Second Essay: Textual and Social Media Analysis (Anthropological Intervention)
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Second Essay: Textual and Social Media Analysis (Anthropological Intervention)
Introduction
The world as we know it has faced all kinds of issues and hardships but the human race with its all glory has turned out to be more resilient in the face of these difficult times. The art of understanding a human is not easy and simple. Being social animals, we humans tend to meet people of different religions, race, caste, creed, color. Humans tend to develop a bond of friendship even at the first time of engagement. There is no simple explanation that how a human brain works, but it does function at its finest when one is lest expectant. This world is comprised of more than 7 billion people and with a whopping 4200 religions. One cannot even come close to comprehend the teachings of all these religions. The message of peace, however, is the most common thing amongst the topmost followed religions. So, ultimately peace and kindness should matter to us humans the most. Having said that, the portrayal of how a group of people follows the religion by print and electronic media is a different story. Racism has been eating the very roots of peace and friendship and made many ethnic and religious group of people shut themselves down before the public eye.
Discussion
The issue of racism has become very popular in such a short time as there have been stories of extortion, killings, forced abductions and more. The ever so haunting terrorist attack of 9/11 left this world in a complete state of shock (Agan and Starr, 2017). A terrorist organization under the flag of Islam targeted the World Trade Center and made a bad name for the religion. From that point onwards, the Muslim world was given a bad eye by everyone around the world just because a group of people with no good intentions followed the religion. This is not just for Muslims as the minority group in every country suffers racial slurs and discrimination. All around the globe where there is a minority, there is discrimination. This evil has yet to be stopped at all levels through politics, seminars, education, and religion.
Being Asian, Caucasian, Arab, African is alright but labeling them on social platforms and slurring racial comments against them is something that everyone needs to eliminate from the roots of the society. The famous Italian footballer Mario Balotelli faced hard racist words during a match because of the color of his skin. This had an emotional impact on the footballer’s career and because of this, he started skipping appearances for his national team (Coram and Hallinan, 2017). There are many occasions when a person in a certain society does not fit according to the rules and standards set by the dominant culture. This leads to a sense of discomfort and shame, which ultimately takes over and makes it harder for that person to be a part of that society. The modern world has yet to get rid of this evil and social media is one of the platforms where we have achieved some of that.
Adam Goodes
A top Australian football figure, Adam Goodes has faced racial comments on and off the field at all times. At a game in 2013, Goodes stood against a discriminatory comment that was passed by a girl. This stance made by Goodes against racism made him a hero for many people but some individuals started to look at him as an enemy. He was being called out an ape by the girl which made him feel uncomfortable (Seol, Yoo, Lee, Park and Kyeong, 2016). The final year as a professional footballer was nothing short of an embarrassment for the Sydney Swans legend. Speaking against the racial slurs that were pointed at him by a young girl made him more prone to face racism by numerous adults as well. The social media and media, in general, made a mockery out of the sports player. This kept on happening throughout the final year of his career. The booing saga forced Goodes to travel back to his origins in South Australia where he spent 5 days without any sort of contact with the world. The shame and disrespect made hate the only thing that he ever loved.
If sports teach anything other than strength is equality and to neglect racism. Many famous players like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez have stood against racist slurs many times. Comments being passed against black players on social media are getting out of hands and into the fields now as well. A video has become limelight and viral where a girl is seen fixing her hijab after she lost control of the ball. During this, opponent players gathered around to cover her head from the eyes of the camera so she can fix her hair and hijab (Davies, 2017). This act of kindness moved everyone around the world and showed that a simple act of kindness can do wonders and that there are people who still care for everyone without thinking about the color of skin or the religion a person follows (Lauren, 2018).
Anthropologist Intervention
The issue of racism has been around for centuries. The seriousness of this issue can be reflected by the American Civil War that was fought between the Union and Confederates. Then-President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which completely abolished the concept of slavery and helped Union win war between the states. The concept of slavery was the highest form of racism at that time where Africans were brought to America just for serving white bigots of that time. The concept of slavery was in direct defiance of the constitution of the United States of America at that time which made things worse (Hinton, 2015). It was not just the African community that was targeted but the indigenous people as well.
From the time of early settlements in newly discovered America to the present day, the detailed study of racism brought forth with more history rather than facts. Minorities and the black community have been subjected to discrimination for a long time and still, the white supremacists are at large. As said earlier, human nature is typically the same as we all are social animals. Being anti-social means that society has not been welcoming because of discrimination or something related to racism (Umaña-Taylor, 2016). However, here humans have been evolving with more advancement in science and technology and this has only made things easier and positive by making our world a global village.
Anthropologists need to inspect the mere discipline itself first before a complete task and detailed information on culture and race can be explained publicly. For long, anthropology has explained and given structure to the meaning of racism and it is likewise critical to stand up to how religion, class, and sex shape the generation of information (De Choudhury, Jhaver, Sugar and Weber, 2016). Prominence on provided public relations and the casual functions of structures, systems, and communications that produce and recreate disparity, human sciences has a set of hypothetical points of view. It also has a procedural toolbox that fits the cross-examination of new types of basic bigotry. It helps in exposing the hidden records of the procedure through which discrepancy is changed into imbalance.
This initiative asks for a long-lasting ethnographic and authentic research into the complex depictions, organizations, and implementations through which prejudice is constantly repeated (Parry, 2015). It also needs things inclusive of work rehearses, training, lodging, natural prejudice, and regular practices. Further, investigation of pressure in the structure of police fierceness and the jail modern complex and assent (Turner and Richardson, 2016). Also, it needs to be kept under consideration how the main benefits are given to those having white skin. Anthropologists must oppose utilizing the inactive liberate voice and name bigotry and the powers that recreate it.
This necessitates moving past taking note of that race is communally built to face directly the degree to which basic prejudice is inevitably entrenched in our societal framework. There are many cultures all around the world and anthropologists cannot cover every single one of them by merely studying or going through history. This makes it hard for many people around the globe that are facing racism at the very moment to understand the issues and how to tackle this issue at all the available forms.
Many celebrities and social workers are working actively to promote peace and reject prejudice, but it is not enough for a common man who belongs to a minority group (Farrington, Hall, Kilvington, Price and Saeed, 2017). Though Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism are the three biggest religions in the present-day world, the followers are still living in minorities is many parts of the world. History has always provided the facts that the minorities have to face racist slurs and discrimination and he or she will be given respect only if they belong to power or are socially strong. This makes the poor even more prone to racist slurs. People who are living a very harsh poor life face these issues every single day.
The anthropological study can reveal the fundamental and evolving nature of bigotry. It will help to recognize the underground instruments through which racial authority is both sustained and disintegrated. So, the basic stance we all can take is to educate people about the draconian rules of racism and teach our children about such issues at a very young age. Children learn from their environment and adapt to the things that are given and provided to them at the very first stage of life (Johns and McCosker, 2015). Indigenous people should be given their rights as Adam Goodes has shown in his much-appreciated film The Australian Dream. The movie shows that a simple racist slur can cause misrepresentations for a person and make his/her happy life a dreadful one.
Adam Goodes like Mario Balotelli was strong enough to stand against racism but there might be many who do not stand up counter to such evil. These people must also be educated about the dire consequences if they do not stand against bigotry. The public most importantly needs to be educated about the issues related to racism and bigotry. Rather than depending on books and articles, public seminars should be held as it is evident that this era of technology has made it easier to spread messages all around the globe in a matter of seconds. The social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have provided the people of this world with a platform where voices and opinions can be heard, and wrongdoings can be covered and reported to authorities at an instance (Hudson, Neighbors, Geronimus and Jackson, 2016). However, labeling someone as a racist with wrong intentions is another evil which also comes under the ill umbrella of racism (Nagle, 2018). There have been many instances where people have been termed racist by people in thirst for revenge. This only makes things worse for people who do suffer from this evil and this makes it hard for them to stand against racism.
The history of mankind has never been pleasant as the wars and killings have been a part of our lives from the start. As of late, antiracist developments in Europe are moving intensely on United Nations assertions and goals. They have been engaged with mainland battles requiring the usage of antidiscrimination approaches all around the globe (Matamoros-Fernández, 2017). The advancement of many international associations and developments has been especially striking in regions, for example, Latin America, where belief systems commending race blend and the absence of lawful isolation have already repressed such developments. As opposed to the racial isolation of the United States and South Africa, where there have been longstanding developments for ethnic uniformity (Smith‐Bynum et al., 2016).
Conclusion
At long last, anthropologists must address the issue of open commitment and practice. It does not matter how deep one investigates prejudice; it will remain to a great extent unless we get our examinations out of the institute and into open talk. Deep study and examinations of antiracism have adequately formed settings for lobbyist activities, for example, integration and more different public development. More studies are still required to understand the roots and causes of discrimination. Social media and media, in general, has played a great role in making it widespread and in the open. However, this issue has been present for centuries. This evil cannot be eliminated permanently but it can be treated and contained to such an extent that minorities around the world can feel safe and practice their religion without any fear. There must be a mechanism for providing all the rights a human can enjoy while living in a country where racism has spoiled the image of a nation. For that, certain restraints on media need to be set and more awareness needs to be created.
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