Discrimination

Started by Time-Immemorial1 pages

Discrimination

Who started it and why does it exist, and why will it always exist.

Discuss

On the one hand, it is human nature to be suspicious of anything that seems different to yourself.

But in my experience, I don't think that stands up to developing human rationality unless it is culturally encouraged. To give my example here and the limitations of my views- I live in an area that has little racial tension. It's not entirely white by a long way and there are significant minority communities but you would certainly call it a predominantly white area. Immigration is moderate, in part present because there is a major hospital nearby that trains and uses foreign labour (I teach English to a bunch of the nurses from Spain or Africa)

So, it is not an inner city type of area where such issues have traditionally existed so I have never grown up in a background of racial discord from my friends or relatives, so I am in no position at all to make a comment compared to someone who has grown up in an area of such tension.

But for my part, I can very comfortably say that the idea of racism or other sorts of strong discrimination never, ever occurred to me as I was growing up, and nor was it any part of thinking amongst my friends. The idea that I would treat someone differently due to, say, the colour of their skin just was not there. I am not trying to show off here; it genuinely never occurred to me think in those terms. It was something that I had to learn about via school or hearing about it in other places, and it always struck me as a strange thing, and the few friends I have who do occasionally say the odd unacceptable thing are very much in a minority and basically know it is wrong; it;s a secret shame of theirs.

Whether, left to our own natural devices, we would have caused subconscious or unintended discrimination is another and more complex area. But on a basic level, I do not think discrimination is in any way endemic to the human experience. It really only occurs in cultures that reinforce it- which is to say, rather a lot of cultures, but that being so I am very confident it can be largely eliminated over time.

I have a question for you.

Why do you think that people who don't want immigration is confused with discrimination?

Well I would say that, if we assume there are people who don't want immigration and are NOT discriminatory, they are very often drowned out by the voices of anti-immigrants who are very discriminatory indeed, so confusion would be easy there.

That makes sense.

Africans started slavery, they still practice it. Western culture ended it.

Besides completely ludicrous that is also very relevant to the subject.

Orly?

I prefer Charles de Gaulle, to be honest. Orly is a bit small.