Introduction
Racial discrimination has been going on in many countries even after the laws to curb it were introduced in the numerous countries. Racial discrimination usually locks out a group in question therefore limiting their opportunities, be it in schools or in the offices. According to sources, the act has taken greater heights whereby no one is safe any more, whether black or white.
In most cases, the blacks are at a high risk of being victimized as opposed to their white counterparts. In addition to that, Muslims are also at risk as witnessed in the 2001 September attacks that left thousands of people dead.
This paper looks into the different challenges that are posed by the vice and tries to give solutions to the same. To add on, this paper describes why the vice should be avoided since no one is superior to the other and that the fight against racial discrimination should start from one person and then spread all round.
The high rate of discrimination across the different continents does not mean that the vice cannot be controlled. In fact, the governments in the respective countries have begun enacting laws which seeks to diminish this. In general, this is the way forward since discriminating against a certain race cannot benefit anyone, instead it creates hatred among people and that should not be the case in this modernized world.
The Problem
Racial discrimination was felt during the 1991 Gulf War in Australia. Residents of the Middle Eastern origin were attacked mercilessly simply because they were associated with the Islamic faith. Worse still, the 11 September attack in the USA took another dimension whereby some women wearing hijabs were confronted on the street by an angry mob.
During that period the Islamic individuals were the main target and this was categorized as a racial discrimination assault. Sources indicated that there was an increase in incident of racial attacks immediately after the airline went down in the USA in 2001.
The attacks went on for several months as was the case during the Gulf War. Both incidences saw an alarming rate of attack on the Muslims. The cases were so dramatic that both women and children were at risk regardless of who committed the crime and during this time, racial discrimination was at its best.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) was quoted as saying that “there were reports of violence and harassment against people of Middle Eastern origin who are neither Arab nor Muslim”. This also stretched to the Sikh men who were spotted wearing turbans and other members of the Orthodothox Christian church who had Arabic script. Even with the Federal Australian Law, which terms this as an illegal act, racial discrimination still continues to manifest itself on the basis of color, race and ethic origin.
Recent events in the media have been connecting the words Arab and Muslim with terrorism which should not be the case. A survey done by some individuals indicated that the media was a site for racial discrimination and abuse of Arabs and Muslim religion.
The respondents to this survey were both Muslim and non Muslim origin. For the Muslims, such incidences have caused them panic since they cannot walk freely on the streets or even feel at home whenever they visit outside countries. Apart from the media, other channels are also used to discriminate people of other races.
Sites of racism, violence and abuse include the following; the streets, the media, and shopping malls, driving in public transport, schools, work, leisure places, governmental offices and many other areas. One wonders how, racial discrimination would occur in government offices since they are the ones who are supposed to lead by example but surprisingly, this is not the case.
In such areas, one is likely to find that an officer would choose to attend to a person of their own race as opposed to another. Worse still, such persons are made to wait in long queues as others are attended to, and this is a clear indication that Government offices are promoting this racial act.
Racial discrimination is also experienced by the black people across the American continent. For that matter, people cannot be denied opportunities simply because they were born black. Universities and other public institutions should not favor students based on their color, so the standards in such institutions should be equal to all. If that happens, people will be accorded their rightful opportunities without being favored.
To add on, racial discrimination is also famous in the health care centers where treatment is administered. A survey was conducted between African American and Latinos whereby they disclosed that they would prefer a doctor who is of their own race or ethnicity as opposed to the others. The findings were not based on the level of experience or education which could have been a little bit reasonable.
Solution
The solution to racial discrimination is by enacting a law that seeks to punish the offenders. “Black Americans, rejoice! Racial discrimination has now become illegal” This speech was quoted by a well known writer who was against this act on his people.
The statement explains that those being discriminated upon cannot have what they want unless they prove that they are the victims of discrimination. In addition, the victim should demonstrate how the act caused misery to him or her so that a proper remedy can be unleashed. Making the act illegal is the only way forward since the doers will get intimidated and avoid the vice.
Numerous jurisdictions have been initiated in form of programs which are meant to coordinate and take action on claims of race or ethnicity. The program will also include five outcomes outlining the racial procedure once it is formulated. This includes the search rates, thoroughness of the search, find rates, ratings of detention regarding the innocent and rates of the guilty one. With this, discrimination claims will be tackled easily since the doers will be punished by the law.
On the other hand, the criminal justice system has failed to protect the blacks since they are not highly regarded as their white counterparts. The only way that racial discrimination can be avoided is to treat all persons equally, and for that matter, the blacks in all regions should be protected and not treated as the criminal.
Trials in court should be judged based on the offence committed and not on the race of the guilty one since this renders the trials unfair. In addition, the courts are also advised to avoid judging the members of another race by indicating that they are more likely to be involved in crime.
Media and other means of broadcasters should avoid discriminating on certain races and religion since they are bound to instill that notion to the viewers. The only way that this can be achieved is by formulating laws which will be directed to the media houses. Muslims have been the main targets here and the vice should stop so as to avoid harming innocent civilians who are caught up in the fights and things like that.
In addition, equal standards in public universities will act as the best solution to this problem. With that, all students will gain equal opportunities since no one chose to be born in that race. Therefore, such standards should be known by all people so that they recognize when they are being discriminated against and seek intervention from the right authority.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, discrimination can be avoided easily if the public is pressured to do so since they are the main drivers of this movement.
First of all, students in schools should be taught about the negative effects of this act and how they should tolerate one another regardless of their race. If this is done, future generations will be safe from this vice since it has been inherited from our great grand parents. Also the government should enact laws that seek to provide equal opportunities even to the foreigners who reside in those countries.
As described above, the solutions to this problem have worked wonders in some parts of the US, since the victims can now report their ordeals to the relevant authorities and the offenders punished. The public should also be educated about the Islamic religion since they are the ones who jump into conclusion when this religion is mentioned.
Just like any other religion, Islam has its own belief which is not linked to terrorism as most people think. Therefore it would be wise to say that there is hope for the victims of racism since it has been seen that the authorities are working tirelessly to get to the bottom of this.