(Warning: Strong languages ahead)
Humans. This species has existed since the beginning of time, and during the history of mankind, many important occurrences happened that shaped the way we live our lives today. We are also known to be the smartest beings on Earth, but there are some people who just want to watch the world burn. Every men and women are born with different features, like skin colors, ethnicity and their body shapes. Alongside it, we also have different ideologies and beliefs that we adhere to. Despite the facts stated above, we, as God has proclaimed, are “created as tribes and nations so you can get to know each other.” But these days, some are considering themselves superior, and treat others with different body and facial features, as well as their religions as unworthy. This is a story about human beings being discriminated against one another.
I believe everybody knows what discrimination is, so I’ll explain it briefly. Discrimination is basically a prejudiced of, making distinction towards people with the basis of group, class and category where they perceived to be belong. Someone could get an unfair treatment based on this/her race, gender identities, religious beliefs, age, sexual orientations, disabilities and even political ideologies. The way this is done is to separate or to distinguish someone based on those factors alone, and those who perceive themselves as the superior groups often perceive themselves as the superior ones compare to others. Favoring heavily on one people group over the others can also count as an act of discrimination.
There are many forms of discrimination that exist during the course of our lives. One of the most known types of discrimination is racism, which is a belief that a specific race is deemed superior over the other. Usually, the people do this towards people with color or different facial features (African and Asian) by someone with European descent (with white skin color). During the course of human history, racism has been portrayed with many forms. During the 1950s and 1960s, People in America would associate the white people as strong, powerful and superior, while the people with darker skin tone are perceived as the descendant of slaves, even branding them as slaves themselves. Schools were separated based on the racial demography of the students inside. There is a political system known as apartheid that based on pure racial segregation by the white population in South Africa. During that time, the laws were intended to put the colored population into alienation, while at the same time allowing the whites to access some of the privileges that otherwise require special permissions if that citizen is a black or people of color (this is hardly granted by the authorities at that time. Even if it is, it typically takes long periods of time). This can also happen during wartimes. When the United States fought against the Japanese during World War 2, many Americans of Japanese descend was subjected to imprisonment just because of their racial heritage. The most extreme form of this, called “white supremacist” recognizes the white race as the superior race. Therefore any racial inclusion and other forms of inclusivity is outlawed, even people of other racial identities is killed and enslaved. Such groups with this belief are the infamous Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in the USA and the Nazi Germany.
Discrimination doesn’t limit itself to racial identities; religious identities can also be attacked, like anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. As the name suggests, one is a discrimination of people adhere to Judaism, and the other is intended to the Islamic faith. Anti-Semitism can be traced back to the time when Adolf Hitler rose to power of the Nazi Party of Germany. At that time, he viewed the Jewish citizens as “Semitic race”, while the Aryans were praised as the “master race”. He was also allegedly the mastermind behind the holocaust, an ethnic-cleansing genocide that targets Jewish-Germans. Islamophobia rose as the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, most people would brand Islam as “the terrorist’s religion” and the oppressive religion” based on the appearance of hijab-wearing women, some even got their hijabs yanked in public. The recent Islamophobic attack occurred just a few months ago, when an Australian extremist/terrorist who shall be remain nameless in this article attacked the Al Noor and Linwood Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. 51 lives were claimed as the result of this vicious attack. The attack itself forced the New Zealand government lead by Prime Minister Jacinda Adern to revise the gun control laws, which now made the use of military-style semi-automatic rifles illegal.
Sexual identities are often perceived as sitting duck (easy target) for discrimination, with most people who protest the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Community with the base of religion and morals. Some were forced to be “straighten out”, some even banished. There is a story about one church who hates the LGBT community so much, they put godhatesfags.com as the name of their official website. The Westboro Baptist Church is an “old-school Baptist” congregation in Topeka, Kansas. Aside from normal church services, these hard-lined Christians are also known to held protests and pickets, most notably holding the sign “God Hates Fags” and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”. They are also somehow racists. Evidenced by their past action of picketing an Islamic funeral. But what makes them famous is the fact that they hate the LGBT members to the core.
And these heinous acts are not only committed by normal citizens themselves to others, law enforcement officers like the police are also prone to these sickening events, especially if it involves someone with different racial or religious background. Over this past two weeks, the world is currently reeling over another episode of police brutality in America. The latest case happened in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, with the latest victim being 46-year-old African American George Floyd, who died after being pinned down by four police officers, three of them were white, while the other was of Asian descent. At the time of the incident those four were responding to a call for possible counterfeit in a convenience store where Floyd entered to buy something. He was pinned with one officer's knee restraining Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, choking him in the process. Consider America's history with their police force, it's no secret that they are more often resorted to excessive and unnecessary force, even when the detainee is unarmed and pose no threat whatsoever. More often than not, American citizens of African descent are most likely to be arrested without explanation. Before Floyd's death, another African American who was killed because of his skin color was Ahmaud Arbery. He was killed in cold blood by a former police officer and his son while jogging in Georgia. The bastard claimed that Arbery matched the description of a robber in their specific area. What disgust me the most is Arbery was brutally murdered without explanation and a chance to defend himself. Currently riots are happening across the United States, protesting the death of Floyd by the supposed "protectors". Those four "killers with badges" has since fired from the Police Force, with that one officer, Derek Chauvin, who has extensive misconduct cases prior to this one charged with second- and third-degree murder, although some would want him charged with first degree murder. To make things even spicier, Chauvin's wife filed a divorce on him. Karma is real.
These are just some of the countless discrimination cases happened around the world. And whoever does so in public, their intention is to assert dominance to other members of the society. They are taught to believe that they are the superior beings in this Earth, and anybody who is different is nothing but a spec of dust. Many of them are somehow (ignorantly) proud of what they are doing. Hell, they even made a law bill that contains pure discriminating verses, cornering one particular group. I have to say, among the more educated people, there are always some individuals with the brain of a deranged animal wreaking havoc. And I can assure you that those guys who have the guts to commit any acts of discrimination deserve a kick in the nuts and be taken into custody. Discrimination is a dick move, and those who did it are even bigger dicks. And to George Floyd, rest in peace, you beautiful and gentle soul. You are no longer suffering from horrible injustices. You say all lives matter, but after this sickening turn of events, I guess Ice-T got a point when he and his band Body Count released the song No Lives Matter, because really, when it comes to asserting dominance over other minority groups, no lives mattered for these "privileged" assholes.
No comments:
Post a Comment