Human Rights: Racism & Discrimination Racism & Discrimination by Stephanie 1. What are the main issues for this topic? Racism and discrimination have been and continue to be very destructive forces in North, Central and South America. Each country has a distinct issues relating to these forms of prejudices. Some countries have begun to deal with their past while others continue to battle with their current situations. Racism and discrimination are most the cause of war and conflict. 2. What are some regional examples of these issues? Racial and ethnic distribution varies immensely from one region in Canada to the next. Therefore issues affecting one part of Canada aren’t necessarily pressing issues in other parts of the country. Canada is known for it’s multiculturalism and at all chances we attempt to celebrate this but we aren’t always successful. Two issues that most Canadians are familiar with are the plights of First Nations People and the Québecois. Both groups have spoken out publicly with their concerns and have developed high profile relationships with the federal government. For example a report on the Innu states “racist government policies, under the guise of benevolent ‘progress’, have crippled the Innu of eastern Canada &endash; a once self &endash;sufficient and independent people.” Québecois have also battled with the issue of separation. Some feel that heir language and culture can only be protected if they govern themselves. We are currently trying to find solutions to both of these problems so that they know longer feel the pain of discrimination. 3. How does this issue affect me (at the personal level)? As a teen that grew up in Newfoundland where there is very little racial diversity I have sometimes found it hard to understand how racism plays out and even where it exists. However, this never hindered my feelings of anger towards people who actively engage in discriminating against others. At all times I attempt be well informed on issues of equal rights and when given the opportunity I speak out and inform others. Currently I reside in Halifax, Nova Scotia where I have begun to notice more and more the issues relating to cultural diversity. I feel that it is important to accept our diversity. 4. How does this issue affect youth in my community? As Canadian youth we attempt to accept our country as ‘multicultural.’ Instead of getting caught up on racism, we attempt to accept one another. We all share similar dreams as Canadian youth and thus we as the future generation attempt our best to focus on our alikeness despite differences in gender, language, religion, race or ethnicity. From time to time miscommunication and misunderstanding results in conflict. We often hear about schools where groups of black and white teens do not socialize and where negative remarks and violence occur on a daily basis. We also understand that youth in Québec struggle to find a sense of cultural identity. These things make each of our lives more complicated and require us to work extra hard to resolve our differences. 5. How does this issue affect youth in the Americas? Similar to Canadian youth, the youth of the America’s face issues relating to racism and discrimination on a daily basis. Youth in Mexico have been suffering both psychological and cultural damage due to an increase of white people in their country. The western culture brought in by the white people has consumed the lives of many Mexicans. Some Mexicans have embraced the western culture, which has frustrated the countries inhabitants. For those wishing to develop a sense of national pride the dominance of western culture has proven to be a roadblock. They believe the white people have too firm of a grip on their media industry. Mexico also has problems that relate to specific cultural groups within the country. Other parts of the Americas deal with similar problems. They are actively dealing with respect and recognition of culture and religion, land rights for indigenous peoples and environmental racism that involves dumping waste without permission. It’s difficult to generalize the issues that affect the Americas because each region has very specific concerns. However, at the same time it’s also difficult to list specifically the problems that are associated with each. Some problems are deeply rooted in the history and require a working knowledge of each country’s past. Sources used in the creation of this article: 1: 44 - Treaty Against Racism www.igc.apc.org/habitat/treaties/racism.html This site is a document prepared at the Global Forum in Rio de Janiero. It provides us with a list of objectives that the America's have created to put an end to racism and discrimination. 2. Guides: Racism www.oneworld.org/guides/racism/ This site provides up to the minute articles about racism and discrimination around the world. 3. Human Rights Issues www.globalissues.org/humanrights/racism.asp This site talks about racism all over the world and provides great links to additional documents about racism.