Complex simplicity
By Logan Connelly
“Cleared my throat and coughed in an elevator today and got my first ugly look from someone who clearly was afraid I had coronavirus. Because I’m petty, I decided to cough some more, and as they were leaving, I yelled “racism is more contagious.”
These two live in the same clear of COVID building, so what is this? This small action although provoked is a form of discrimination. Simple actions leading to such grand outcomes. This thought of mundane actions leading to dire consequences because of racial bias is something that I want to talk about. I will try to answer questions like does this happen often? How do I know that this is happening? What can I do to avoid this and not do it myself? Lets get started on this complex road shall we?
https://youtu.be/cMOHvXHLNeM?t=14
The creation of America and most of the world was built on the prime principles of slavery and discrimination. And these foundations are with us now and probably will be there for long time. Most White peoples don’t fully recognize that either! The foundation of discrimination creates this light blanket that covers most people without them even knowing. I have prepared and example.
You are walking to your car after spending the day at your friend’s house. It is late and it is dark in the lot that you parked your car. You take your keys out to unlock the car when you see from the lot what looks like to be an African American male in large baggy clothing approaching rather quickly. Now depending on who you are asking and their race and gender some people would say that they would be intimidated by this African man approaching. Part of this feeling is an endangerment of their life, and having a little is ok, but what isn’t is fear because of race, his race. That is an example of the biased racial foundations that America has in this world.
Further evidence that there is this subliminal racial bias that is secretly grown into people is the statistics from Yolo counties crime rate. Yolo County’s 3% black population made up 23% of the custody spots in Yolo’s Jail, clear evidence of systemic racial bias. Yolo county being based in California, that remains the sixth-most segregated of the 221 metro areas. Los Angeles County today is about 49% Hispanic; 26% white; 15% Asian according to 2019 census data. Around 2% of the population is categorized as two or more races, and less than 1% as Native American or Islander. The central challenge of such research is isolating the effect of race from other factors. For example, we know African-Americans earn less income, on average, than whites. Maybe that is evidence that employers discriminate against them. But maybe not. We also know African-Americans tend to be stuck in neighborhoods with worse schools, and perhaps that and not race directly explains the wage gap. If so, perhaps policy should focus on place rather than race
https://www.racecounts.org/
The website that I have provided further goes into what is going on in California. I recommend giving that a further look for information.
New example new location. New York city.
“In 2018, the district attorneys in Brooklyn and Manhattan laid out plans to stop prosecuting most people arrested on marijuana charges, which had historically been enforced most heavily against Black and Hispanic residents.
These policies had a drastic effect. In 2011, the total number of arrests, criminal summonses and pedestrian stops by the police reached a high point of nearly 1.5 million. But by 2018, those enforcement actions dropped more than fivefold to less than 292,700 — even as crime rates also fell”
Black New Yorkers were still nearly six times more likely to be stopped or arrested in 2018 than white New Yorkers were. And the ratio has not changed in more than a decade. Black teenagers, were nine times more likely to encounter police enforcement in 2018 than their white counterparts. That same year, Black people in their twenties were nearly eight times more likely to be stopped or arrested than whites of the same age.
Huh. Well, this isn’t good at all. The average of people discrimination on African Americans is huge and the other races as well are still at a massive problem as well as discrimination vs all other main races.
Another example another location outside of America.
In Indonesia there has been a lot of violence against the affluent Chinese population who have been blamed for economic problems that have plagued the country in recent years.
As noted by Wikipedia in an article on racism, until 2003, Malaysia enforced discriminatory laws limiting access to university education for Chinese students who are citizens by birth of Malaysia, and many other laws explicitly favoring bumiputras (Malays) remain in force.
In India, there has long been discrimination against what is considered the lowest class in Hinduism, the Dalits, or untouchables, the caste system was a way to structure inequality into the system itself. And while outlawed, the social barriers it creates is still prevalent in rural areas where most Indians live. It also features in the view of Hindu extremists and traditionalists.
At various times, there have also been tensions between different religious groups, such as Hindus and Muslims with both sides having their fair share of extremists. While this is not racism, technically — as people of all classes are of the same race — the prejudice that had come with the caste system is quite similar to what is seen with racism.
There is a way around this there is one way of dealing with this problem. Each instance has to be delt with personally in an almost face to face manner. The Year 2021 is the prime time to learn and change who we are for the better and this just by spreading the word.
“Youth standing up against racism” is the 2021 theme. It engages the public through #FightRacism, which aims to foster a global culture of tolerance, equality and anti-discrimination and calls on each and every one of us to stand up against racial prejudice and intolerant attitudes.
Young people massively showed their support at the 2020 Black Lives Matter marches, which drew millions of demonstrators worldwide. On the streets, groundswells of youth – mostly teens and twenty-somethings – came together to protest against racial injustice. On social media, they mobilized participation, calling on their peers to speak out, and to stand up for the equal rights of all.”
In 2001, the World Conference against Racism produced the most authoritative and comprehensive program for combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance: the Durban Declaration and Program of Action. In April 2009, the Durban Review Conference examined global progress made in overcoming racism and concluded that much remained to be achieved. Undoubtedly, the greatest accomplishment of the conference was the renewed international commitment to the anti-racism agenda.
All it takes is for us as people to ban together and to tell each other about what we can and what we can’t do and or say anymore. It is what we all need. Information. International Decade for People of African Descent is still in full swing and will stay that way for the next few years until 2024.
https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/index.htm
These links here make up other references that you can check out that talks about what other information on how you can learn and identify racial bias. To fully remove racial bias is no easy task. Some will say that is not even possible. I do not agree with that statement at all, all it really requires is for us as a collective human race here to teach and put aside are differences and try to achieve a global racial peace. This way there is no reason to panic when an African man approaches you the worry comes from that this man is here to rob you, not that he is black, yellow, green, purple, or whatever color that would be intimidating. We are all people, and we should all treat each other as such. Will it take perhaps take generations but I think that this can be done. I believe we can all get this done.
Sources Cited
Administrator, Vanguard. “Guest Commentary: Closing Our Eyes Will Not Address Systemic Racial Bias.” Davis Vanguard, 23 Sept. 2021, http://www.davisvanguard.org/2021/09/guest-commentary-closing-our-eyes-will-not-address-systemic-racial-bias.
Feuer, Alan. “Black New Yorkers Are Twice as Likely to Be Stopped by the Police, Data Shows.” The New York Times, 1 Dec. 2020, http://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/nyregion/nypd-arrests-race.html.
Lau, Travis Chi Wing. “On Virality, Corona or Otherwise.” S Y N A P S I S, 15 May 2020, medicalhealthhumanities.com/2020/05/15/on-virality-corona-or-otherwise.
United Nations. “International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.” United Nations, 2000, http://www.un.org/en/observances/end-racism-day.
Sprockets and Springes 