Moving away from hatred Essay Example for Free

Moving away from hatred Essay â€Å"On Saturday in the Serbian Town of Cacak (which is located in the Western-Central part of the country), fans of the local team Borac Cacak were conducting racial chants and wearing KKK attire aimed at one Mike Tamwanera. Usually when you have fans chanting or hissing at a player he usually plays for another team, but Tamwanera who is from Zimbabwe, plays for Borac Cacak. While arrests were made by Cacak police and the club has stated that these fans will be banned from future games, the act itself is extremely disgraceful. It is extremely disappointing to see Serbian people do this type of action The problem lies in the fact that these small group of fans who donned the garments known for extreme racism do not realize that the Ku Klux Klan have also been known to hate all minority groups including Slavic people who we Serbs are a part of. By wearing the white-cloth attire, these fans are showing that they support the hate done to their own people; its the same if Serbs wore Nazi uniforms and paraded around the town (Kross. 2006)† Looking back at these incidents, I am made to reflect on the acts of racism that I have seen and heard of here in America. One case here in America that has definitely struck a bone in me is the Jena Six (6) incident. As we know this is with regard to six (6) black teenagers beating up a white teenager and being charged with attempted murder and conspiracy. Looking at this incident, I am led to believe that the root of the case is rather complicated and is in fact rooted in decades of violence and aggression between Black and White Americans, which has led to a vicious cycle between the two. As Todd Lewan wrote in his article, â€Å"Clearly, something bad occurred in Jena, population 2,971, an old sawmill town in LaSalle Parish that, once upon a time, was Ku Klux Klan country. And, as most white and black residents readily agree, there is no good reason for embracing what unfolded here. † However, digging deeper into the story we see that the issue at heart is basically spawn by misunderstanding and hatred. Hatred that is drawn from differences we refuse to see beyond as human beings. This coupled by the fact that numerous injustices have been made in the past only add up to the existing problem. Racial acts are no longer the only scope of the norms and mores groups become socialized into but aggression and violence become a legitimate way by, which such groups express themselves. Looking back at the incident it is history repeating itself as Black Americans get back at White Americans for disputes and vice versa. In addition to this, the fact that racism is a group privilege as pointed out earlier only compounds the matter. This is since it bolsters the behavior and even perpetuates violent and aggressive acts such as the Jena 6 incident and even the beating of the gypsies in Europe. Moreover, the group does not see that such acts are wrong. Certain acts to them are merely a way by which they can express themselves and the like. Yet to think that even such actions are spawned from misunderstandings or inaccurate interpretations leads me to think that so much pain and suffering can actually be avoided if we simply open our minds. Taking into account the Jena Six incident as taken from Newsweek: â€Å"Decades of suppressed racial hostility spilled forth at the appearance of those swaying nooses. Word spread quickly that day; before long, scores of black students congregated under the tree. As black students, we didnt call it a protest, says Robert Bailey Jr. , one of the Jena Six. We just called it standing up for ourselves. School officials convened an assembly in early September, where local District Attorney Reed Walters appeared, flanked by police officers. I can be your best friend or your worst enemy, he told students, warning them to settle down. With a stroke of my pen, I can make your lives disappear. A visit to the school, along with the fact that the three white boys who admitted to hanging the nooses were only dealt a few days suspension, further inflamed the African-American community. It felt like they were saying, We can do what we want to those ns, says Marcus Jones, Bells father. Things reached a boil later in the semester. During the Thanksgiving holiday, someone set fire to the school, reducing the main academic wing to rubble (no one has been arrested, and though a link between what was ruled an arson and the racial discord hasnt been proved, many suspect there is one). The following day, Bailey was punched and beaten with beer bottles when he tried to enter a mostly white party in town. The white kid who threw the first punch was later charged with simple battery and given probation†¦ (Flores and Kovach. 2007). † We can see that the escalation to the whole incident could have been avoided if it was approached with more understanding from both races. It should not have been about White or Black but rather of what was socially and morally right or wrong. We have to realize that racism not only is morally wring but is also legally wrong. According to UN International Conventions, the term racial discrimination shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life. Although it is defined and seen in a sociological standpoint as being a group privilege and can in a certain sense cause a debate as to whether or not such behavior exhibited by a group is deviant; the fact remains that it has moral, ethical and legal ramifications. Racism, be it in the form of a racial slur or an actual physical act (whether in retaliation or not) is just plain wrong. Yes there have been numerous indignations between various races in the past but we have to learn to bridge beyond differences in ethnicity and culture. Perhaps the next step in a progressive and linear development in achieving true equality is for us to start relearning the concepts we have learned. To unlearn what it is to hate and to start seeing others as being our equal. Of course this is easier said than done. In his article entitled â€Å"Racism in America: What has to happen for black and white to unite? † Jeff Hickman sites that a greater problem or obstacle to hurdle in overcoming racism is ignorance. In his words, â€Å"As we all know it takes only a very short time to teach a person to hate, and yet you can spend a lifetime in vain attempting to repair the misguided web of lies racism encompasses†¦One of the most difficult tasks in life to accomplish is to overcome the core fundamental principles that you are taught as a child. Parents, Grandparents, and role models, yield an enormous amount of influence in the moral development of a child (Hickman. 2007). † Taking this into account we can see that norms and mores carried from one racist group can actually be passed on to the next generation. Furthermore, studies have also shown the relationship of peers and role models in reinforcing a behavior. Such is the contention of Alfred Bandura, a psychologist who formulated the Social Learning Theory. According to his theory we learn basic skills and behaviors by observing what others or rather role models do. Given the case of racism the more alarming aspect is that violence and aggression are also passed on and reinforced. Rick Van Acker â€Å"the development of chronic aggressive and violent behavior is complex and appears to involve the interplay of multiple risk factors†¦factors related to family functioning, peer associations, and the community in which the child resides, however, probably account for the greatest variation in the learning and expression of aggression and violence† (pars. 3). Hence we have a vicious cycle that we must break. As they say, hate breeds hate. Going back to what Joseph Addison said, â€Å"If men would consider not so much where they differ, as wherein they agree, there would be far less of uncharitableness and angry feeling in the world. † This is something we must all take into heart. The problem raced by racism and the ignorance it has bred is not unique to White Americans, Black Americans, Serbians or what ever other race. The connotations we have and the diversity between races should not be viewed as taboo or dreadful. Instead we should learn to respect the diversity we have cross culturally and see it as part of what makes us beautiful. Moreover, we have to see beyond the differences and realize that we are all the same†¦that we are all human beings. Racism has always been both an instrument of discrimination and a tool of exploitation. But it manifests itself as a cultural phenomenon, susceptible to cultural solutions, such as multicultural education and the promotion of ethnic identities (Sivanandan pars. 1). It is not a hopeless scenario. We can change it through continuous education and culture sensitivity. We must remember that in the end, the world we live in does not shape our society but we as human beings are the ones that create, maintain and change the very fabric of the society we live in. References Fraser, Angus. The Peoples of Europe: The Gypsies. Blackwell Publishing P, 1995. Hickman, Jeff.â€Å"Racism in America: What has to happen for white and black to unite? † The People’s Media Company. 1 May 2007. 25 September 2007. http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/221501/racism_in_america_what_has_to_hap pen. html? page=3 UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. 7 March 1966. New York. Kovach, Gretel C. and Campo-Flores, Arian. â€Å"A Town In Turmoil. † Newsweek Society. (20-27 August 2007 Issue). 25 September 2007. http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/20218937/site/newsweek/page/0/ Kross, Final. â€Å"Racism in Serbia and Kezman. † Fox Sports. 18 October 2006. 25 September 2007. http://community. foxsports. com/blogs/FinalKross/2006/10/18/Racism_in_Serbia_and_Kezman Lewan, Todd. â€Å"Black and white becomes gray in La. Town. † The Associated Press. 2007. 24 September 2007. http://news. yahoo. com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_re_us/a_place_called_jena Race and Ethnicity. 31 March 2003. Elaine Leeder and US2 Design. 24 September 2007. http://www. sonoma. edu/users/l/leeder/index. htm Racism. 25 September 2007. Wkimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 September 2007. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Racism Shah, Anup. â€Å"Racism. † Global Issues. 20 December 2004. 24 September 2007. http://www. globalissues. org/HumanRights/Racism. asp#RacismagainstGypsies Sivanandan, A. â€Å"Poverty is the New Black. † The Guardian Unlimited. 17 August 2001. 25 September 2007. http://www. guardian. co. uk/globalisation/story/0,7369,538225,00. html World of Quotes. com. 2007. 2003 – 2006 Roy Russo. 24 September 2007. http://www. worldofquotes. com/topic/Difference/1/index. html. Van Acker, Rick. â€Å"Aggression and Violence: Factors Related to Their Development. † T/TAC. 1 May 1997. 25 September 2007. http://www. wm. edu/ttac/articles/challenging/aggression. html.