Why do we continue with the practice of judging others by the way they do things? When will we understand that each individual is different, formed by unique characteristics influenced by different factors?
We live in the global age, where, contrary to past times, there is an ever-growing mix of cultures. Countries are made up of more and more migrants, who decide to change their place of residence either for a better life, because they met a special person or because they found their happy, stable place. This has generated many advantages such as expanding national identity, improvement and joint growth and ethnicity since current cultures are a result of the interaction of individuals with differences.
However, everything has its bad side and this is no exception. It is a fact that a person who migrates to another country is likely to suffer from discrimination, racism, bullying and xenophobia. In addition to the acculturation process affecting very strongly psychologically, the migrant faces verbal obstacles caused by other inhabitants that prevent or delay the adaptation process. And it is a common enough action to worry and do something about it.
We can see it daily with situations like the following:
The example
The following podcast (6 min), taken from Radio Ambulante, represents a simple but clear example of how society alienates immigrants. Listen to the case of Reza Salazar, a Peruvian who moves to the USA and on his first day of school in South Carolina, his classmates make fun of him for not acting as expected in that city. *Click to listen.
Pay attention to this part:
"And I go to the door and do one thing: I do" Hi! " like that with your hand and the whole class starts laughing. And before I sit down, one of the guys grabs me and pulls my chair and I fall on my ass on the floor. And I laughed, I laughed at everything, at the nervousness. In other words, maybe I wanted to cry at that time but I laughed at everything, and I remember that even the teacher laughed."
Here we can notice the cultural differences, it is known that Latinos are warmer and this is evident in the way they greet and meet people unlike the United States, where they are colder and more methodical. But not because they are different, one or the other has to be wrong. And although this case is from 20 years ago, it's something that continues to happen nowadays, it's an example of how a simple harmless act is already a reason for discrimination, and if this is at school level, imagine at work level, at life level...
Despite these types of actions are probably not directly to the person, but ideals, values and ways of acting, it affects them. Because it prevents them from participating fully in political situations, cultural activities and local events.
This type of attitude had a strong historical reason to occur and be useful as in ancient times this served to detect individuals from other clans on robberies. However, today it's no longer a defense mechanism, it's a constructed tool that results in the exclusion of those who are different from the dominant groups.
Sad reality. But modifiable. And if we think about it ...
We are all multicultural beings.
Each person has such different and mixed cultural elements that they could create their group or subculture. Even if you have lived in the same place forever, surely you've had the experience of traveling, tasting food from other places, watching series from other countries. All these factors influence us and become part of us.
Even if we may not realize it, we have more in common with everyone than we think. If one day we get to know other ideologies, we will see that this is true.
So, understanding.
Nowadays it isn't completely a legal problem since the immigration policies of the states have changed over the years and there are more facilities, the problem truly lies in the social. The prejudices continue and have a strong impact on the treatment that migrants receive as well as the opportunities they can access once settled in the city or country of arrival. We are the real pandemic.
But, how to solve this problem?
We need to promote understanding, tolerance and acceptance. We are now in the 21st century, it's time to adapt in terms of inclusion. In the end, they are social constructions that involve recognizing and identifying, as well as interpreting similarities and differences and trying to give meaning to actions.
It all starts with a personal introspection, asking yourself questions like:
Have you discriminated against someone else for being different? For what reasons have you distanced yourself from someone different? Do you think the other person deserved to be treated that way?
Another area in which it has to be applied is education both in schools and in your own home. Educating and teaching empathy is vitally important. Make people understand that different does not mean bad and that instead of making fun of another person, the best thing we can do is respect and help them.
Some measures that can be implemented in institutions to promote convivence in this plural society are:
- Recognize and respect every culture so that they are perceived with all their dignity and as an enriching factor.
- Offer a global perspective and promote relationships and exchanges with people from other environments, regions and countries.
- Plan education in values and attitudes and evaluate its processes and results.
- Base the relationships on recognition, respect and dialogue and prohibit any form of humiliation and supremacy.
- Ensure that the social, cultural and economic characteristics of every member of the community do not prevent their participation in the activities.
Like everything else, this is a process that, well applied, can generate great results. It is time to realize that there is nothing more beautiful than diversity and being able to be in contact with so many different ways of thinking.
What did you think of the article? What is your opinion on the subject? We invite you to follow us and be keep an eye on the next blogs. Closely related to the topic of culture, soon we will be talking about the instructions that have been implanted to us since we were born and how to remove them and we would like you to join us.
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