Discrimination: A Common Reality in Human Life - Essay Sample

Introduction

There is a high probability that everyone has faced or experienced discrimination at one point in their lives; this is because discrimination takes various forms, some of which we may notice. Discrimination plays a huge role in degrading human life and thus; there is no ideal way of expressing bias. Causes of discrimination include age, sex, race, religion, and even disability; the factors are suitable in determining discrimination because everyone falls into at least some of the categories mentioned. Bhugra (2016), states that the drivers of bias include the lack of knowledge on the victims that they are being discriminated against. Furthermore, the perpetrators may not be aware that their actions comprise discrimination. The social vice is evident in government places, schools, churches, and other public areas. It may be embedded in the system or be an outward expression of personal feelings. Racial discrimination is one of the most common vices, it has taken a big toll on the globe, even though much has been done to bring it down, it is evident that there is still a long way to go to completely eradicate it. In the text, more in-depth analysis on discrimination as a social vice is done, focusing on the root causes, possible solutions and the challenges faced while trying to eradicate it.

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Causes of Discrimination

Ignorance is a major cause of discrimination across the globe. It is expressed in various forms such as lack of basic understanding regarding people's culture and ethnicities. Whenever someone is confronted with what is unknown, there is a level of fear that they have to deal with. For instance, they may outwardly express their feelings with a statement like; I have never seen someone like this, even though this may seem like a genuine statement. It may be a form of discrimination towards the person whom it is directed towards (Bhugra, 2016). Ignorance may also bring about jealousy, therefore, resulting in discrimination. Many people are not aware of their selves and their capabilities or the privileges that they hold. Moreover, they fail to understand that humans have their abilities and a limit to what one can do. For instance, people assume the foreigners moving into their nations will take over jobs and other strategic resources. With such a mentality, they may express jealousy and feelings of insecurity over time (Cusack, Jack & Kavanagh, 2013). Natives may be disturbed that immigrants will take over finances, jeopardize the safety and reduce their privileges bringing about jealousy and discriminations. The United States is an ideal example where Mexican immigrants are seen as a threat to Americans even though most of them don't have the privileges that Americans have. Ignorance has been perceived as the biggest cause of discrimination across the globe.

Solution to Discrimination

Acknowledge that discrimination exists is an essential step to ending it. For long, the issue has been hidden below the rags at places of work, schools, and other public places. Coming out in the open to discuss it will go a long way in getting solutions. An open system that allows the employees the face the boss or immediate supervisor to discuss the issue will enable them to create a free workplace where they can work. When an issue is detected, it can be handled internally whereby the parties involved will be satisfied with the suggested solution. In extreme cases, the supervisor may opt to terminate the employees responsible for the discrimination acts to provide a lesson to other employees (Bhugra, 2016). Essentially, such lessons have been essential in bringing down the discrimination rates at places of work. Besides coming out to discuss it, stating a legal complaint will raise awareness on the prevalence of the issue in various institutions (Charles & Guryan, 2011). Assume that the administrators of a school or any other organization have been discriminating against people visiting the premises, there may exist solid evidence on the same, and this can be used to bring forth a solid case. Acknowledging requires bold steps and can be enabled by people who are ready to take risks.

Fighting against ignorance is a great tool to end discrimination. The first step in the fight is education regarding the various manifestations of the social vice. People should be made aware that things like biased comments, rules that enhance biasness and even clauses should be noted as causes of discrimination (Cusack, Jack & Kavanagh, 2013). For instance, there may be a clause that makes it mandatory to work on Sundays. Even though many workers may view it as normal and part of the organizational policies, this can be taken as discrimination against Christina since it prevents them from performing their religious activities. Reducing the stereotypes that are common will help reduce the ignorance prevalence (Kattari, Walls, & Speer, 2017). There are some common stereotypes that exist against people of other races, religions, and genders. For instance, Muslims are typically stereotyped as a terrorist while blacks are shown to be drug dealers and criminals. With such a high level of ignorance enthused by stereotyping, there is a need for various institutions to work hard to wipe out the image. Traditionally, stereotyping has been fuelled by ignorance. As a final thought, taking individual steps to reduce stereotyping will play a big role in reducing the vice.

Challenges to the Solutions

Lack of willpower among the decision-makers remains to be the biggest challenge. People in authority can pass the required legislation or push for legislation that will see there are policies to protect people of all backgrounds (Chandra, Frakes, & Malani, 2017). For instance, some laws protect people from being discriminated against at their places of work. In schools and other learning institutions, some laws protect students and teachers from any kind of discrimination. Enacting laws that guide other areas where discrimination is likely to be experienced will be essential in pruning the vice (Chandra, Frakes, & Malani, 2017). For instance, laws may be enacted to punish police who are discriminatory when doing their work. Another issue is of lack of willpower to educate the masses. Many people may not know that what they are facing is discrimination; an employer may also not know that rules forcing people to be at the place of work on religious days amounts to discrimination. In such cases, there is a need to enhance the understanding of what amounts to discrimination to help end the vice. The influence of decision-makers will be essential in helping this come into being.

Conclusion

Discrimination as a social vice is present in our society; we have seen or experienced it in one way or another. However, the bottom line remains on whether people have a deep understanding of discrimination as a social vice. Moreover, the question of whether the people being discriminated against understand the root causes remains a mystery. Even though it is evident that the vice is a common occurrence, the proposed solutions and challenges that are encountered can be essential in helping eradicate or reduce the vice occurrence. As a measure to bring down the rate of the vice occurrence, there is a need to have mass awareness about the prevalence of the same, running of campaigns portraying discrimination in a negative way will be an essential tool to help curb the vice.

References

Bhugra, D. (2016). Social discrimination and social justice. International Review of Psychiatry, 28(4), 336-341. doi:10.1080/09540261.2016.1210359

Chandra, A., Frakes, M., & Malani, A. (2017). Challenges To Reducing Discrimination And Health Inequity Through Existing Civil Rights Laws. Health Affairs, 36(6), 1041-1047. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1091

Cusack, M., Jack, G., & Kavanagh, D. (2013). Dancing with discrimination: managing stigma and identity. Culture and Organization, 9(4), 295-310. doi:10.1080/1475955042000195409

Kattari, S. K., Walls, N. E., & Speer, S. R. (2017). Differences in Experiences of Discrimination in Accessing Social Services Among Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Individuals by (Dis)Ability. Journal of Social Work in Disability & Rehabilitation, 16(2), 116-140. doi:10.1080/1536710x.2017.1299661

Charles, K. K., & Guryan, J. (2011). Studying Discrimination: Fundamental Challenges and Recent Progress. doi:10.3386/w17156