Racism and Ethnicity - Essay Example

Racism and Ethni The issue of racism and ethni is one for all seasons. No amount of discussions and writings will suffice the need for a comprehensive solution to the issue. The paper discusses the latest trends in racism and ethnicity. Both racism and ethnicity are very closely related. 'A Race is a population of humans distinguished from other populations based mostly on visible traits like skin color and facial features.' An Ethnic Group is usually a population with common nationality, language, religion, cultural and traditional origins.

Every now and then, these two terms assume enormous importance across the world in different contexts. Racism means the feeling of superiority of one race over all other races and the resulting feeling of dominance. While Racism has been and is still being discussed at length in the United States, thanks to its widespread prevalence in the largest democracy and a few European Countries, Ethnicity is an issue all over the world. Of late, ethnic roots of an individual have gained importance in the light of several terrorist attacks on the leading nations of the world.

There are reports on a daily basis all over the world, that detail the gruesome murders connected primarily to ethnic roots. After the September 11, 2001 attacks by a few Islamic fundamentalists, the entire perception of Muslims in the United States took a complete transformation. Muslims were attacked, mosques were burnt down, and people with physical similarities to Muslims were doubted. Soon after these attacks, followed a series of major bombings in Spain and England. The world especially the West, grew increasingly suspicious of the Muslims.

The war on Afghanistan and Iraq only resulted in developing prejudice in the minds of the Muslims and soon almost all of the Islamic World began doubting the principles of America and Europe. This mutual hatred has made the entire world sit up and take notice. The situation had arisen where you had to make a choice based on religious grounds. If you supported the West it meant you were against Islam and if you supported the alleged terrorist Islamic countries, you were a supporter of religious terrorism.

This led to several people returning back to their homelands for fear of attacks in foreign land. Europeans and Americans living in countries like Iraq and other Muslim dominated countries returned in a hurry to their country and vice versa. As always, politicians were first to seize the opportunity and played their cards to perfection. Getting asylum for people who were suspected to have had a hand in terrorist activities was easy before the bombings. When they started using the same expertise against their adopted country, in line with the changed equations, new policies had to be introduced in a hurry.

Increasing racial abuse in modern England has been another serious complaint by the multicultural population. Loss of jobs to other countries and stiff competition from the eager multicultural population has led to increased frustration levels among the English and American population. Added to this, the new terrorism threat posed by the Islam fundamentalists, has once again brought forth the issues of race and ethnicity to prominence. Remarks made by shrewd politicians didn't help improve the situation either.

Hungry politicians willing to take advantage of sensitive issues to gain political mileage have made matters worse in many instances. It is generally assumed that the Afghanistan War on Terror helped the American President boost his chances of a second term election. Taking advantage of the widespread bitter feeling based on race and ethnicity, political leaders continue to formulate policies and laws that enhance their longevity on the political radar. It is important to make a concerted effort to ensure the integration of the society based on humanitarian values rather than skin color and facial features.

References Cited. 1) Nathan Richter. "'Far Right Dream Judge' Janice Rogers Brown joins lineup of Extremist Appeals Court Nominees." 8 Aug 2003. 2 Dec 2005. < http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspxoId=11894> 2) Wikepedia. Race. 2 Dec 2005. 2 Dec 2005. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race 3) Wikepedia. Ethnicity. 2 Dec 2005. 2 Dec 2005. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnicity>. 4) Audrey Lorde. < www.uihome.uidaho.edu/default.aspx> 5) Trinity Edu. 'Race and Ethnicity.

' < http://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/race.html> 6) Scot Nakagawa. ' Race and Ethnicity'. 2 Dec 2005. < http://eserver.org/race/race-and-religious-right.html>