Racism
Racism Must Stop
Racism is one of those issues we can talk for hours about. Everyone has their opinion about what racism means and what that is for them. People have been through racism (many times), which has a lot of impact on their lives.
Let stop right here and just take a look at what racism exactly means, accordingly to the Oxford dictionary: “Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized: a program to combat racism. The belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another: theories of racism.”
Prejudice
According to the Oxford dictionary, this means: “An unreasonable dislike of or preference for a person, group, custom, etc., especially when it is based on their race, religion, sex, etc.”
When John — a white young man at the age of 27 years old — has a conversation with his girlfriend Sarah, he says he doesn’t like his Morrocan boys at his work, because they have a dark skin color. John always gives them a mean look and walks by them with an angry face.
When Sarah walks in the park with her boyfriend John, he told her that he saw the two Morrocan boys walking through the streets with a black business suitcase in their hands yesterday after work. They believe they’re going to steal from the bank.
John: They are going to steal money from the bank, as all Morrocan are doing. Sarah: How do you know that for sure? John: Because every Morrocan is like that, just when one has done that, then every one of them is (going) to do that. Sarah: Why every Morrocan? John: Well, if one is doing that, everybody is doing that too. Sarah: I don’t understand your reasoning. I mean, if one Morrocan is stealing money from the bank, not every Morrocan will steal money from the bank. There will be good Morrocan out there too. John: I don’t believe that at all. Everyone says that all Morrocan is stealing. Just see how they look. All the same. With that look into their eyes. Just a mean look. Sarah: You’re not seeing the real person for who they are. You’re looking at them because one Morrocan stole from the bank and not everyone is stealing from the bank. And you don’t know them in real life. Maybe that person who stole money from the bank, needed the money as he ran out of his own. That won’t be a good reason, but there will be a reason for it. You will never know the real reason he did this. John: How are you so sure of this? I mean, you see these things in the headlines of the newspaper every day. Sarah: That is exactly what the news does these days. They’re having these clickbait headlines, so everybody clicks their articles and all are going about people stealing from the bank, people who are lying a bomb in the middle of the mall, people who are shooting. Not about the positive things life has to offer us. And not to mention that most of these stories are half of the truth. John: You’re really a dumb girl, who seems to be one of them. It is not going to work. Sarah: What do you mean with a dumb girl and what do you mean I’m one of them? One of the stealers, or one of those storytellers who want to have a clickbait?
This is an example of an unreasonable dislike or preference of a person and or a group.
John just dislikes this group of people because one stole money from the bank. He has a low trust issue. Sarah, on the other hand, doesn’t like racism at all.
Discrimination
According to the Oxford dictionary, this means: “The practice of treating somebody or a particular group in a society less fairly than others.”
Discrimination is a form that is common these days by spreading hate through conversations online and offline. People telling what others are telling, not thinking of the consequences for people in a particular group or as an individual. Also, people repeating each other without thinking by and for themselves. It is irritating that people don’t look at the facts and just saying about their thought, which is fin, but a lot of things must be about the facts.
In the case of Sarah and John, Sarah loves all the people’s nationality while John hates Morrocan because he read a lot of bad things about them in the news. He doesn’t trust any of them. When he passes them in the park he walks around them with a big bow.
Antagonism
According to the Oxford dictionary, this means: “Feelings of opposition and hate.”
The last few years hate has spread us widely like a virus through the world. Lots of people hate others, not like themselves. The world must look the same, the same people, the same color, the same thoughts, the same as everything. Nothing must be different, because they don’t feel the same.
Most of this happens because there was one politician who wants to close borders for people of a certain group. The hate spread through those politicians and so many falls for it. For their lies. Just to win votes. Most of it, it is politicians spreading their ideas and thought, and some of them is spreading hate towards others and about others, especially group members.
Ethnicity
According to the Oxford dictionary, this means: “The fact of belonging to a particular nation or people that share a cultural tradition.”
As said, a lot of people belong to a certain group, nation or anything like that. Those people are the most who are being picked. They look different or they have a certain habit others don’t like or aren’t the same.
Thinking about racism
When thinking about racism, I think about people who say things to humans with a color category. This will be based on small things with totally no reason or actual experience. They just dislike them. It is based on different categories, like race, age, or sex. I mean, when you see someone black, and you dislike that person just because he is black, that is a racism of race. When you hate children, it’s based on age, when you hate homosexuals, it is based on sex. But also I see a lot of comments about (mentally) disabled people. They are just people like us. Only they have a disability you can or can not see. That is also normal, just normal as people with a different color or different sexuality as well as transgenders, etc…
We speak about racism when one of those groups, or more, is downward as a group or person by other people as they don’t like them without actually knowing that person. People read things online, in newspapers. Most of us read it the way we read it instead of what actually is said. I mean, we want to read sentences we want it says in a certain way. I think we have to read things multiple times before the actual judge.
Being popular
There are other issues why people do this because they want to be liked by the popular groups. In school, in society, just anywhere in the world. Some of us try to do everything to belong with them. Even if they stand far from their values.
A lot of people think that when they are with the popular group, they are somewhat. I mean, when they belong to that group, they think they are an important person. This is not true, but they feel like they will be a failure otherwise.
I can’t think for someone else, but it might be true.
One of these things, to be popular, is being involved with any kind of racism to enclosure other people. There are external factors that push them in the direction of racism.
But it is not only talking in real life about racism, you read a lot of stories that happened to people, but also there are lots of comments on social media posts about racism.
Populism through politics
Populism is trending these days, like voting for Trump while he enclosures people from foreign countries. These days, people say it is their right to speak up their mind and it is a free country to say whatever they want. That is true, but there is something we need to be sure of. We need to be sure that populism is getting through politics these days. There are human beings discriminating against others and they are politicians too. These are politicians — at least in The Netherlands — who have no political background, start a political party that comments hateful thoughts towards people (with a foreign background). They say those people not welcome here in our country. Also, they say that those people are criminals. Only, some of them are criminals and not all of them. Those politicians say all of them are the same and dehumanize and devalued those people who did not do anything!
Racism over the world
Racism isn’t only in The Netherlands. Racism is everywhere in the world. In every country. Mostly in countries with different ethnicity.
As a human being, we have thoughts in a certain way, some are surprised, some are refreshing, some are totally inconvenient. But there are thoughts based on facts as well. And thoughts based on rules, rules are based on thoughts. These thoughts could be having an effect on the way human beings interact with each other. Mostly it is based on how politicians give insights into their opinions about racism. Those populist politics are very popular these days and are taking over the other political parties. These politicians are taking advantage of people with a low background to let them believe that what these politicians say is the truth.
It is how people are talking and acting towards this problem. And also the influences of other people in their friend’s circle and their political circle, I guess.
Raising your children about racism
When you have children, I believe you have to teach your children about racism, what racism does with other people and the group they belong to, what politicians should when it happens a lot towards a certain group and it has a lot of effects on our society.
Children need to believe in a different society and don’t exclude people that are not in their ‘group’ but embrace people with different backgrounds, as they can give us other insight of subjects and habits, or you name it whatever can be included in our society. These different sides of life are so special to embrace in each of our lives.
My thoughts about racism
I have always been taught not to exclude other people in my life, but include them as they are part of our world too. They can teach us a lot of things, habits and many more that could be a lot of value in our lives. Enclosure from foreign countries is racism in my opinion. When someone, or a group, is disclosed to other cultures I believe it is racism, you will dislike them just as a group without knowing someone’s personality.
I see racism as a problem in our society because we just judge without knowing one another or the group. I believe we shouldn’t judge people because of race or anything like that. It is discrimination.
In my opinion, we should not judge at all. Of course, we think of a certain which is different from your neighbors. That’s ok, totally fine. But when you think without knowing a person or a group. It is just based on what you read, see or hear from people you know. It is fine not to like someone, but only for its character, not for how the person looks, the sexuality, or otherwise.
Can we do anything about it?
I believe we can do anything about racism. We have to give awareness anyhow. In that way, we are thinking about it and taking action when someone says or does anything that looks like racism. We have to think before we are talking, we have to think before taking action.
I also believe that politics need to take action, having plans to give awareness and doing something when it is necessary.
This story has been published earlier on Quora.
Agnes Laurens is a writer. She writes for the local newspaper. Agnes lives in Bunnik, The Netherlands, with her husband and three daughters. Writing is — aside from playing the violin — one of her passions since childhood. She is on Twitter and Instagram.
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