This article is written by Prabha Dabral, IMS Unison University, Dehradun. This article deals with racial discrimination across first-world countries and the laws to eliminate it.
Table of Contents
Introduction
“We all bleed red”.
– James M. Robinson
Physically, the above saying is true but racial discrimination is not a physical disorder and it cannot be treated by making everyone wear a rose-coloured glass. Racism is much deeper than that. It is deeply rooted in the human soul. So deep that even after living as a citizen of a developed nation, one still discriminates against people on the basis of skin tones or other physical traits. Due to this discrimination, a man (as a result of his race) is dealt with less positivity and is not given equivalent opportunities as others in comparative circumstances. To focus the attention of the world on the problems of racism the United Nations (UN) designated March 21 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This day aims to remind people about the negative consequences of racism.
First-world countries or the developed countries are also called high-income countries. They generally have a per capita GDP exceeding $15,000. As per the World Factbook of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), there are a total of 31 countries in the list of developed countries as of July 2018. But being a developed nation does not free them from facing discrimination problems.
Racial discrimination – an overview
Definition
Racial discrimination concerns the unequal treatment of races. Race can be defined as the attributes and features (inherited biologically) which differentiate one group from the other. All these differences are based on a person’s ancestry, physical or cultural characteristics associated with their races.
Human beings naturally gravitate towards commonality i.e. their own kind of people. They like to treat those people with more favour with whom they have something in common. For example, having the same race, the colour of skin, hair texture, etc. But this does not give them any right to treat other people with less respect.
The problem arises when some people use this commonality as an indication to determine who is better or superior and treat the less superior group unfairly by socially avoiding them or denying them financially. This is called racism. The inferior people are criticized and suffer cruelty only because they belong to a different group of people who are not in a position of privilege or power. This unequal treatment leads to more consequences like a person not being able to enjoy his human rights or even legal rights on an equal basis because there is an unjustified distinction made in policy or law. This brings down the morale and enthusiasm of the less privileged. They lack confidence and refuse to stand up for themselves because their voices are not heard.
Effects of racial discrimination
Discrimination of any type may poison the atmosphere of trust that is needed to live peacefully in a society. It is a type of violation of the human rights of a person because discriminations have an impact on a person’s employment, housing, access to medical services, and other public services, etc.
Inferiority is one of the prominent effects of discrimination. There was an experiment called ‘the doll tests’ done in Clarendon County in 1950 to analyze the psychological effects of segregation on African American children. In the experiment, all the black children were given a variety of white dolls and black dolls. Then, they were told to describe what they thought about each doll. The majority of the black children stated the bad characteristics of the black dolls and the good characteristics of the white dolls. This proves that systematic racism has an ill effect on a child’s state of mind which ultimately affects their self-perception at a very young age. The test results of the experiment influenced the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954). It was held that racial segregation of children in public schools is unconstitutional as it affects the state of mind of children.
As per the World Values Survey, India is the second most racist country in the world. In India, the members of the Dalit community are targeted by the dominant castes. The Dalit girl’s rape case is the perfect example to justify the statement. The horrible rape and murder case in Hathras will be remembered by all where a girl was raped by her upper-class neighbours. The police locked the family of that girl in a room and took that girl’s body and did the cremation themselves. This is how the Uttar Pradesh Government handled the case. Here, the strongest section of society is not even scared of the administration because they know that they can get away with any crime done in relation to the weaker section of the society. This may soon lead India into a state of lawlessness. This is one of the consequences of increasing racism.
Types of international discrimination
Apart from race, the world has other types of discriminations too:
Xenophobia
Xeno means ‘an alien or stranger’ and phobia means ‘fear’ and the prejudice done against people from other countries is called xenophobia discrimination. People from other countries come for different reasons. For example, those people can be asylum seekers, migrants, or refugees. They suffer several outbreaks of violence like looting, killings, burning of shops and businesses, etc.
Discrimination is one of the responses that the authorities have towards the refugees and asylum seekers in many parts of the world. Many people in countries receiving refugees and asylum seekers view the situation as a crisis and enact unlawful policies. For example, there was this growing humanitarian crisis along the US-Mexico border. Thousands of desperate asylum seekers were living in deplorable conditions at the U.S. Border. As per Donald Trump, the whole asylum system is being scammed, so he wanted to bring changes in the U.S. asylum laws. He formally ended policies for asylum seekers to remain in Mexico. There were new immigration policies like metering, Migrant Protect Protocol (MPP), redefining credible fear, and the Transit Rule which was making it difficult for the people to enter the country. By making the asylum laws more strict, asylum seekers from Mexico were forced to stay there only under inhumane conditions.
This pandemic due to COVID-19 gave another reason for xenophobia to continue to rise. A large number of Mozambican migrants were returning home from South Africa because of the pandemic. The home country was concerned that cross-border movement might spread the virus. As per International Organization for Migration (IOM), treating the migrants unfairly by the home country during a crisis is not new. Migrants have always suffered in situations like this. Whether it is terrorism or disease outbreaks, the migrants are perceived as a foreigner. For example, this was the case with cholera in the 1830s, HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, and more recently with COVID-19. In the longer term, this discrimination can negatively impact the migrants’ ability to integrate into society.
Discrimination against Lesbian, gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTQI) people
Many Lesbian, gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) people feel pressured to fit the conventional idea of the society of being a male or female. Those who don’t fit the norm, are often ridiculed or even exposed to physical abuse. Although there is an increasing acceptance of these people in society, discriminations are still there. For example, they still experience harassment, violence at work, school, and social situations, being denied a job or appropriate healthcare, etc.
A state-sponsored campaign in Chechnya led to the targeting of gay men, some of whom have been abducted, tortured, and killed. Same-sex sexual activity is a crime in 70 countries and 9 countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, which can get you a death sentence. These laws hold the threat of arrest and prosecution for such acts. The existence of restrictive laws like these boost the nerve of common people to treat LGBTQI people unfairly and with less respect.
Moreover, such laws contribute to a climate of prejudice which ultimately leads to violence and deaths. For instance, In Nigeria, with the enactment of draconian legislation, mob violence against gay men came into effect. As soon as the law was passed, many people suspected of being in same-sex relationships were rounded up by the Nigerian police. The passage of the anti-propaganda laws in Russia also led to violence against these people.
Gender Discrimination
Women make up more than half of the world’s population and potential. It is not practical for their voices to go unheard at the highest level of decision-making. There is something that holds them back. Across the world, women continue to face a wide range of inequalities because of their gender even in the 21st century. Over a quarter of British women have reported being discriminated against in the workplace.
A corporate owner of the newspaper Business Environment, David Saul, has even quoted “The result shows that the employers are still discriminating against women who choose to have children as well as work. The ‘You can have it all’ generation are being failed by their employers”. Even after all this, there are not many support groups for working women in Britain. China has one of the highest gender discrimination percentages in the world. There, gender discrimination is highly sexualized. Their woman complains of not getting hired because of their physical appearance.
Females around the world are battling for good positions in government and businesses but they face difficulty in achieving them against men. There is a need to mobilize women and girls to see their values as leaders and support them in their effort so that women’s political participation and leadership percentage increase. Since 1995, the percentage of female parliamentarians globally has only increased to 25 percent. We all deserve a leader like President Kagame of Rwanda whose country had a parliamentary system consisting of 64% female leaders after the 2013 Rwanda Parliamentary elections. It is the highest of any government in the world.
First-world countries and their perception of racial discrimination
There was a model of Geopolitics, called the “three Worlds” that was raised as a way of mapping the various players in the cold war. The First World countries were those countries that were wealthier than other countries such as the United States and the nations of Western Europe and Japan. These were also the countries that aligned with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and were against the Soviet Union. The Second World countries included the nations under the control of the Soviet Union. The Third World countries consisted of all other countries which were not actively aligned with either side in the Cold War. For example, all nations of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia.
Today, the term First World countries are used to refer to those developed countries that have stable economies and have a high functioning democracy. They are considered to have a high standard of living. A country is classified to be a First World country by considering several factors like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Gross National Product (GNP) of the economy, literacy rates, life expectancy, and data from the Human Development Index (HDI).
Though developing countries are considered more likely to have instances of discrimination, it turns out that developed countries like the United States and others still suffer from constant discrimination. There are many cases of discrimination in first-world countries too. Some of them are mentioned below
Racism in Malaysia
Until 2003, there were discriminatory laws limiting access to education for Chinese students. These laws were also applied to Chinese students who were citizens of Malaysia by birth. Many other laws explicitly favour the Malays.
Racism in the United States of America
In the US, racial profiling is a well-known issue. It is a discriminatory practice that law enforcement officials do. In any suspicion of a crime, these officials target the individuals who belong to a particular race, colour, religion, or national origin.
One of the recent cases involving racial profiling is the murder of George Floyd. On 25 May 2020, a man named George Floyd (an African-American) was arrested by the police in America for using a counterfeit 20 dollar note in a grocery store. During the arrest, the officer (white) placed his knee on the neck of Floyd for 9 minutes due to which he died. This incident was captured by the public. For the petty issue, Floyd was brutally and mercilessly treated by the officer. This was not the only case that has come to light when a black citizen was murdered by the US police. The USA has a population of less than 12.3% of black people. By looking at the data of wrongful conviction, 47% of black people had been arrested and later released because they were found innocent. Because of this reason, people all over the world started protesting against it and joined the Black Lives Matter movement.
Racism in Spain
Europe is seeing an alarming growth in Xenophobia and racial hatred. However, the increase in racial violence is seen more in one of its countries called Spain. As the economy was growing, the country invites immigrants from North African countries such as Morocco. In the year 2000, a Moroccan man was arrested on suspicion of stabbing a Spanish woman to death in a local market. In response to it, hundreds of Spaniards started protesting against the immigrants from North Africa.
Racism in Australia
In 2008, a study found that in general the Australians are very welcoming for diversity but 1 in 10 Australians still hold racist views. In 2009 and 2010, there were many racist attacks against Indians. These acts resulted in lynching against the Indians in Melbourne. This instance even led the Indian Government to issue an advisory warning about the dangers of travelling to Melbourne.
Laws and racial discrimination – an interplay
To tackle this discrimination many international laws were made such as, UNESCO Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960) which prohibits discrimination in education based on race and other factors, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) obliges Australia to eliminate racial discrimination and promote understanding among all races.
An event in South Africa that occurred on 21 march in 1960 had worldwide attention. This event is also known as the Sharpeville massacre or the Sharpeville tragedy. It was the reason that the same date was declared to be the “International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination” by the UN. There was a system called Apartheid under which the rights and freedoms of the black people were denied. It made a law known as a pass law under which black South Africans were forced to carry a pass at all times. The system under this law controlled every movement of these Africans and even restricted the areas where they could work or live. So, on 21 March 1960, thousands of South Africans gathered in peaceful defiance and refused to carry passes and protested against the apartheid pass laws. As time went by, without any warning, the police opened fire on the unarmed crowd in which 69 people died.
After 6 years of the incident, the UN declared it to be an international event. Every year on March 21, an online bulletin board for young people called Voices of Youth is organized by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). On this day, young people come from different parts of the world like Jamaica, Kazakhstan, and the Philippines and post their opinions on this board on issues regarding racial discrimination and human rights. To fight racial discrimination, there are other activities too that people do on this day like, publishing articles, photo projects, and essays, etc.
Scope for recommendation
With the globalization and enactment of so many international laws against racial discrimination, there is much more way to go. There is still a requirement for laws that can alter or repeal those existing laws which propagate racial segregation. There must be a law that can guarantee assurance and solutions for the survivors of racial segregation.
Racism not only affects the person to whom it is subjected but also distorts or destroys the life of the one harbouring it. So it has a negative impact on both parties. There is an immediate need to eliminate this type of discrimination and create awareness about this issue in our society. And for this to happen, the administration is supposed to be proactive in protecting the rights of the vulnerable sections of society.
Education is one of the ways recommended for fighting racism in any country. It is essential in combating deadly stereotypes and prejudices. Schools must promote solidarity, a culture of peace and non-violence, and respect for others. Students must be provided with opportunities to discuss the issues and their responsibilities. One can fight racism by doing awareness-raising activities. For example, activities like those put in place at a local level by the International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable cities (ICCAR). ICCAR is part of a UNESCO Cities Platform that was launched on 31 October 2019 (World Cities Day). Through this platform, UNESCO proposes a more strategic vision on its interaction with the cities with the coordinated actions including all its areas of actions.
Conclusion
Racial prejudice exists in almost every nation in the world no matter how developed one is. A developed country that is considered to be on the top is not yet free from this peace-killing issue called racism. If the First World countries are experiencing racial discrimination, then the situation of the second and third world countries like India and Africa is obvious. People, no matter how much developed, still treat a particular section of society unfairly. They do not wish for them to come up and contribute to society.
Racism in any form is dangerous to society. Due to this racial separation, one race becomes prevalent over another and this leads to segregation and biases towards individuals belonging to some other race. The incidents of racism as mentioned in the article are increasing day by day due to the lack of attention given to the issue. It is an obligation upon the nation to prevent, investigate and prosecute the person who is indulging in such practices. Moreover, the citizens have to spread awareness and help the nation in eliminating this issue. The forefront work of the United Nations continues to be the elimination of racial discrimination. With so many laws and ideas, one can hope to end the suffering of the weaker sections one day.
References
- https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/matthewclair/files/clair_denis_2015.pdf
- https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/world-day-eliminate-racial-discrimination
- https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/first-world-countries
- https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/discrimination/
- https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/covid-19-un-counters-pandemic-related-hate-and-xenophobia
- https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/matthewclair/files/clair_denis_2015.pdf
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