Racial Equality in Employment - Coursework Example

By 11th century the Normans became the rulers of England for many years. Hence, indeed, there is a Norman element in Britain. After the Normans stopped ruling England no other ethnic groups made significant inroads to Britain (Trevelyan). are spread over many countries in all the continents now. This is indeed a colonial legacy. Another colonial legacy is the influx of races from former colonies to Britain. While the Britons were in the colonies they were the ruling class and the Africans, Asians and the Caribbeans their subjects.

However after the dismantling of the colonial empire, back in the country of their former masters, they became citizens. Citizenship meant a perception of legitimate right for equal rights with the fellow whites. This is the background to the tensions between the ethnic minorities in UK and the whites. The attitude expressed in the ditty, is not typical to the Anglo-Saxons, it was somewhat universal. The Jews generally believed that their special relation with Jehovah made them the superior. However they did not try to establish their biological superiority.

But the Victorian Anglo-Saxons believed that they are racially superior, and qualities like literary taste, creativity and even honesty were inherited by them by virtue of bei. Page 3were inherited by them by virtue of being born in that race. The deeply ingrained racial prejudices find expression in Shakespeare's, Othello and The Merchant of Venice, way back in the 16th century. The dark colour in popular Christian piety is associated with evil and the colour of Othello, the Moor, is the symbol of the evil in him while the white complexion of Desdemona is the epitome of guileless innocence.

Shylock, the Jew, is the embodiment of evil of the race that killed Christ. While the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of all men were central to Christian faith (The New Revised Standard Version, Lk.11.2) only a minority seems to have understood. In Europe most people believed that nonwhite people lacked the qualities of intellect, mind and heart, which the white so abundantly possessed. This notion in Britain and North America focused more on the Anglo-Saxons as the best of the whites.

Did this attitude of the whites to other races in the subliminal level determine their conduct to other races What is Equal OpportunityArriving at the precise and generally accepted definition of equal opportunity is a formidable task. However, over Page 4the years, the concept is achieving greater clarity and some kind of convergence is in the offing. Equal opportunity is a descriptive term for an attitude attempting to provide equal access to a milieu or benefits, like education and training, job opportunities, medical care and access to social welfare assistance.

This attitude underlies a genuine desire to empower groups that have, over the years, bore the brunt of discrimination. The groups who need to be uplifted are identified on the basis