The Problem of Discrimination - Essay Example

Discrimination and Redress in 21st Century Britain The problem of discrimination has its effect not only with race but also in other aspects of the society, such as religion, disability and gender. This situation concerning England makes a lot of issues at present, though Government has been taking several steps by proposing laws in favor of protecting human rights and media too has a significant role in enhancing the negative theories on discrimination. After a wide search and observation it gives us the idea that discrimination falls under the following categories as far as the 21st century is concerned. They are discrimination of race [which concerns with the treatment of multi-ethnic and multi-lingual community and the increasing number of immigrants in the English Society]. The discrimination of race had been a long term problem in England and other countries that has a considerable multi-ethnic population in it. The discrimination of gender and disabled had been there for a long time but the identification was given only in recent times. The intensity seems to have been increasing in the recent years. England is a country which has come into the shell of increased immigration, international terrorism, and race and culture problems along with a life of shared communities. The effect of discrimination has resulted in several issues ending with violence in public places and work places. One of the reason which should be considered as a strong one for this still existing discriminations is that England has a society tracing back to oldest customs. And that s why the indigenous people do not accept a minority group into their culture easily. The life of Gay men and women is found to be an illustrating one to understand the effect of discrimination on the society. The website “China Daily .com” has covered over this issue with proof of some incidents . We can also have a good knowledge on how the media had been so helpful for this gay men and women. It says “Gay men and women still encounter wide spread discrimination and violence in the streets and workplaces of Britain”…”Homosexuality has more and more socially acceptable in the past 20 years and new legislation has tried to outlaw discrimination”[ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-02/08/content_518160.htm] It also says that magazines such as Attitude and Gaydar radio station were given good preference by them. Particularly their favorite program would be of Queer as Folk, Gay Muslims, Gay Vicars etc. These were specifically telecasted in Channel 4 with the interest to develop a negative concept on discrimination and covering Gay issues with the aim of bringing to the attention of the government. As a result Criminal Justice Act 2003 favored the courts to impose punishments for those who try to and also involve in offending activities such an involving in sexual identity, so this European rule proposed a ban against Gay employers. The theory of racial discrimination has been witnessed by many minority students such as Bangladeshis, Chinese, Pakistanis, Africans and Caribbean etc. The poor financial standard could be stated as the possible reason for this. The BBC has a special report over this in recent times. Though the issue of discrimination was found to be a burning one, the achievements shown by the ethnic minority students have provided a chance to burn that issue. “Recent research has shown an unusuallu high degree of tension and conflict between white teachers and African-Caribbean pupils. There is also an evidence that teachers are more likely to have a more negative view of African-Caribbean pupils than those from other ethnic minority groups”[ Baker, Mike. BBC Education Correspondent , Educational Achievement .online. http://news.bbc.co.uk] He also adds that even though there remains such conditions the wonderful achievements shown b the minority students in the educational field has a chance to wipe away the feeling of being discriminated among them and could also give them an identity in the multi-ethnic society. One more problem is the discrimination found with disabled persons. This type of discrimination results in providing least attention to the physically disabled in the public places and particularly in the working places. Ms. Ali shares her real experience of how she was discriminated while applying for a job. She says his job application was rejected just because she is a disabled person , in spite of the reason that she had all the required qualification and experience for that job. Lot of evidences could be found out from the website http://www.drc.org.uk. The website also talks about Disability Rights Commission of the UK Government, Which says that if “direct discrimination” is caused to a disabled person in terms of comparing the disability with that of the ability of another person will be charged . The aged people in recent times have also been considered under disabled category. They too are discriminated in terms of neglect by the young and financial status. To tackle this problem the UK Government has proposed a legislation called Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and the implementation of Commission for Equality and Human Rights. Bert Massie, one of the Chair Persons of the commissions has to say the following “I very much look forward to continue to work with them as we drive forward our agenda to transform the lives of all disabled people and prepare for the hand-over to the Commission of Equality and Human Rights” [Department of Works and Pensions, 14/03/2006 source online http://learningdisabilities.org.uk] Announcing the causes of discrimination and inequality in the British society the Equality Minister Jacqui smith and Minister for the Cabinet Office David Miliband during summer 2006 added that “We can only only tackle poverty, ensure access to the best public services and enable people to make the most of their talents, whatever their background, if we have equality of opportunity and fairness for all”[ http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/ ] The UK government has been involved in manipulating many rules in favor of eradicating the discrimination from the society, because the British society shows increase in the percentage of the minority group, and they seem to have more workers from other non native people than their indigenous people. Revisions in retirement schemes , pension schemes, and equality of rights in all the walks of life are the areas of interest of the Government. Right from the time when the UK government signed a Convention on all Forms of Discrimination Against Women in April 1986 with the notion of advancement of women and gender equality, The Women and Equality Unit and the gander mainstream organization widely spread through website also, such as the following http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/equality/policy_making.htm The Government has also manipulated Criminal Justice Act 2003 through which an increased sentence could be announced on the basis of offence done to the race relations, religion , disability or sex. This was found to be effective during the analysis of certain crimes committed towards other race people including Muslims in Britain. The initiative designed for racial inequality under the Race Amendment Act such as the Commission for Racial Equality enjoys under 1999 works out very well and The Parlimentary Joint Committee on Human Rights in May 2003, the 18 task forces of the labor Government are some of them that works towards eradicating discrimination problems. The media has both roles in the scenario of discrimination in UK. The Press Complaints’ Commission {PCC}, and the National Union of Journalists {NUJ} The Forum On Discrimination [ FonD] has wonderful things to bring a complete strike out of the discrimination in UK. Their notion falls on the public to participate in direct complaints if they found any case of violence or discrimination caused by the press people to the public. They were announced by these commissions of Media to identify the media as a negative influence on the discrimination. They did not stop with this they organize meetings and invite people and students’ participation one such would be that of Perth Event 2004. In which 28 people attended at the Gateway Center, Perth on 4th of March 2004. It concentrated on women’s rights. One of the observer has to say this “I have gained a greater knowledge about how wide spread discrimination is in our society” [ http://forumondiscrimination.org.uk] On the other side there are still problems existing in some parts of the country. The following comment by Gurbux Singh, Chairman of the Commission of Racial Equality shows a deterioration in the steps taken by the Government towards discrimination . He says 15% male population is drawn from a black or Asian minority community although such communities make upto 7% of the national population figure”[ Gurbux, Singh.Race Discrimination in The 21 Century : The need for Action, http://www.bihr.org/pdfs/lecture-transcripts/lecture%20Singh.pdf] On one side it appears that Government is taking actions legally by proposing many laws against discrimination but on the other side discrimination is slowly taking its new origin in other walks of life also. Works Cited Baker, Mike. BBC Education Correspondent , Educational Achievement .online. http://news.bbc.co.uk]” [Department of Works and Pensions, 14/03/2006 source online http://learningdisabilities.org.uk] Gurbux, Singh.Race Discrimination in The 21 Century : The need for Action, http://www.bihr.org/pdfs/lecture-transcripts/lecture%20Singh.pdf] FoND, Perth Event 2004. Gateway Center, Perth, 4th March 2004. Regional Events 2006. online. http://forumondiscrimination.org.uk News Releases. Review of causes of discrimination announced. 25th February 2005. CAB 012/05 . online. http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/ Works Referred http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/equality/policy_making.htm http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-02/08/content_518160.htm http://www.drc.org.uk. Read More