Quiet is the New Loud
About
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
discrimination?
Today was a day of discrimination. Well, not so much of me actually being discrimating or being discriminated against, but Psychology and Health Studies lectures focused on prejudice and scapegoating.
PSYCHOLOGY.
We were shown a video about a Muslim schoolgirl who is a fashionista and wears a heafscarf. However, the government of France was planning to impose a ban on overt religious symbols in public schools. One proponent states that it is to promote a national unity, and at the same time to ensure that everyone gets an equal right in deciding their faiths, and to prevent them from being pressurised into, for example wearing the headscarf. The law is self-contradictory. The interviewed schoolgirl chooses and is comfortable wearing the headscarf. By imposing the ban, it violates the rights of Muslims who choose to wear the headscarf. Which circles and brings us back to the law wanting to ensure equal rights for all to decide on their own. The video also showed the schoolgirl's German teacher (who is a women's rights activist) 'confronting' her and her supporting friends regarding the issue. As a teacher, she should be more understanding towards her students, and not create such an uncomfortable situation. I could see that the group of students were upset, if not frustrated, with the whole tension going on.
This reminded me of the tudung issue in Singapore back in 2002. I am not for the law that bans tudung in public schools in Singapore, but then again, it is to promote racial harmony. However, it is also violating the religious rights of people. This is what is called as 'value pluralism', where policies usually have conflicting values associated with it.
There was this other video that showed how the Implicit Association Test shows our implicit attitudes, the negative prejudice that everyone may have unknown in us. I will try to explain the test. There are two options on the screen: one has the words 'Good', 'Right' and a picture of either a white or black person; the other side with 'Bad', 'Wrong' and a picture of the opposite race of that in the first side. Then, words will appear and the subject has to say if it's 'Good' or 'Bad', 'Right' or 'Wrong' for 2 rounds with the pictures swapping places in each round. The test was carried out on white and black Americans, and many, even those who were civil rights activists, showed a slight reference towards their own race as they had difficulties associating 'Good' and 'Right' with words when the picture of the opposite race was shown under the 'Good' and 'Right' side. I hope it is clear enough to understand. The funny thing is that when the whites were told that, they were shocked and felt embarassed about it. But when the blacks were told that, they felt pride for their own race.
We also talked about how a white girl wrote a letter complaining about 'special treatments' given to minorities when discrimination is banned. True, these favors can be seen as a form of discrimination to those who do not get them. The letter was about how a college had more job opportunities in teaching for applicants or minorities rather than for whites. The author of the letter was frustrated in how jobs were allocated for minorities rather than based on merits, making it harder for them to get jobs. I think one will discriminate against others when they feel they have been discriminated against.
HEALTH STUDIES.
We watched a documentary about olden days Chinese immigrants who came to Canada and were blamed for the leprosy disease that broke out back then. It was hard to watch as a Chinese, and also with all the gruesome pictures of lepers. Leprosy is a disease that results in the rotting of fingers and toes, and distorted faces. Lepers lose sensation in their hands and feet, and their eyesight deteriorates to blindness.
The main history context is that with the influx Chinese immigrants into Canada due to the Gold Rush and to work on the Canadian Pacific Railway. They were living in poor, cramp conditions and thus facilitating the spread of leprosy. Those who were infected or suspected of being infected were taken away by authorities and left on D'arcy Island, an offshore island of Victoria, B.C., to be isolated. They had no proper housing or water supplies, and were not provided with caregivers or medical personnels. They were practically left to wait and die. In Montreal, a proper facility was set-up for white Canadian lepers, and had nurses, doctors, and cooks to care for the infected victims.
On the mainland, newspapers published that the Chinese lepers were 'happy and energetic', and were living in 'good conditions' as they need not worry about anything. However, reports on the unlivable conditions soon circulated and the federal government soon took control of the situation by improving the conditions and medical access. Eventually, an effective treatment was discovered and the cases of leprosy declined.
I had continuous goosebumps as I watched the documentary. The message was powerful: discrimination and scapegoating of a weaker minority. I cannot imagine myself ever living like that with no social interaction and with that awful disease. Madness will set in.
Why do people discriminate against each other? It's just the way we look, our culture, tradition and location that makes us different. Otherwise, we are all similar: we are human beings from one common ancestor.
PSYCHOLOGY.
We were shown a video about a Muslim schoolgirl who is a fashionista and wears a heafscarf. However, the government of France was planning to impose a ban on overt religious symbols in public schools. One proponent states that it is to promote a national unity, and at the same time to ensure that everyone gets an equal right in deciding their faiths, and to prevent them from being pressurised into, for example wearing the headscarf. The law is self-contradictory. The interviewed schoolgirl chooses and is comfortable wearing the headscarf. By imposing the ban, it violates the rights of Muslims who choose to wear the headscarf. Which circles and brings us back to the law wanting to ensure equal rights for all to decide on their own. The video also showed the schoolgirl's German teacher (who is a women's rights activist) 'confronting' her and her supporting friends regarding the issue. As a teacher, she should be more understanding towards her students, and not create such an uncomfortable situation. I could see that the group of students were upset, if not frustrated, with the whole tension going on.
This reminded me of the tudung issue in Singapore back in 2002. I am not for the law that bans tudung in public schools in Singapore, but then again, it is to promote racial harmony. However, it is also violating the religious rights of people. This is what is called as 'value pluralism', where policies usually have conflicting values associated with it.
There was this other video that showed how the Implicit Association Test shows our implicit attitudes, the negative prejudice that everyone may have unknown in us. I will try to explain the test. There are two options on the screen: one has the words 'Good', 'Right' and a picture of either a white or black person; the other side with 'Bad', 'Wrong' and a picture of the opposite race of that in the first side. Then, words will appear and the subject has to say if it's 'Good' or 'Bad', 'Right' or 'Wrong' for 2 rounds with the pictures swapping places in each round. The test was carried out on white and black Americans, and many, even those who were civil rights activists, showed a slight reference towards their own race as they had difficulties associating 'Good' and 'Right' with words when the picture of the opposite race was shown under the 'Good' and 'Right' side. I hope it is clear enough to understand. The funny thing is that when the whites were told that, they were shocked and felt embarassed about it. But when the blacks were told that, they felt pride for their own race.
We also talked about how a white girl wrote a letter complaining about 'special treatments' given to minorities when discrimination is banned. True, these favors can be seen as a form of discrimination to those who do not get them. The letter was about how a college had more job opportunities in teaching for applicants or minorities rather than for whites. The author of the letter was frustrated in how jobs were allocated for minorities rather than based on merits, making it harder for them to get jobs. I think one will discriminate against others when they feel they have been discriminated against.
HEALTH STUDIES.
We watched a documentary about olden days Chinese immigrants who came to Canada and were blamed for the leprosy disease that broke out back then. It was hard to watch as a Chinese, and also with all the gruesome pictures of lepers. Leprosy is a disease that results in the rotting of fingers and toes, and distorted faces. Lepers lose sensation in their hands and feet, and their eyesight deteriorates to blindness.
The main history context is that with the influx Chinese immigrants into Canada due to the Gold Rush and to work on the Canadian Pacific Railway. They were living in poor, cramp conditions and thus facilitating the spread of leprosy. Those who were infected or suspected of being infected were taken away by authorities and left on D'arcy Island, an offshore island of Victoria, B.C., to be isolated. They had no proper housing or water supplies, and were not provided with caregivers or medical personnels. They were practically left to wait and die. In Montreal, a proper facility was set-up for white Canadian lepers, and had nurses, doctors, and cooks to care for the infected victims.
On the mainland, newspapers published that the Chinese lepers were 'happy and energetic', and were living in 'good conditions' as they need not worry about anything. However, reports on the unlivable conditions soon circulated and the federal government soon took control of the situation by improving the conditions and medical access. Eventually, an effective treatment was discovered and the cases of leprosy declined.
I had continuous goosebumps as I watched the documentary. The message was powerful: discrimination and scapegoating of a weaker minority. I cannot imagine myself ever living like that with no social interaction and with that awful disease. Madness will set in.
Why do people discriminate against each other? It's just the way we look, our culture, tradition and location that makes us different. Otherwise, we are all similar: we are human beings from one common ancestor.