Rosella Baldelli - 31.10.2017 11:58
Hier tauschen wir unsere Ideen aus! / Here we share our ideas!
Livia Kurucz-Morvai - 06.12.2017 21:03
Here is my ideas about how we can stop racism.
How can we stop racism?
by Livia Kurucz-Morvai, Katedralskolan Växjö, Sweden
I want to start with the definition of racism. It is a prejudice, discrimination or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.
Unfortunately, we meet racism generally in the world. Racism can be if you did not get a job or did not enter a restaurant because of your appearance or background. It is also racism if you are exposed to threats or violence because you have a certain background. People can look different on the outside. However, two people who have different skin color may be more like each other than two who have the same skin color. And two people from the same place or the same family can be very different.
Now we know what racism is and we know that it is bad but there are things we can do to stop it and I thought that I want to share them with you.
1, Think about how you think and talk about others
Think about what you think, think and say about different people. Then you can understand yourself better. At the same time, you may more easily understand how racist thoughts can occur.
You may not have any particular thoughts about, for example, Swedes or anyone with a different background. Instead, you may have prejudices about politicians, older people, football players, heterosexuals, vegans or anything else? Think about why you think so.
Consider also the advantages and disadvantages you have in different situations, because of who you are.
2. Say stop if someone says racist things
It is good to say in a clear way. For example, you can say: "Stop saying so about others".
You can say otherwise if you find it difficult to say clearly and clearly. For example, you can say, "Oh, I never thought you would say" or "That does not sound so well thought out." That way you show that what the person says is not okay.
It may be smart to go together with others and say together. You can also help a teacher if racist things happen in school.
3. Learn more
It's easier to tell if you have good arguments. A good first step is to learn more about racism, and discuss with others. This makes it easier to recognize and discover racism. On the Internet there are different sites that work against racism and human rights.
4. Do something at school or at work
By joining a student council or a student council you can work against racism in school. For example, you can make sure that it is organized theme days about racism or in other ways taught in the classroom.
All schools have a mission to work against racism in school. They must have a plan for how all students can have equal rights and opportunities.
Many workplaces also have such plans. If it is not available, those who work in a workplace may require the boss to make a plan against racism.
5. Join an organization
There are many organizations working against racism and for everyone's equal value. In many places there are local organizations. In political youth federations there are also many who want to work against racism. For example, they can arrange debates or talk at schools.
Samuel Kåberg - 07.12.2017 15:17
Hier ist unser Beitrag zu diesem Thema.
Was kann man gegen Rassismus machen?
by Samuel Kåberg, Jonathan Nagy, VKS Växjö/Sweden
Wir können und wollen viel gegen Rassismus machen zum Beispiel:
- Reagiert, wenn jemand rassistische Dinge sagt.
- Fangt ein Gespräch über ein neutrales Thema an. Sprich einfach über das Wetter oder ein Buch.
- Ihr könnt auch Initiativen ergreifen, um zu versuchen, Menschen dazu zu bringen, sich gegen Fremdenfeindlichkeit zu engagieren.
Rassismus hat vielen Menschen Leid verursacht oder sogar das Leben gekostet. Deshalb sollten wir gemeinsam dagegen kämpfen.
Was denkt ihr darüber? Schreibt uns eure Vorschläge!.
Katarina Reinholdsson - 08.12.2017 14:03
This is our comment for Livia's article. In our group we think that the exampels are very good, because she mentions that we have to dare to talk back even more when it happens around us. She also brings up that you have to learn more about the subject racsim, and that's why it was so good that she wrote about it in the begining of this text. She also talks about to join an organization or a group that show that you actually care about racism. In addition we think it's an important topic, you should talk about it more and reduce the prejudice.
The comment for Samuel's and Jonathan's article. These guys also brings up good ideas. For exampel that you have to react when someone says something wrong or take initiative to talk back.
Both articles have good and similar exampels. Our thoughts about the topic, we think the school should bring up this topic more often and that the teachers should talk about it in earlier classes, the students should understand the meaning about racism.
The people who wrote the comment: Katarina Reinholdsson, Julia Karlsson, Felicia Jonsson, Otto Wiman'
Konstancja Piotrowska - 12.12.2017 19:02
My comment to Livia’s article. Her ideas are really good, I can fully agree. It’s very important to make people aware that they can stop racism in their society. You don’t have to change the whole world, but you can react when you hear your friend telling a racist joke. This is the problem I want to mention. We can’t shut our eyes because they are ”just jokes”. Those kinds of jokes make racism more acceptable and it shouldn’t be accepted at all. There are so many things that you can make fun of and not spread hatred and lack of tolerance at the same time. So, think twice before you say something that can offend someone, because words have a great power
Kamila Stovrag - 12.12.2017 23:17
Comment to Livia's article
I believe your article is very valuable and necessary. Everyone should read it. Nowadays it is significant to know something about racism. I totally agree with your statement that two people of different skin color might be more in common than people from the same family. I find your ideas about fighting with racism really convincing. I guess that the most important is to know what you think about racism indeed. You need to have clearly opinion and a knowledge about idea of discrimination other people. Moreover everyone ought to be brave enough to say "stop", when something wrong happens. Another relevant thing is attending and organising events connected with this problem. We need to tolerate each other and react when we notice some negative racist comments or behaviours. We can change the world for the better one. We have this power but we have to do it together. Does anyone want to help me?
Monika Jakubek - 13.12.2017 19:15
My comment to Livia's article.
I think that nowadays racism is apruptly inrceasing, although we talk about it more and more often. Why it is like that? I guess that first paragraph called Think about how you think and talk about others includes an answer to this question. We, as human beings, tend to just talk about others, but sometimes we aren't sensible of the the fact that our words may make someone be in a blue funk or event destroy someone's life.That's the beggining of racism phenomenon - not realising that words have a huge impact on every person. Trust me, sometimes bitting your tongue is the major factor that prevents racism from growing.
I remember one situation, which can be a great argumentation to what I wrote above. I used to have a friend Karolina (yeah, I'm talking about her in the past tense - she's not my friend anymore), who was a talkative person and, to put it briefly, she was always outspeaking. Once we went to the city with a group of friends and we decided to sit on Cracow's green belt. It was all fine until a black person sat in front of us and started to eat a sandwich. Not only did Karolina looked down on him, but also she started to say really loudly some offensive sentences. We asked her immediately: 'Why did you say it? Do you have any right to offend people around you?', and she replied: 'I just hate black people. This is my right'. We didn't even wonder about the whole situation, she simply wanted to offend him and she did it. We had no explanation for such behaviour and since then we don't keep in contact with her. I always knew that situations like this one happen, but I never thought that it would happen so close to me.
Next time when you want to say something about others - about their color of skin or about their sexual orientation - please, think. This might earnestly hurt somebody's feelings.
Thank you, Livia, for sharing this inspirational article with us!
Ilenia Pastorelli - 19.12.2017 21:08
Here you can find the article written by Leonardo Bonamente on racism and integration problems
I have a dream
by Leonardo Bonamente, LSP Assisi / Italy
According to official definitions, racism is a conception based on the biological and historical assumption that some human races exist above others. Although the tendency to discriminate the “different” by nations, cultures, lower social classes is very ancient, in a strict sense racism as the theory of the biological division of humanity into upper and lower races is a relatively recent phenomenon. Today more and more schools, cultural events, historical recurrences and all kinds of social media teach us to learn from mistakes in history to prevent repeating misfortunes.
In our society this kind of intolerance seems to be still present, especially where the feeling of hatred for others is rooted in time. The film "Detroit" has recently opened in Italy. The director Kathryn Bigelow talks about one of the most debated themes in America: racism. The film takes place in the American city of Detroit, during the race riots of 1967. It deals with the big decade of black politicization and racial segregation during those years, using brutal images. The director wants to study the psychology of the victims, the invisible result of violence on the attitude of those who suffer it and the transformation that it implies.
Starting from 1964 there has been a reduction of racial laws in the USA, which means for example an equal access to schools, public transports and public buildings. But after that, many men continued to fight against the deprivation of “black rights”, contrasting a diffuse idea of racism. One of the most memorable heroes was Martin Luther King, the American Baptist minister and "pastor" who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement. He is known for his role in the advancement of civil rights and the struggle of racial segregation, using the tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience taking inspiration from Ghandi. His speech in the city of Washington in 1963, known as "I have a dream", has changed history and in that occasion more than 200,000 people listened to the speech in which he asked for policies in support of civil, working and economic rights.
However, although more than 50 years have passed, nowadays the situation has not changed very much in America. As we can read in The Post Internazionale, in an article written on 16th August 2017 entitled “Quanto sono diffusi il razzismo e l’odio negli Stati Uniti”, there are still extremist groups that propagate hatred towards other communities.
Every year, the non-profit organization National Urban League publishes The State of Black America, a document that provides a comprehensive picture of the situation of the African American community in the United States of America. According to the 2015 figures, in the White and Black Equality Index - on a scale representing the white community with number 100 - the African-American community stands at 72.2. As for access to the labor market, the number goes down to 55.8 while the index representing social justice remains at 64. The issue of the difference of treatment between white and black citizens returned to international newspapers in August 2014 when an African-American boy was killed by the police in Ferguson, a suburb of Saint Louis, Missouri.
The American country is an evident proof of the problem of racism. Unfortunately it is also present in the European countries and we can see it through the problem of immigration.
Last October, here in Assisi, thanks to the Erasmus project my class attended several meetings with the Centro Pace, an association which tries to integrate African immigrants giving them accommodation, education and legal support. Thanks to these meetings we saw the problem of immigration through the eyes of men who had left their home and their family to try and improve their living conditions. But as we know, when immigrants arrive in a country, they are often discriminated and isolated by the locals for fear that they can steal jobs, spread diseases or being connected with criminal organizations. As a consequence of this form of racism, it becomes really hard for an immigrant to integrate and find a place in the hosting society.
I believe that for a young millennial it is normal to grow in a multicultural society, while a relationship between young people from many different countries was unthinkable in our parents' schools. I am not saying that it is easy, though, and it is not racist to admit that difficulties, misunderstandings, arguments can arise from this. However I believe that we will learn to draw lessons from the peaceful meeting with other cultures and the recognition of everybody’s rights: this is my dream.
Photo taken from Pixabay
Magdalena Frączyk - 08.01.2018 11:17
Hallo Samuel und Jonathan,
Ich stimme eurer kurzen, aber sehr informativen Äußerung, dass man auf Rassismus reagieren sollte. Wenn wir gleichgültig bleiben, beginnt dieses Verhalten sicher als akzeptabel zu gelten. Meiner Meinung nach ist es am wichtigsten, jungen Menschen dieses Problem aufzuklären und darüber in der Schule zu diskutieren. Die Unterschiede im Aussehen oder in der Kultur machen doch die Welt interessanter und vielfältig. Und wenn wir nichts dagegen tun, kann diese Eigenartigkeit in kurzer Zeit verschwinden. Die zweite Sache ist, dass diese Leute durch das rassistische Verhalten der Mitmenschen beleidigt sind und das sollte nicht sein. Wir alle haben dieselben Rechte. Wie ihr geschrieben habt, betrifft Rassismus viele Menschen. Das sollte uns motivieren, Rassismus auf alle möglichen Weisen zu bekämpfen.
Livia Kurucz-Morvai - 22.01.2018 17:54
Thank you for all positive responses! I'm so happy that others have same opinion and there are many who will stop the racism. I hope if everyone just think before they talk or do just a little thing to get up to our aim. We ought to say and do something and I believe we can do it together.
moa nicklasson - 24.01.2018 09:45
I really agree with you all and hopefully we will facillitate people to become less rasistic when we will start our next theme in our Erasmus-exchange in Budapest. The theme is Kulturvielfalt or Cultural diversity, and my hopes for this is that we will promote people to be more aware of and also more tolerant against forreign cultures. For instance we will try to teach our european classmates more about different cultures both around EU:s borders but also in the rest of our world.
Alice Hytter - 25.01.2018 17:05
This is my comment on Livia's article.
You do a very good job at expressing your thoughts about racism, making it clear from the start that you know what you’re talking about. I fully agree on everything you say. Although your sentences aren’t always well structured, you have have a very strong point with what you say; points that I stand behind and believe in.
I personally believe that it’s one’s everyday actions that can bring bigger change to the world on an individual’s level, but that perspective is completely subjective and how one chooses to act has to be that one’s own choice. As you, Livia, bring up there are many ways to counteract racism and each and every way plays an important role in the bigger perspective of beating racism. To end I would like to ask everyone who reads Livia’s article to take a few minutes and reflect how you as an individual act to counteract racism. It might be that you relate a lot to Livia’s suggestions in her article, it might be that you have another way of going against racism?