Significance of the Awareness of the Issue of Racism - Essay Example

Racism Thesis ment: Racism has shaken the world from all sides. Its ramifications are heard in a strong manner by all and one. The need of the hour is to bury the hatchet and move forward. Man can do without the racial disparities and conflicts. The world could become a safer place if given a chance. Racism is a hurdle that needs to be removed as soon as possible. Much change in the waiting. To begin with, race is a socially accepted paradigm and a type in its own right. For this reason, society has the task to assign races to people which is based on their respective opinions and social experiences. Considering the notion that had races been socially constructed, then racism would have guaranteed to be a derivative of race and the resultant from social experiences as well. Racism is defined as a belief whereby it is considered as being higher for one race as compared to the other ones. Racism is a subject that shakes the basis of the world population as it sparks off controversies left, right and center. People usually do not speak highly of this subject and would better like to be disassociated with it rather than the other way around. (Kolchin, 2003) There are two distinct schools of thought when one thinks of the racism subject. These align themselves with the question of racism in America as well as its rationales. (Weinberg, 1996) The social psychologists and the sociological theorists are the two broad categories. The scapegoat theory argues that in times gone by, members of the dominant group in the United States have protected a number of different frustrations in their desire to achieve social as well as financial success and also to find expression for these aggravations in the form of anger towards other racial groups. On the other hand, the authoritarian theory is more or less typified by a propensity to rigidly characterize people. The sociological theories focus more on the institutional role played by racism itself. Therefore it would not be wrong here to state that racism appears to be a mixture of the scapegoat, authoritarian as well as the sociological theories surrounding it. While a number of people without human intervention characterize the people into groups, they also have the capacity to turn these groups into a series of aggression activities. However the reason from this may be the lack of involvement connected with the people hailed in a category or a class of their own that is known as the groups other than the one that can be classified in the true sense of the word. For this reason, detachments of one person from another allow each person to feel able to blame or for that matter hate the other one with no guilty feeling whatsoever. An issue, which has taken a lot of flak from time immemorial, is that of racial discrimination among ordinary members of the society and more specifically with respect to common man’s healthcare and the like, where one party has profited at the expense of the other one, thus raising solid doubts over the credibility of the society in general and its people in particular. Healthcare facilities must be made available to all and sundry without the discrimination of race, color or even gender for that matter. People, throughout the world, though living in segregated colonies here and there, are subjected to racial discrimination day in day out. (Tang, 2003) This discrimination can hail from the very ordinary of things to major issues like killing and massacre of a particular race altogether. Governments do not directly take an active part in detailing their views to all about the racial differences that their charter has in accordance with the law of a particular country but they, every now and then, take certain significant steps, which help in curtailing racial discriminations from emanating in their respective societies. Their efforts in the field of health and providing basic first aid though are not that concrete at the best of times yet are overshadowed by a sudden outburst of racial fighting and hatred for each other which lead to the abandonment of any such proper healthcare that there was available in the first place. (Hall, 1985) Racial discrimination can give rise to domestic violence across towns; suburbs, cities and even on a national level whereby the whole country can get affected due to it. People get disturbed, as do their families and the whole religious/race group feels knocked out at the hands of the suppressing party. Racial discrimination leads to hatred within the different peoples in varied societies and can also account for outbreaks of spill and disaster across a large amount of population. It can also lead to complete vacation of facilities and the like for the patients who are already under some sort of treatment. The same are hailing from the minority group and this subjugation leads to a form of hatred in the minds of the people. As it is the world over and is a known fact, racial discrimination can be due to a number of reasons, big and little, large and small, as and when they might come or drop in a society or a country for that matter. But one should really think twice before they decide to involve the health and basic needs of a person with petty issues, one such being the entire desertion of the same, which in more ways than one is nothing short of an attitude that can be remarked as being inhuman to say the least. (Vorster, 2002) Other issues that might spring up in the aftermath of this type of discrimination are the changes in a country’s government whereby usually the ruling party is overtaken by the one which is in the opposition, but not before a massive fight is resisted by the former one as they try their levels best to justify their position, more so in the positive sense so as to curtail negative feelings of the people for their government. A government would never like to involve itself with racial differences, no matter how much mandate it has got with regards to the people turning up to vote for them in the elections or campaigns related to the same. It would always devise ways and means to treat all the people in the society in an equal manner, no matter whether they are black, white, mixed or hailing from African or Asian regions. The same is true for different national living across the lengths and breadths of the United States whereby the American government would do its best always to refrain itself from indulging in racial matters. However it would have a proactive approach to the same matter, which would mean they would look to solve the problem before it actually arises so as to win the trust of the race that is most severely affected by the same. (Worsthorne, 1999) The regulations related with economy entail civil rights, which is displayed usually in two ways. The Government in discretion forbids a particular individual to involve himself in a business or any such occupation which it thinks in its own right is going against the basic liberty that an individual has within the society with respect to the up holding of civil rights. It also holds true when that same individual in one way or the other belittles the competition level already set within the market to such an extent that it becomes a clear and acceptable equivalent of the violation of the principle of equality under the present form of law. To add salt to injury, the Government is bent upon violating these very rights that it upholds for, calling them as “civil rights” by itself fabricating problems for all concerned by forbidding making healthcare and the related things open to one and all. This denies a chance to many people to live their lives to the fullest as well as conduct their business in an open and free manner. One can rightly suggest that the right to compete within the American markets is the right of every citizen of the country and hence cannot be denied of his or her basic rights but healthcare is one department on which the government must get its act together and something needs to be done in a real constructive manner so as to bring about a change in this direction. More than that there needs to be a general change in the thinking of people when issues like these are touched or even discussed in open forums so as to disallow treating unfairly the people who have some sort of physical, mental or other ailments and diseases. These laws have extraordinarily taken the toll on the black community as well as other minor factions within the United States. Without a shadow of a doubt, racism has been one of the most targeted issues in the history of America and it would not be wrong to say that this is one topic that is here to stay, talking pessimistically, but in a realistic sense. People have a love-hate sort of relationship with this issue and do not like to forego it for the sake of betterment of society and the multiculturalism that will be given a boost. The multicultural proposal of uniting all the cultures and races seems to be totally impractical and people are not ready to give up this issue once and for all. They do not find it understandable that the rationale behind all this in-fighting and racist activities is leaving lasting impressions. Individuals should keep in mind that culture is within one’s own beliefs and values. It is within his or her faction and should in no way hamper his or her dealings with people of other cultures and values, norms and convictions all the same. Similar is the dealing with the aspect of race and the repercussions which arise in the wake of its non-acceptance. From a personal perspective, racism has affected just about everyone and I am no exception to this. No matter how small the instance that I have gone through in my life, yet the resultant consequence is of significance, not only for me but also for the ones with whom I am lovingly attached. This includes my parents, friends and just about everyone I know. Often the experiences in the name of racial discrimination are so minute that a person might not feel it at the time of its happening, but it is later when he realizes the difference that it made to his life that the importance arises. However it is a fact that the significance does arise sooner rather than later and this is one truth that cannot be dispelled in any manner whatsoever. Indeed it is the personal experience of a human being that can make him understand the true meaning and value of the negatives attached with racism and how stereotyping affects the very same, no matter which society one belongs to. It is equally true for different cultural settings, norms and regions, spread all over the world. Racism harms social and psychological bonding and disturbs the basis of humanity to co-relate amongst their selves. They start feeling alienated from each other and hatred creeps in all of a sudden. The world is becoming a dangerous place to live in with the change of policies, societal values and racial thoughts posing as the major problems that worry the world. (Campbell, 1999) Bombings and suicide attacks are only taking place because there is less tolerance for each other now than was the case in the past. All this needs to be tolerated and racism must be defeated in the face so that the end result is one which is a win-win situation for one and all. All said and done, the world bodies need to get their act together and give us our peaceful world back – a world that was full of love and tolerance for each other. Bibliography CAMPBELL, Sue. (1999). Racism and Philosophy. Cornell University Press HALL, Gus. (1985). Fighting Racism: Selected Writings. International Publishers KOLCHIN, Peter. (2003). Racism: A Short History. Journal of Southern History, Vol. 69 TANG, Zongli. (2003). Perceptions of Racism on Campus. College Student Journal, Vol. 37 VORSTER, J. M. (2002). Racism, Xenophobia and Human Rights. The Ecumenical Review, Vol. 54 WEINBERG, Meyer. (1996). Racism in Contemporary America. Greenwood Press WORSTHORNE, Peregrine. (1999). Thought Control Is Not the Answer. New Statesman, Vol. 129 Word Count: 2,008 Read More