Tomás Monzón May 2nd, 2008Language Arts 7th Period

The Impact of Discrimination and Prejudice on the World Today

To be politically correct, one must not be racist or discriminative to, or have a prejudice of, any social or ethnic group different than the one to which one belongs to. Nowadays, if one is racist, one is a bad person; it is a written law virtually unwritten, which states that one may not be racist or discriminative in any way, that all humans are created equal. In this day and age, this principle of humanity may as well consider humans to be as different as an apple and a pear. They are both fruits, but they taste differently, they are of different colors, etc. Thus, in a sense, not all humans are truly created equally. But that does not mean that any group of similar humans is superior over another, because we are all people. We are all inhabitants of this Earth, and debating over who is superior and who is inferior is a waste of time. We may have differences, but we are all human, and no one human is better than the next, especially because the first is white and the second is black, or because the first is German and the second is American. Before I continue with how discrimination and prejudice affect the world today, allow me to give historical examples. In the midst of one of the largest and most costly battles in the history of the world, World War II, Jews, and other minority groups, are scared. The ominous dictator of the powerful Nazi regime, Adolf Hitler, has expressed his views on society, particularly that which is living in Germany. The Germanic man with blue eyes, blond hair, and fair skin is the master. He is superior. The Aryan race shall dominate over all. And in these thoughts develop the idea that to achieve this superiority, one of the things that ought to be done is eliminate all those whom are inferior; that or force them to leave the Fatherland. In 1942, a plan to forcefully emigrate all German Jews to the island nation of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean, was developed, but plans for this were halted, and thus the Final Solution was developed: the massive, systematic extermination of all Jews and

Figure 1 The basic concept of inequality. The basic concept of discrimination.

Tomás Monzón May 2nd, 2008Language Arts 7th Period

other social or human groups within the country whom the Nazi regime and Hitler thought were inferior to the Aryan race. This is a point in history when discrimination and prejudice did their worst. The murder of six million human beings, for no apparent reason other than the abstract, perhaps even erroneous theory of superiority that a certain social or ethnic group may follow and then proceed to exert upon other groups. These Jewish folk did nothing to the Nazis; they did not fight against them, protest or speak out against them, nothing! Their sudden deaths were brought on only by prejudice that they were weak and inferior, and as a result of this, discrimination against them as a social group. It was one of the biggest mistakes in history – to have murdered six million humans whom, had they been fed regularly and allowed to live and prosper, may have contributed ever so much to the world today. Among other examples of discrimination and prejudice’s effect(s) upon the world, another major one is the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, a time period during which blacks were severely discriminated against and hated by the white man. Of course, manifestations of this particular discrimination go back as long as 700 years ago, to the days of slavery. But now to the world today. Perhaps, in this world, manifestations of discrimination and prejudice are not as severe as they may have been in the past. But we haven’t the need for a massive killing spree to remind us that the problems still exist, and that the problems still have their negative effects. As of late, many parts of the world have perhaps “matured” and learned to peacefully appreciate differences in people. But there is a small group, with hope, one that is constantly shrinking, that still discriminates against blacks, that still holds hate against the Americans, that still holds superiority over the Jews – both these problems have not ceased to exist. Some concrete examples from the 21st Century – women, even in the land of the free and the land of the equally created, are still not paid as much as men. It is a sexist form of discrimination and prejudice that attempts, perhaps, to maintain women away from the work force. Be it based on whatever it may be based, it is unfair to reward one gender more than another for their equally hard work. Also, several people still are hostile or precautious of being with people of a different skin tone, religion, or country. They, perhaps, have not matured enough to appreciate that all people are humans, no matter what. Arguments against this utopian belief are usually in regard to the actions that discriminated groups have committed in the past – the gypsies, whom have always been accused of continuous theft and trickery. Perhaps – but any human can commit a wrongdoing, then that human is simply a bad human and not a positive contributor to society – but a that is a human nonetheless. Let us become equal in all aspects, in all suburbs, in every corner in the world. Let us ensure that “Hey, mate” and “Bonjour” both mean a greeting. Let’s make sure that they don’t mean discrimination and prejudice.