„Throwing away prejudices of racism“ –
Lithuanian team essay
Sexism, racism, homophobia, prejudices
against age, religion, class are only a few ghastly examples that we can notice
while watching TV or reading the news on the internet. Despite the fact that we live, or so we
believe, in a modern and tolerant society, these instances of discrimination are
not rare enough for us to say „That can‘t be. It‘s impossible“. News reports or
articles about racism do not really shock or surpise us anymore. We know
perfectly well what to expect from a news report when its topic is racial
intolerance. Could it be that we interpret and treat them as happening
somewhere out there, far far away from our perfect cities and tolerant
communities?
Every single one of us
see ourselves as a perfect person, who is tolerant and accepting of everyone.
Nevertheless, every city has a district or two where „those people“ live. „Those“
who are not like us. Who, because of their race, religion, culture are strange,
weird and scary. Why is that? What makes us treat one group of people
differently from another group? Is this so because of the fact that the
culture, the skin color, the religion of those people is different from our
own? If this is true, then why is it so that we have real life examples of
people from various racial backgrounds getting along quite harmoniously?
Does the answer lie in
the issues connected to political, economic or cultural problems? To some
extent this can be considered as true. Yet there is one commonality that
overshadows and encompasses all of these points of view. Such forms of hatred
as racism are always driven by fear. Namely, the fear of the unknown, the
other, the stranger. As C. N. Bovee once said „We fear things in proportion to
our ignorance of them.“ Thus it can be said that ignorance is precisely the agent
that incites racism or any other form of discrimination into the hearts of man.
The only positive
outcome that can stem from such a situation can be influenced only by educating
people. Such education does not come from textbooks nor from any other source.
In order to abolish racism one has to deal with it eye to eye. A man who hates or
discriminates against another man because of some stories or superstitions has
to meet that person and to see that he or she is a human like any other on this
planet. He is a person like you and me, with his or her dreams, hopes and plans
for the future. Only by getting to know the unknown can man grow as a person. Seeing
the pain or the happiness of another human-being cannot leave any person
untouched by the enormity of these feelings. It is easy to treat a person as an
object or a thing inferior to oneself
when one isn‘t standing next to him. Yet it is quite difficult to do
this when you yourself are looking into the eyes of that person. It is
worthwhile quoting the famous comedian Groucho Marx here: „Who are you going
to believe, me or your own eyes?“ Only a foolish person can believe the slanders
about another man when he himself is witnessing the complete opposite.
So let us all cast away
all the superstitions, slanders, lies about other races. The best way to get
rid of unexplained hatred towards others is to go and have a chat with them.
This first person experience will surely change the way you perceive the
person. And we must never forget that every person is different and special in
his or her own kind of way. Thus meeting a couple of „bad apples“ does not
necessarily mean that the entire population is wicked. If that would be the
case, then what could we say about humans in general, having in mind WWI, WWII.
Never judge a book by
its cover, because within its pages you might find peace.
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