Racial Discrimination
Seminar on Peace Education A Research Paper on Racial Discrimination Racism takes many forms. In general, it is a belief that a particular race or ethnicity is inferior or superior to others. Racial discrimination involves any act where a person is treated unfairly or vilified because of their race, color, descent, national or ethnic origin. Racism may take the form of stereotyping, name calling or insults, commentary in the media, speeches at public assemblies and abuse on the internet.
It can include directly or indirectly excluding people from accessing services, employment, education or sporting activities. Racism can occur systemically, as the result of policies, conditions and practices that affect a broad group of people. For example, research shows that systemic racism can result in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students experiencing poorer outcomes in education, or job applicants without Anglo-Saxon names finding it difficult to gain job interviews. Just as other forms of discrimination may relate to a number of attributes, so does the experience of racism.
For example, racism may compound the experience of discrimination of a woman, who is treated less favorably on the basis of her religion and her gender, or an older person, who is discriminated against on the basis of their skin color and their age. In its most serious manifestation, racism is demonstrated in behaviors and activities that embody race hate, abuse and violence – particularly experienced by groups who are visibly different because of their cultural or religious dress, their skin color or their physical appearance. Ultimately, racism is a tool to gain and maintain power.
It is also inextricably linked with socio-economic factors, and frequently reflects underlying inequalities in a society. The impact or racism is becoming a major problem in our society today. Racism is a system in which a group of people practice violent acts and power over others on the foundation of their skin color and racial inheritance. Despite the consequences of who discriminates, why is it done and how it is practiced and defended, what has remained true is that racism promotes power, recognition, advantages, and opportunity for some people at the expense of others.
Most people today have experienced racism in their lives. They may experience it while they are at school, in the neighborhood, shopping in the mall, dining in a restaurant, and at work. Racism takes place anywhere and everywhere. Racism may even change the way an individual may feel about themselves and marks a deep scar in their life and may take a while to heal. There are three types of racism in the workplace. First type of racism in the workplace is racial discrimination. Second type is color discrimination, and lastly the discrimination of language.
The first type of racism in the workplace is racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is present when people are treated in a different way than others who are equally situated because they are part of a particular race and unchangeable characteristics, such as physical features, native to their race. In employment it can happen when employees are treated differently than other employees equally situated because of their interracial dating or marriages, culturally oriented expression of attitudes and beliefs, and members in racially oriented groups.
An example of race discrimination is when you didn’t get a job because you were told you wouldn’t fit in to the workplace because of your race, you’ve been rejected service or treated incorrectly in a shop or hotel, or you’ve been separated out for filthy jobs because of your race. The next type of racism in workplace is color discrimination. Color discrimination is present when individuals are treated differently than others who are equally situated because of the color of their skin. This is a separately identifiable type of discrimination that can also occur in conjunction with race discrimination.
Color discrimination can also occur in the absence of race discrimination when members of the same race are treated differently because of their skin color. An example that relates to color discrimination in the workplace is the employer does not hire anyone darker but hires light-skinned or white persons of all races. Final type of racism in workplace is . Language discrimination means treating someone in a different way only because of his or her native language or further characteristics of speech.
An example of language discrimination on the job is when an employee may be subjected to language discrimination if the workplace has speak-English-only rule, especially if her primary language is not English. An employee may also be the victim of language discrimination if she is treated less favorably than other employees because she speaks English with an accent, or if she is told she does not qualify for a position because she does not speak English well enough.
But language discrimination doesn’t only happen on the job, a person may be denied access to businesses or government services because he or she does not speak English. Racial discrimination is everywhere. In the Philippines, we can say that racial discrimination is evident, especially to those who belong to a tribal minority or ethnic groups. Even the media manifested racism, most of the advertisement that can be seen in the television could let us think about racism.
Like for example, the commercial about a whitening soap or lotion, they used image models have dark complexion skin. And in order to promote the effectiveness of their products they have to show that their models are whitened by their products. So meaning having dark skin is not good to look at. Though it is just an advertisement but still it could be another form of racial discrimination among dark people. But not only those advertisements in television, but even also some of our local “teleserye” or “telenobela”.
In that, I can say that racism is prevalent in the Philippines. Racial discrimination of Filipinos doesn’t exist only within the country but also to other countries. Why do most people from Western and other rich countries discriminate Filipinos? And why do they usually think of us as Gold diggers and stuff? How inferior it is to hear that thing if you were in our part either it is not easy to take that in your part knowing that people around the world describes Filipino as a Domestic Helpers.
In the Philippine history, Spanish colony has made a big change in the country and has made contributed positive things and negative things. The friars (Spanish friars of the past settling in the Philippines) is putting into the minds of the students and of the people that they are the Superiors since they are white and the Indios (Filipino’s of before) are brown. In that thing you can already see that there is racial discrimination. One positive thing I can give upon their (the Spanish) contribution to the Philippines is Christianity in the land.
This has been the greatest thing Filipino’s at this present is proud of and has made most us religious, God-fearing, prayerful and these things but in the other hand on the negative side, Spanish made us traumatize on the things they have done like being innocent, and idiots. They kept on punishing the people of before if they won’t pay their debts. In fact, we Filipino’s are the real owner of this land and there is no need for us to be demanded on the debts rather it’s in our whim to demand those things from them since they were foreign in the land.
But look at what they did, because of power with so much guns, good swords and equipped soldiers, they controlled the land and called the Filipino’s as squatters. Now at the present times, the effects of those traumas have occurred from the cause. We ought to be blameless if we can’t improve our economy that well, but time will come we will prosper since we have a kind of land that is much fertile and with lots of resources to cater the world. People would think we are poor, yes we are poor.
Eventually, we are poor in terms of economy that is why most of us go to other lands just to be slaves and we don’t care for as long as we can feed our families after those wages and labors being given. Though the world describes Filipina’s as DH or Domestic Helpers but in our land we call them as Heroes- heroes of our family. If you get to know our culture, I know you would understand everything why we come into certain things. For as long as we live happily, that’s all it takes. The talks of the people won’t stumble us down in fact we become stronger and stronger every day.
It doesn’t mean we hate people the way they see us, well it’s normal and it’s there will and choice to hate us. We can’t stop them from it, but all I can say is that, respect is what we ask for. Respect us as humans and as a person. We cannot really avoid such discrimination, so many laws now implemented about anti-racial discrimination but still it is always there. Racism existed throughout human history. In the Philippines, last November 2011 the senate passed a bill that would prohibit and penalize racial discrimination in the workplace, educational institutions, and services.
Senate Bill 2814 also known as the Anti-Discrimination Act of 2011, according to its sponsor Sen. Loren Legarda, would provide a lasting and effective solution to discrimination in the country. Legarda said that based on the 20th Periodic report submitted by the government to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in 2008, the Philippines does not formally recognize the existence of racial discrimination in the country.
She quoted the country’s official stand in the report as saying “racial discrimination is alien to the prevailing mores and culture of the Filipino People” and that “racial discrimination has never officially or factually existed in the Philippines, neither in a systemic nor formal nor intermittent nor isolated manner” because “Filipinos have essentially the same racial and ethnic origins. ” Legarda said the government has to formally recognize the existence of racial discrimination in the country.
The bill stipulates penalties on acts of racial discrimination in employment, education, delivery of goods, facilities and services, accommodation, transportation, media, and in search and investigatory activities. Persons who “request, induce, encourage and authorize or assist others to commit acts of discrimination or profiling” would also be held liable. We need to acknowledge that discrimination exists before we can eliminate it for we cannot eradicate something that is considered a ghost by others.
We must strive to transform our society into an open-minded and sensitive community where no child is subjected to name-calling because of his distinct looks; we must build a nation where each individual’s beliefs and principles are respected and everyone is given equal opportunity to achieve his full potential as a person and as a Filipino citizen. Sources: http://www. senate. gov. ph/press_release/2011/0511_legarda2. asp http://www. philstar. com/Article. aspx? articleId=751133;publicationSubCategoryId=63 http://socyberty. com/ethnicity/racial-discrimination/#ixzz27l5k6GU6
