The Problem of Racism in Developed Countries - Essay Example

Insert Racism is the belief that traits and abilities can be linked to individuals, based on their race and that some of the racial groups are superior to others. Racial discrimination has been applied as a superior weapon for promoting fear and hatred against other individuals during times of war and conflict and in times of economic downturns. According to American anthropological Association, race is a strong idea and a concept that is enduring and it is invested by the society. Racism has also fostered inequality and discrimination for a long time and affecting the relationship between human beings. Based on Amnesty International 2010 report, Europe has an architecture for human rights which is also unequaled in any part of the world. Commonest types of abuses are informed by race, and often increase with the changing status of the economy and rise in immigration to the area (European Communities, 28). Nevertheless, the world has moved from racism that is institutionalized [which mostly occurred in the colonial times, when racial beliefs were abetted and acceptable] to today where the effect of neo-Nazism is still experienced. Europe is a complicated region with many cultures in a small land that has therefore experienced a lot of conflicts throughout history. In the new millennium and “the century to full warfare”, Europe is observing a remarkable revival in racism and racial hatred. A brief review of inter-press service stresses the increase of neo-Nazism in year 2000, in Europe, and proposes that apart from being a fringe activity, violence, racism, and neo-Nazism have turned out to be usual in some societies in Europe. Ethnic minorities and diverse cultures in the same country can often be used as a scapegoat during economic crisis. That is one of the reasons why Nazism became common. In France, particularly in May 2002, the success of Le Pen in political and leadership contest sent a great shockwave across Europe. The same underscored how easy it was for the far right parties to come near acquiring power due to complacency in the process of democracy and decreased participation. As is emphasized by Amnesty International, in several places across Western Europe, in 2002, there has been an increase in racist attacks and emotions against Jews and Arabs and rising opposition in the Middle East. At the beginning of 1998 and in Germany, a right wing racist party prevailed with an extraordinary amount of votes. In Austria, the freedom party secured most of the posts in the cabinet. The party is an intense extreme right party, being led by Jorge Heider who has been accused of statements sympathetic to Nazis. There has been a reaction to this by the European Union, showing that the participation of Austria may be at risk (Bauböck, et al., 54). In Italy, leaders are trying to deal with the increasing number of unrecorded immigrants from Tunisia. The right wing’s reaction has been marked as being plainly racist. In 2010, the issue of racism in Italy reared its ugly head. For instance, there was a sign of violence towards African workers in the farm south of Italy, which left 70 people with injuries. This led to police evacuating more than 300 workers from the area. The workers were simple objects being exploited as fruit pickers living in conditions that were not easy. The income that they earned was meager, though their work was very strenuous (Brown, 57). Spain has also witnessed rising racial aggression. An economy that is rising attracts migrants from North African nations like Morocco. Nevertheless, the bad conditions that these immigrants have to bear with and the existing racially charged area has resulted to confrontations and frictions. In 1997, it was noted by the Human Rights Watch that UK has one of the uppermost degrees of violence and harassment that is motivated by racism in West of Europe and that the situation is becoming worse. In April 1999, London witnessed two bomb explosions in areas that are leading in ethnic majority, in a span of one week. A Nazi group was held responsible for this. In the summer of 2010 there were many riots which were inspired by racism in several areas of Northern England (Migration, Racism and European Integration, 123). For more than a decade, immigration problems have been in the UK’s headlines. The types of discussions bear a racial dimension that is clear and hostile to the Eastern Europeans, like those of Poland. Anti-immigrant rhetoric has also been a contributor of rising interest in racist political parties like the British National Party. This has also increased as British population is affected by the world financial crisis (Augoustinos, Martha, and Katherine, 211). There has also been witnessed anti immigration sentiment in Switzerland as the nation has tightened its asylum policy owing to concerns on the rising number of unlawful immigrants. Greece owns one of the worst reports in the European Union for racism against ethnic minorities. There has been a lofty Anti-immigrant emotion mostly against ethnic Albanians, who feature among the minorities. Until 1990s, it is noted by BBC that Greece had been a very homologous community. With the collapse of communism most immigrants from the east of Europe came to Greece. Albinism particularly has been targeted mostly by racist emotions (United Nations, 167). Lately Russia has also witnessed violent anti-racism waves, alongside an increase in neo-Nazism. Even if the foregoing was witnessed in 2006, the 2010 report by Amnesty International indicates that in spite of greater recognition of the issue, there are still no effective programs to take care of the issue. Australia has also a problem of racism where apartheid has been practiced also. Local Aboriginal people have suffered a lot of prejudices and lost most of their land. Previously, the infamous policy that resulted to the stolen Generation was in practice. This was the attempt that was institutionalized to stop Aboriginal children from acquiring Aboriginal culture. Aborigines are categorized as the poorest people in Australia and suffer from diseases that are much preventable. Solution In the past fifty years, following the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, there are some important developments which have been made by the international community in the fight against racial discrimination, racism, and other forms of intolerance. National and global laws have been passed and a number of worldwide human rights instruments, especially a treaty to stop racial discrimination have been implemented. There has been progress such as the defeat of apartheid in South Africa. However, the dream of a world that is free of racial bias and hatred is far from being fulfilled (Niessen, Jan and Isabelle, 111). In 1997, it was resolved by the General Assembly that a world conference against racial discrimination, racism and other related intolerance be held. This took place in Durban, South Africa, and it acted as a landmark in the effort to eliminate any form of racism. The conference cited the need for a powerful follow-up mechanism to check if the governments have delivered on the promises they made. Whereas that UN was brave enough to have such a conference, it was just but a heated challenge. Whereas all countries are good critics of others, when it comes to self-criticism and appraisal, most of them were not comfortable. For instance, Europe and United States were not in favor of discussions on slavery and reparations. Instead, they sent delegates of low level and this was an indication of how they felt about the meeting and what it was about (Thürer, Daniel and Lorenz, 91). In order to counter the problem of racism, a message has to get out that all human beings are the same inside, irrespective of their nation, or what their inherited heritage and culture are. Men and women of diverse cultural backgrounds and ethnicity have proven themselves repeatedly that their abilities are the same. This has been evident in the Olympic Games which have indicated how capable each nation is in offering a capable contender of both genders in sports competition. This shows that gender and race are not superiority or inferiority factors (Thürer, Daniel and Lorenz, 93). There is a disproof that just because somebody is a particular race or follows a particular belief, then the person is inferior, or should be isolated or hated. There are business owners, religious leaders and politicians who are of diverse races, such as African-American, Asian or Caucasian who are equally successful (Balibar, 14). When people find themselves making comparisons between beliefs, they ought not to focus on the differences, but on the similarities too. It is not only the Christian faith that is against killing, stealing. Buddhism, Confucianism and Judaism are also against such vices. In all big cities, killing is considered a crime that is punishable by law. In the same big cities of different nations, the individuals have many points of commonality such as family values, pursuit of dreams and working hard to make a living. This makes people not so diverse from one other (Bindman, 271). An individual’s skin color, their gender or their religious faith ought not to be factors of judgment or scrutiny. What is inside the person, the person’s actions and capability are what should apply. Individuals of diverse backgrounds have shown that they are worth of equality. Work Cited "European Communities: European Year against Racism." European Industrial Relations Review. (1997): 27-30. Print. "Migration, Racism and European Integration (dossier)." New Community. 2001 (2001): 1-131. Print. Augoustinos, Martha, and Katherine J. Reynolds. Understanding Prejudice, Racism, and Social Conflict. London: SAGE, 2001. Electronic source. Balibar, Etienne. "Racism and Anti-Racism." UNESCO Courier (2006): 14-16. Print. Bauböck, Rainer, Robin Cohen and Czarina Wilpert. "Migration, Racism and European Integration. I." New Community 18.1 (2001): 1-62. Print. Bindman, Geoffrey. "Europe against Racism: An Uncertain Future." A Peoples Europe: Turning a Concept into Content / Edited by Stratos V. Konstadinidis. (1999). Print. Brown, Dorothy A. "Fighting Racism in the Twenty-First Century." Washington and Lee Law Review. 61.4 (2004) 52-61. Print Niessen, Jan, and Isabelle Chopin. The Development of Legal Instruments to Combat Racism in a Diverse Europe. Leiden: M. Nijhoff Publishers, 2004. Print. Thürer, Daniel, and Lorenz Langer. "Combating Racism: A Call for Justice." International Law, Conflict and Development: the Emergence of a Holistic Approach in International Affairs: [liber Amicorum for Joseph Voyame]. (2010). Print. United Nations. "Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance." (2002). Print. Read More