Racism and xenophobia are serious problem which most people have experienced personally. Maybe someone you know has felt afraid of others who are different from them, without being able to explain exactly why. Perhaps you have a friend of a different race who has been denied career opportunities. Or perhaps you have heard someone say something racist to you or to someone else. But what did you do in the situations? Did you let it go, or did you say something? Only if we all speak up and bring attention to cases of racism and xenophobia will the problem start to disappear. If indeed people are taught and not born with attitude that are racist or xenophobic, it is critically important to challenge many examples of these forms of discrimination that we are exposed to. First of all, this is true because children learn by example and by imitation, and they are very perceptive picking up on things the adults around them may not even be aware of. If children do not hear racist talk, they will not repeat it. Furthermore, if adults are made to answer for any resist statements they make, perhaps they will think twice about expressing them, and if they stop expressing them, this could break the cycle and prevent children from learning that it is an acceptable behaviour. Even in the increasingly frequent but unfortunate cases, where people from relatively homogeneous societies are just naturally afraid of persons of different ethnic or cultural descent that they inevitably come in contact with in the new global village, it would be beneficial to challenge any expressions of racism and xenophobia. The truth is, that whatever people feel, if they learn that certain opinions are socially unacceptable, they will not ear them publicly. This is an important small step. It will reduce tension in societies and allow for more positive interactions between individuals of different races and cultures, which will in turn bring familiarty and lessen the fear of unknown. I believe that people can modify their nature, although it may be difficult. So, whether racism and xenophobia are thought or are an inherent part of our nature, I believe that as long as awareness is increased and a social atmosphere that does not to condone them is maintained, gradually these destructive attitude will be diminshed.
Racism
and
xenophobia
are serious problem which most
people
have experienced
personally
. Maybe someone you know has felt afraid of others who are
different
from them, without being able to
explain
exactly why. Perhaps you have a friend of a
different
race who has
been denied
career opportunities. Or perhaps you have heard someone say something racist to you or to someone else.
But
what did you do in the situations? Did you
let
it go, or did you say something?
Only
if we all speak up and bring attention to cases of
racism
and
xenophobia
will the problem
start
to disappear. If
indeed
people
are taught
and not born with attitude that are racist or xenophobic, it is
critically
important
to challenge
many
examples of these forms of discrimination that we
are exposed
to.
First of all
, this is true
because
children learn by example and by imitation, and they are
very
perceptive picking up on things
the adults around them
may not even be aware of. If children do not hear racist talk, they will not repeat it.
Furthermore
, if adults
are made
to answer for any resist statements they
make
, perhaps they will
think
twice about expressing them, and if they
stop
expressing them, this could break the cycle and
prevent
children from learning that it is an acceptable
behaviour
. Even in the
increasingly
frequent
but
unfortunate cases, where
people
from
relatively
homogeneous societies are
just
naturally
afraid of persons of
different
ethnic or cultural descent that they
inevitably
come
in contact with in the new global village, it would be beneficial to challenge any expressions of
racism
and
xenophobia
. The truth is, that whatever
people
feel, if they learn that certain opinions are
socially
unacceptable, they
will not ear
them
publicly
. This is an
important
small
step. It will
reduce
tension in societies and
allow
for more
positive
interactions between individuals of
different
races and cultures, which will in turn bring
familiarty
and lessen the fear of unknown. I believe that
people
can modify their nature, although it may be difficult.
So
, whether
racism
and
xenophobia
are
thought
or are an inherent part of our nature, I believe that as long as awareness
is increased
and a social atmosphere that does not to condone them
is maintained
,
gradually
these destructive attitude will be
diminshed
.