religious discrimination in higher learning institutions is also evidenced by the fact that many institutions do not offer adequate facilities of worship to the minor religions’ students. This is evidenced by the fact in the United States, Christianity being the dominant religion, many institutions have many facilities that are used by Christians when they are worshiping and this include such facilities like Chapels, Bibles, musical instrumentals among other things. However, such religions as Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are not afforded the same quantity of worshiping facilities. This can be evidenced by the fact that many institutions in the United States do not have such facilities like Mosques and Korans afforded to Muslim student and this was asserted by Mohammed (Angela, 1993). School Rules The school rules in higher learning institutions are also characteristic of the major religion in a given area. Since Christianity is the major religion in the United States, many higher learning institutions have adopted rules which reflect on the Ten Commandments, a factor that have brought conflict between the administration of the higher learning institutions and the students who conform to other faiths. The same is can be said to the University in which Mohammed is studying in (Nancy, 2002). IMPLICATION With the current state of affairs, many students who are discriminated on the grounds of religion are loosing a lot in terms of enjoying the school’s facilities as well as academically to some extent. This is because with the students being harassed, they cannot fully concentrate on their studies and at the same time they cannot live a life of harmony with other students. As far as the facilities are considered, these students do not also have the full freedom of worshiping on the school grounds and many of them are forced to make temporary arrangements or go to worshiping facilities outside the campuses they are studying in. Apart from wasting a lot of time for these students, the students also end up spending a lot of resources in order to fulfill their religious needs which mostly sums up to following their faiths and their faiths’ requirements. They are also loosing out on the school rules and hence the increased conflict between the minority religion students in various higher learning institutions and the other students and also the administration of these institutions (Kirton, 2004). In general, if this trend does not stop, then the institutions of higher learning which are deemed to be responsible for instilling discipline to the students will end up doing exactly the opposite. This is in both the position of the students who are discriminated against and those who are shown that minority religions should not be respected and should be subjected to discrimination of various sorts. The students who are discriminated against will have the feeling that the other religion are against them and this may lead to various issues like hostility and untrusting the other religions. To those who are not discriminated against, they will have the feeling that the major religion should also be respected and in turn be favored. This will lead to the students thinking that life is meant for the major religion of that country (Carole, 2004). INTERVIEW PROTOCOL 1. What religion do you conform to? 2. How many religions do different students in your institution conform to? 3. What is the major religion in your institution? 4. What other religions are considered as minority religions? 5. Do you experience in form of religious discrimination in your institution? 6. Are there different religions that are discriminated against because of various reasons? 7. If yes, which religions and what are the reasons for them being discriminated? 8. Is this discrimination from the entire institution or from some quarters? 9. How does the administration discriminate other religions? 10. How does the students discriminate other religions’ students? 11. Does the institution offer equal facilities of worship to all the religions? 12. Do you feel that something should be done to stop this discrimination? 13. If you had the chance, what would you do to stop this discrimination? ACTION PLAN Introduction Vision The vision of the guidelines that are held in within this action plan are declared in order to end the religious discrimination that is evident in higher learning institutes. Discrimination has been noted to be very destructive in a social sense and this has been noted to be particularly for the students of higher learning institutions. Objectives, goals and targets 1. The objectives, goals and targets of this action plan is to ensure the students who are from different religion backgrounds are viewed as equal and that discrimination of religion should be done away with in all social aspects. 2. Social justice should also be upheld and only this way will discrimination on the grounds of religion will end. 3. Leadership should also be practiced in such a way that it does not discriminate anybody on the grounds of religion. Action Lines 1. All stakeholders must ensure that religious discrimination is done away with within the institutes of higher learning. 2. The aspect of equity must also be applied in combating this vice that has inflicted the higher learning institutions. 3. Social justice must also be applied in fighting the issue of religious discrimination with any given social setting. 4. The leaders, who in this case include the administration and student representatives, should also be ready to fight religious discrimination (Kristina, 2005). Need Statement The fight against religious discrimination in higher learning institution is hindered by the fact that the leadership in these institution does not act to end and in sometimes even oppose the fight against this vice. Leadership against religious discrimination When appointing various leaders, the institutes should ensure that there is equal representation of all religions and this will help in the fight against religious discrimination (Athena, 2004). The leaders should ensure that all religions enjoys equal opportunities and the facilities in the institute are shared equally between all religions in the institute (Richard, 2004). The leaders should also uphold the issue of social justice so that the minority religions are protected against discrimination (Wright, 2002). Method of assessment Changes should be seen with the institutions offering different religions different facilities under which to perform their worship. It should also be seen as a positive impact if minority religions are not harassed be either the administration or the students who belong to the major religion. The rules should also not be inclined towards one religion and universal rules and regulations should be adopted by the institute (Peter, 2002). References Angela P. H. & Marjorie M. S. (1993) "Another Critique of Pure Reason": Toward Civic Virtue in Legal Education, Stan. L. p1773. Athena D. M. (2004) Who Gets In? The Quest for Diversity After Grutter, 52 Buffalo L. p 531. Carole J. B. (2004)Realizing Grutter v. Bollingers "Compelling Educational Benefits of Diversity" Transforming Aspirational Rhetoric Into Experience, UMKC L. p 877. Clark D. C. Glenn C. L. & John D. S. (2002) Passing Strict Scrutiny: Using Social Science to Design Affirmative Action Programs, Geo. L.J. p. 835. Kirton, G. & Green. A. (Ed) (2004) The Dynamics of Managing Diversity, Butterworth-Heinemann pp 321 – 329. Kristina B. (2005) In Pursuit of the Gold Star: Diary of a Law Student, "Unbound: Harvard Journal of the Legal Left." Pp 12 – 23. Nancy E. D. Kenneth B. N. & Jane E. P. (2003) Diversity Matters: Race, Gender, and Ethnicity in Legal Education, Fla. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y p11. Peter H. S. (2002) Affirmative Action: Past, Present and Future, Yale L. & Pol’y pp 122 – 140. Richard H. S. (2004) A Systemic Analysis of Affirmative Action in American Law Schools, Stan. p 367. Wright, R. G. (2002) Cumulative Case Legal Arguments and the Justification of Academic Affirmative Action, Pace. Pp 23 - 26 Read More