London and Checking Out Me History - Grade 9 Essay (Power and Conflict)

Chapter 1 Term 1 1.1 Human rights and racism1 1.1.1 Social Sciences 1.1.2 HISTORY 1.1.3 Grade 9 1.1.4 HUMAN RIGHTS DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1.1.5 Module 1 1.1.6 Human Rights and Racism:A Universal Blot on Humanity 1.1.6.1 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1: 1.1.6.2 Human Rights and Racism: A Universal Blot on Humanity SOURCE A Racism is a shameful blot on the human race that has tainted every country on the Earth  it is the repulsive habit of many people to use the colour of a person's skin as a measure for rating his or her value as a human being. Up to a million people, mostly Tutsis, were exterminated in Rwanda in 1994 on account of their ethnic origin. Ethnic cleansing also was a common factor in the large number of wars fought during the last decade in what used to be Yugoslavia and has now been subdivided to form the regions of Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedo nia. Mass rape was a general occurrence in the Balkans and still is in the Congo (Kinshasa). The crudest levels of racism are revealed through slavery and during wartime. In this regard we may think of extremes ranging from the eradication of six million Jews during the Second World war on the orders of Adolf Hitler to the hardly discernible ways of practising it at the workplace and elsewhere. In South Africa, in the post-apartheid era, there is hardly a shortage of white, coloured and black racists from all levels of society. Such people often justify their adherence to their inclination by some motivation based in the past, referring to a past war or the political situation that prevailed over the past four centuries. In Zimbabwe, white farmers are driven o the land by means of thuggery because President Robert Mugabe neglected to address the issue of land reform during his twenty years in govern ment, to the detriment of all of Southern Africa. Equal numbers of black and white people are murdered in the United States, but 80% of exe 1This content is available online at Available for free at Connexions 1 2 CHAPTER 1. TERM 1 cutions following court cases since 1977 have resulted from the murder of whites. In India, the police and the judicial system are implicated in the caste system, which is referred to as concealed apartheid. More than 160 million Dalits are regularly exposed to a range of human rights abuses that are not investigated. At a conference on human rights, a Dalit man last year told of how his wife, daughter and two sons were burnt alive when mem bers of a higher Hindu caste set re to three huts. His oldest son, the rst person from their village to obtain a university degree, had also been mur dered by Hindus two years previously. In Turkey, 13 million Kurds go un recognized and any reference to them is punishable with a jail term. Gypsies are regarded as inferior and as criminals and they are subject to assault all over Europe. Twenty-ve indigenous community leaders in Honduras, in Central Ame rica, were killed over the last number of years because of their campaign for the protection of their rights. In Guate mala, indigenous groups who, during the war of the seventies and eighties, suered mass rape, amongst other indignities, are still struggling for recognition. They are not permitted to use their mother tongue during court proceedings. Australian Aborigines still suer economic prejudice, social disruption and systematic discrimination. The possibility of an Aboriginal being arrested is 22 times greater than the chance of arrest of any other Australian. The Saudi Arabian government has refused to grant recognition to the 23 000 Iraqi refugees within their borders after the Gulf War. They are conti nuously referred to as guests. Thousands of members of the Dinka tribe from the southern parts of the Sudan have been transported to the north as slaves. There the women and girls are raped and boys are forced to serve in the army. Some are compelled to take Arab names and to convert to Islam. China has been repressing the Tibetans for ve decades and men, especially those from ethnic minorities like the Ulgurs are subjected to sexual torture. Then we also have the situation in the Middle East and the tragic lack of tolerance between Jews and Palestinians. Countries like Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Japan and South Africa are singled out for their harsh action against asylum seekers and refugees. China has been repressing the Tibetans for ve decades and men, especially those from ethnic minorities like the Ulgurs are subjected to sexual torture. Then we also have the situation in the Middle East and the tragic lack of tolerance between Jews and Palestinians. Dr Desmond Tutu, former chair person of the WCC and Anglican arch bishop, has on occasion said, No one is born as a racist. Racism is taught. It is therefore possible for people to learn not to be racist. - Translated from an article in Die Burger, August 2001 by Jannie Ferreira - SOURCE B Map of the World 1.1.6.3 ACTIVITY: 1. Refer to a map of the World (SOURCE B) and an atlas and apply colour to indentify all the countries mentioned in the article as places where racism is rife (SOURCE B). 2. List examples of racism like those mentioned in the article. 3. Provide one example of something that you regard as racism in each of the following areas: Available for free at Connexions 3 PLACE EXAMPLE a. At school b. In your community c. In your country d. Among your friends Table 1.1 4. Refer to the article for help in drawing up your own denition of racism. 5. Which of the incidents mentioned in the article seem to you to be the worst violation of human rights? Explain the motivation behind your answer. 6. Think about this for a moment and then write down any other example of racism that you are able to identify in South Africa or in the world at present.