DISCRIMINATION - There are many forms or acts of discrimination like those referring to race, color or creed in general.
A few months ago I've read and saw media reports of numerous violent hate crimes against Asian -Americans, particularly Filipinos mistaken for Chinese nationals. An offshoot of these hate incidents stemmed from the spread of the Corona Virus pandemic which allegedly originated from Wuhan China. Asian looking men and women of all ages have been brutally assaulted by "crazy" Americans on the streets, stores, buildings and even on trains in broad daylight. And not a single witness would come to the aid of the victims. What's happening to America? Racism is on the rise again in the land of the FREE. Last year, several Afro-Americans were murdered in succession by white police officers. Is the most powerful nation on earth slowly slipping into social and moral decadence?
Imagine, no less than the FBI confirmed the rise of Anti-Asian hate crimes to more than 73 percent since 2020. White people made up more than 55 percent of the offenders. How can the Americans claim to be staunch protectors and defenders of civil rights? That's all bull...t so to speak! And how dare some "distinguished" American Senators accuse the Philippine government of human rights violations in its pursuit of erradicating illegal drug proliferation in our country. Don't forget how the CIA, DEA and BATF operatives conducted search and destroy raids on South American countries back in the 80's killing several high value drug lords in the process. So why pick on us Filipinos? We hate drugs as any nation would. Americans must walk the talk, otherwise, they should just shut up!
Racism, bias, bigotry and hate against the colored American populace had been prevalent since the advent of slavery during the colonial period. Racial inequality and discrimination resulted in the American Civil War. But nothing much has changed throughout all those years except by paying "lip service" to the word RACIAL EQUALITY!
Another form of discrimination is Sexism or prejudice especially against women and girls. This inequality among the female gender is found in patriarchal societies such as those Arab countries in the Middle East where man remains supreme. In general, they find women to be weaker than men. Women are relegated to home chores and giving men sex. Majority of the women barely gets a college education and are even denied the privilege of getting a driver's license or even the right to suffrage. I'd say their culture is deep seated in their religion. Mind you, this runs way back to the time of Abraham. Unbelievable! However, there are some Middle Eastern countries that have adopted a more liberal stand for their women folk. Most countries in Asia on the other hand, practice gender equality in this day and age. That includes China by the way!
Speaking of China, another form of discrimination is called Ethnic Hatred. By this, I refer to the harsh discrimination and oppression towards the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, China, the Tibetans and Mongolians. To a further extent there is what we call Ethnic Cleansing. Such as what happened during the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. Remember the film "The Killing Fields"? Same goes for those Balkan countries that saw the disolution of Yugoslavia in the 90's. Ethnic cleansing is the systematic and forced extermination of ethnic cultural minorities and religious groups from a given area in order to achieve an ethnically homogeneous region. This type of discrimination is a crime against humanity under the Genocide Convention. The world's most persecuted minority is the Rohingya people who were denied of their Burmese citizenship back in 1982. They were deprived to receive education, the right to travel and the right to receive essential services and basic needs. The Rohingya were the descendants of Arab traders who settled in the Burmese region dating back to the 15th century. Burma is now known as Myanmar. In October of 2016, Myanmar declared the Rohingya as illegal immigrants which led to the persecution and genocide of thousands of Rohingyas. The survivors fled to neighboring Bangladesh. Ethnic cleansing involves the total destruction not only of lives but also all the physical vestiges such as houses, temples of worship, cemeteries and monuments of the targeted minority.
Another type of prejudice I can think of is called Religious Discrimination. When treating an ethnic group with bias and indifference, this can lead to religious persecution. In its most extreme form,this can result in the brutal repression and mass execution of a group of people because of the "heretical" beliefs. Let's not forget how thousands of Jews were sent to their death in gas chambers by the cruel Nazi regime during WW2 because of their Semitic religion. India and Pakistan used to be a single nation. But because of religion, violence between Indian Hindus and Pakistani Muslims led to their split. In Pakistan, non Muslims cannot run for any public office even if they are legitimate citizens. Also take the case of China. All kinds of religions are banned with the exception of Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Protestantism and Islam. Even in societies where freedom of religion is a constitutional right, somehow somewhere religious discrimination still do exist in mild forms. Violence of radical or fanatical Muslims against Christians currently exist in Middle Eastern countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Morocco, to name a few. Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims slug at each other almost every day of the year. In the Philippines, freedom of religion is a constitutional right. Very very rare cases of religious discrimination are recorded or evident except for a few fanatical and radical Muslim terrorist groups like the Abu Sayyaf or Jemaah Islamiyah of Mindanao who are allied with ISIS or Al-Qaeda Extremist organizations. But membership of these terror groups have significally dwindled due to the laudable peace efforts being done by the government and the rapid modernization of the Philippine Armed Forces.
Finally, I would like to end my personal views on Discrimination in its broadest sense, with this wonderful quotation of Mouloud Benzadi. He is a famous and prolific Algerian writer and active member of the Algerian and Arab Writers' Union. And I quote,
"We may belong to different races and have different colours. We may speak different languages and follow different religions. We may have different perceptions and live in different realities. But we all live in one world and belong to a single humanity."
Peace and Goodwill be upon you all! Shalom!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A woman of few words. Cryptocurrency user since 2015.
discrimination is one of the most common forms of poor human social behavior. Sometimes it seems to me that we as a species are so structured that our whole life is determined by some divisions that inevitably lead to discrimination if given the opportunity.