Racism is a phenomenon whereby a person is discriminated against because of their skin color, race, belief, or values. There are numerous types of racism but the most prominent one is black community racism, whereby people of other races majorly white communities hate and discriminate against the black community. There have been cases of black-on-black racism like the Xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa. A person who associates with racism is called a racist. People aren't known to be racist until their action shows it but being a racist starts with the mindset of the community. When a person thinks and feels they are more superior to another person because of their skin color, are bound to act like a racist.
On like black type of racism, which is the most prominent type, words like 'Nigger or Nigga, monkey, etc have been used to shame a black person. In all this, racism didn't just start recently, dating as back as 400 years ago, when colonial countries went around the world to colonize countries or a group of people. Then slavery was introduced, where people under the colonies were transported to the mother country to work as slaves. The majority of black countries were colonized, countries like; Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Togo, Benin, etc were colonized by either British troops or French troops, while countries like Ethiopia, Liberia escaped such colonization. Black slaves were seen as lesser people and as properties. But even after the abolishing of slavery, the mindset of racism against the black community mainly has strived over the years, with even forces like the white police being also agents of racism.
Racism might never be fully eradicated because even though people don't openly discriminate against others, their actions may do so. In the case of refusing to employ a black person even though they meet the requirements for the job, would be here for a very long time. There have been lots of cases of racist acts on people, even in sports where a black player was abused racially online because of an error the player might have committed. Even when Police shoot innocent black citizens because of their skin color. In movies like Queen and Slim or ThugLife, where it explains how the Police see the black man or woman as a living threat.
Equality has been the cause of struggle in which great people like Dr. Martin Luther King jr, Malcolm X, and a host of others have tried to foster. Loads of black human rights activists have lost their lives, lives of their loved ones, and loads of properties to push the struggle. Lots of new voices have been added to the struggle now. People are beginning to take notice. In the case of a black man named George Floyd who was wrongfully killed by a white police officer, even after initially acquitting the officer of all charges, justice was later served rightfully.
On stopping racism, it has been quite a herculean task because as much as we try, we can't fully eradicate racism but we can reduce it to the barest minimum. The first thing that has been the pioneer agenda in the fight against racism is creating awareness of the dangers of racism. Different movements have been carried out to reduce the rate of racism among people.
Popular football league, the English Premier League has been a body voicing out the 'no room for racism' movement with league players mandated to take a knee before kick-off of any football match. Players have been seen in activist movements against racism, with clubs also printing 'no room for racism' on their jerseys. Stricter measures have been put in place against offenders like banning a supporter for life from attending matches at stadiums after they have been found guilty of racism. Recently, a supporter was given an actual prison sentence after he was found guilty of racially abusing a player. In this case, the rate of racism in accordance to the sport has reduced after other leagues took the incentive in including the UEFA Champions League and world football governing body FIFA also emphasizing the importance of eradicating racism. Other sports like F1, basketball (majorly NBA), American Football, etc have taken huge steps in the fight against racism.
There has also been the call for social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc, to step up security against racial comments. Inciting an example of how quickly they delete things that are against their rules like bloody images, pornographic images, and videos, or violent pictures and videos. The same kind of actions has been called to be used in combating racism. People have called for these social media platforms to delete racial messages and report racial offenders to the appropriate authority. If this is carried out, the rate at which people act racially online would reduce drastically with people knowing the risk been reported for their acts.
For racism to reduce, countries should pass anti-racism bills to the law in which an offender of racism whether Black or White is prosecuted and given hard judgment. Until racism becomes a capital offense, people would continue to be racist. By making it a capital offense with likely jail time or a hefty fine, the rate at which people act racially would reduce. As many protests have been handled in the anti-racism movement, the government of the day must also play its part in combating racism.
Yes, we can't fully eradicate racism but we can reduce it, let's not discriminate against others, the change begins with you. Your actions against others go a long way, even though they racially abuse you. Try to stay positive and good to everyone around you, you can't be everyone's friend but for your peace of mind, stay nice. Stay locked on ritrends.com for more.
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