Discrimination And Racism In Modern Society - Case Study Example

Youth and Communication Studies Equality and Diversity The nature of power is such that there is no equality to speak of; hence the notion of diversity is not acknowledged nor respected. This paper takes off from my experience where I was verbally attacked due to racism. It is more reflective of the incident of discrimination that I had encountered. The incident happened on a bus with two Black girls. I'm from Somali and I'm Muslim. They discriminated against my head scarf and the fact that I was not from the country. They kept referring to me as if I was in the wrong for living in United Kingdom even though they were from the Africa, themselves. They were attacking more the fact that I was Muslim who looked and dressed differently from them. I shall refer to this incident now and then as I advance in analyzing the concept of racism, more particularly social exclusion. I will mention some two theories of power that could possibly explain my case, where the first one is basically the model against which this paper hinges on, and the other one to explain the ruler-subject set-up and its requirements. The latter one is more political than sociological, however, but it will give insights into social division and how oppression is committed. Basically, this paper will look into racism and limit it to my experience, particularly on same-race racism. I will deal with social exclusion, particularly on the issue of migrant ethnic minorities and the feeling of being looked upon as specimens including matters of dressing. Religion will necessarily be touched especially where Muslims are concerned, and the freedom to study and live where one is allowed to do so. I will then lead to what can be done, mentioning about the general finding of a youth dialogue in a Detroit experiment. Finally I will arrive at proper self-criticism as a resolution to all of these as a syndrome. Theory of social dominance. Sidanus (in Powell, 2006) forwarded a most logical explanation of power in what obtains in society. Looking at society as a group-based hierarchy, Sidanus mentioned three major divisions that determine power in some ways: age, sex, and grouping. Accordingly, older individuals dominate younger ones; males dominate females; and the more dominant group (in-group) prevails over the subordinate group. Sidanus' theory explained that the third form of division is chiefly expressed by in-group males against out-group males, defined as xenophobia and racism. It is said that for this third division, religion, nationality, ethnicity, and other differences can also serve to mark divisions in society. Accordingly, the reason egalitarianism will never win is because "Whenever the old structures are overthrown, the natural human tendency to draw lines between groups and to establish a societal pecking order kicks into action." (Sidanus. In Powell, 2006). Between xenophobia and racism, according to Stoler (1997), xenophobia is fear of foreigners, while racism, which is more encompassing in meaning, is the belief that built-in biological differences among human races determine whether one's own race is superior over the others and has the right to rule over them. (Dictionary.com, 2006). Racism takes the form of prejudice, discrimination, or subordination, and can be both open and concealed. Individual racism sometimes consists of open acts of individuals resulting in violence or destruction of property. There is also so-called same-race racism where members of one race associate behaviours or appearance of other members of their race as being in relation to another race which is regarded negatively (Stoler, 1997). A form of cultural racism can also be related to this, where members of a racial group are chastised by their members for adopting a culture perceived to be of another race. The incident I had encountered, while I and the two girls could be said to be of same-race [coming from Africa], took a different path. They apparently had expected that since we were in UK, and not Africa, we had to act differently. But since I could not, as I clung to my Muslim head scarf, I did not deserve to be there in UK. To my mind, I may be making them very obvious as Blacks, which is why they resented my head scarf, instead of letting people forget about colours. At this point, Christopher Sunami's (2006) description of "The other" is in order. He said we all tend to distance ourselves from negative traits by associating them with "The other," which is any group which we ourselves do not personally belong to. In my experience with the two Black girls, although we were all Africans, I was "The other" for remaining to be myself with my Muslim garb, and they were at the other side of the fence. In Sunami's (2006) explanation of racism, I was then at the bottom of the stratification of power and they were above me - in the way they perceived and acted out. History, he said, has shown that no group is so homogenous that it cannot divide up into two battling sub-groups. Consent theory of power. I come to the second theory of power as explained by Gene Sharp (Martin, 1989). Two key concepts in Sharp's theory of power are, first, the ruler-subject classification and, second, consent. The 'ruler' refers 'not only to chief executives but also ruling groups and all bodies in command of the State structure. All others besides the rulers are the subjects. Power supposedly resides in the person or position of a ruler or ruling body. However, power is pluralistic, residing with a variety of groups and in a diversity of locations, which Sharp calls 'loci of power'. Sharp reasons that since power does not belong solely to rulers, then it must come from somewhere else. Sharp gives the following as key sources of power: authority, human resources, skills and knowledge, intangible factors, material resources and sanctions (Sharp, 1973). The basis for these sources of the ruler's power, accordingly 'depend intimately upon the obedience and cooperation of the subjects." This can be called the consent theory of power. It is explained that without the approval of the subjects, the ruler would have little power and little basis for rule. These theories of power show hierarchies where not everyone is on the same level and there are divisions. With one ruling, the other has to be ruled. With one excluding, the other has to be excluded. With exclusion comes discrimination, and in discrimination comes oppression. In the quest for power, race, class, gender, sexuality and disability all come into play. Sidanus (In Powell, 2006) has fairly explained this in his theory of social dominance. Social exclusion. Among the shifting terms used to understand personal and public rejection rather than the all-encompassing racism is social exclusion. Kilmurray (2006) claims, social exclusion is a much more dynamic concept of the processes of social change. To understand offensive behaviour of young adults nowadays, there is noted a shift to a focus on youth transitions into adulthood rather than focusing on the supposed childhood origins of offending. According to Laub & Sampson, (2003), what occurs later may be as important, or more important, than what occurred earlier. As young people grow older, peer group and neighbourhood influences become more important, whereas direct parental supervision will become less important, according to them. Loeber et al., (1985), however, found parenting variables to be the most powerful predictor of their child's antisocial or violent behavior. The other factors that followed were childhood antisocial behaviors, criminality or antisocial behavior of family members, poor educational achievement, separation from parents, and socio-economic status. The earliest predictor, they found, and the one that was strongest overall, was a composite of parenting and family functioning measured at age 6. Negative social attitudes then can be a carry over from parents in the homes. If one's parents discriminated, expectedly the children followed the same attitude toward other social classes. Seamus Cinneide of the European Union Observatory on National Policies to Combat Social Exclusion pointed out that the three key dimensions of social exclusion include unemployment, poverty, and personal and public rejection (Combat Poverty Agency, 1993). The observatory asserted that social exclusion could be analysed in terms of the denial of social rights (EU Observatory, 1991). Migrants and ethnic minorities are among the five groups of people mentioned by the EU observatory as running a severe risk of exclusion. They include elderly people living on an inadequate income, people with physical and mental disabilities, young people without educational attainments, and women in low-income families. Expectedly, therefore, I was fair game to those safely ensconced in UK as my ways were different, although the ones discriminating me were of my colour and country of origin. At the time they verbally attacked me, we were both from different sides of the fence. Avila Kilmurray (2006) said social exclusion may not necessarily even be poverty-based. That is true is my case with the two black girls. We were all able to migrate and study in good schools and socio-economic status was not an issue. Kilmurray (2006) further said there is a diversity of experience of exclusion, depending on social perceptions of the excluded group and the attitude of the state. What is direful, she said, is when the local community confirms and supports state disapproval. This is now the so-called social exclusion process making a negative impact. If every African I met in school would act the way these two Black girls treated me, instead of welcoming or supporting me, this would exemplify an exclusion process which I may not be able to take. It would take a toll on my spirit and one day I may be packing my things and leaving as a defeated minority in terms of religion and in terms of a migrant insisting on one's way of dressing. Social exclusion, Kilmurray (2006) said, refers to the structures and processes which exclude persons and groups from their full participation in society. At stake, she said, are confidence and acceptance. I can understand then that the more one experiences discrimination, the more one tends to be deprived. I agree with her that "The good society does not allow some of its people to feel useless, superfluous and deprived." The multi-faith society. Some issues in a multi-faith society manifest themselves at the level of individual attitudinal prejudice on religious grounds which may or may not be carried through into actions of direct individual religious discrimination. On a wider scope, Weller (1999) observes that for UK alone, along the area of religion, the Church of England is much favoured over others - These include the widespread connection of Englishness and Anglicanism; the continuance of blasphemy laws which protect only Christians and, more specifically, the rites and doctrines of the Church of England; the existence of entrenched political representation for the Church of England through Bishops in the House of Lords; the privileged weighting in groups that constitute Local Education Authority Agreed Syllabus Conferences and Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education; and the institutionalized privileges and opportunities for Christian chaplaincy presence in prisons, hospitals and the armed services. By contrast, members of other religious traditions are largely excluded from this kind of access and presence (Weller, 1999). In a society of plurality, Jonathan Sacks (1991) said "there must be a continuing conversation, joined by as many voice as possible." Meanwhile, the Inter Faith Network (1991) Statement on Inter-Religious Relations argues that where criticism is offered, an invitation and an opportunity should be given to respond. I wished I had all the chances to explain my side to these two Black girls. However, it is too tiring to be explaining oneself to people -- as though they had all the right to look at others as specimens. Every country assures one of his constitutional rights to be where he is allowed to be, like travelling and studying in other places, and it is not a crime to do so. So why should I be different in this regard Youth dialogues on race and ethnicity. At this point the Detroit experiment (Chang et al., 2006) on youth converging to experience other races is in order. There was Maria who had the ability as a young child to interact with people of many races due to the diverse neighborhoods in which she was raised. As a child, Maria didn't even know what race was. She had mostly Black friends, but she befriended a few White and Hispanic kids, too. Although she was the minority at school, she never experienced any racial problems. Maria went to Detroit. In what she had heard at the Detroit experiment, Maria was especially moved by the web of oppression activity that opened her eyes to the injustices her peers faced every day. To Maria, like the many other participants, the dialogues opened up a whole new way of looking at race. She truly believes that if people are shown and taught that stereotypes are wrong, they can change their mindset. As recommended by the Inter Faith Network (1991), one must criticize himself and look at his own attitudes toward others. What is the point in trying to be comfortably different while others are disadvantaged The song of Tracy Chapman (1995) entitled "New Beginning" and sang again and again in the Detroit experiment is in order. I agree that this is a solution for equality and respect for diversity. I can begin with myself although I am one minority being disadvantaged - The world is broken into fragments and pieces. That once were joined together in a unified whole. But now too many stand alone. There's too much separation. We can resolve to come together in the new beginning . We can break the cycle. We can break the chain. We can start all over (Chapman, 1995) References Britton, L. Chatrik, B. Coles, B. Craig, G. Hylton, C. & Mumtaz, S. (2002) Missing Connexions: The career dynamics and welfare needs of black and minority ethnic young people at the margins, The Policy Press, Bristol. Chang, S., Gunderson, E., Pandit, S., Richards-Schuster, K., & Vails, P. Creating a new beginning: Youth speak out on race and ethnicity in Metropolitan Detroit. Available at: http://www.ssw.umich.edu/youthAndCommunity/pubs/SYD_Report_FINAL_WHOLE_REPORT.pdf Combat Poverty Agency, Disability, Exclusion and Poverty, Dublin, 1993 Dean, L. E. & Brown, R. 'Youth Violence'. Youth Focus. Spring 1996, Vol. 2 No. 2. 'EU Observatory on National Policies to Combat Social Exclusion,' Second Annual Report, European Commission (nGv), Brussels, 1991 Inter Faith Network for the United Kingdom (1991), 'Statement on Inter-Religious Relations in Britain,' in Discernment: A Christian Journal of Inter-Religious Encounter, Volume V, No. 2, 1991, pp.19-26. Kilmurray, A. 'Beyond the stereotypes.' Northern Ireland's first think tank. Democratic dialogue. Available at: http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/dd/report2/report2b.htm Laub, J. & Sampson, R. (2003). Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives: Delinquent Boys to Aged 70, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Loeber, R., & Schmaling, K.B. (1985). 'Empirical evidence for overt and covert patterns of antisocial conduct problems: A meta-analysis.' Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 13(2), 337-353. Martin, B. 'Gene Sharp's theory of power.' Journal of Peace Research, Vol 26. No 2, 1989, pp 213-222. Powell, A. 'Sidanius explores social division, power. Formulator of influential social theory looks at conflict.' Harvard News. May 18, 2006. Sacks, J. (1991), The Persistence of Faith: Religion, Morality and Society in a Secular Age, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London. Sharp. G. 1973. The Politics of Nonviolent Action. Porter Sargent, Boston. Stoler, A.L. (1997). 'Racial histories and their regimes of truth. Political power and social theory.' 11 (1997), 83- 206. In Wikipedia. Sunami, C. 'Racism.' Kitopedia July 31, 2006. Available at: http://kitoba.com/pedia/Racism.html 'The Good Society Considered: the economic dimension,' Journal of Law and Society, Cardiff, 1994 Weller, P. 'Faith and Justice: Issues of Justice Within Differing Faith Communities.' World Faiths Encounter, No. 22, March 1999. Read More