Soc120_Week2_Assignment

Prejudice and Discrimination Article Prejudice and Discrimination Axia College Prejudice and Discrimination While my time in Indonesia was both interesting and an eye opener for the way of life for many who live there, it was very educational on the large amount of discrimination towards the Chinese that lives in this country. The ethnic Chinese that live in Indonesia have been discriminated against for several decades. They have been ridiculed over their beliefs and their way of life. The government sees the Chinese as a financial commodity to the way of life for the Indonesian people. The Chinese are not looked upon as part of the Indonesian people, and the government has let this, and also practices these themselves. The government has been reported to put the ethnic Chinese down in many ways and at many times over the years. The ethnic Chinese have been told by their own government that they are not aloud to practice their religious beliefs and they have also been told by the government that they are not aloud to display anything that has to do with their culture and way of life in sight of the people of Indonesia. The ethnic Chinese can not even celebrate the Chinese New Year. The Chinese have left Indonesia in large numbers since the 1940,s because of the fact of the discrimination against them by the Indonesian people and the Indonesian government. The Chinese have been threatened, beaten, raped, robbed, and have even been burned alive as well as their properties being burned to the ground. That would included their homes and, if they were business owners, their businesses. The government and the Indonesian military has even extorted money from the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, but that did not keep the ethnic Chinese from the abuse and the discrimination from the military or the other people of Indonesia. The Chinese are not the only group that has been harassed and abused by the government and the people of Indonesia. The Muslims have had their fair share of abuse and harassment from the government and the Indonesian people as well. The Muslims, as well as the Chinese, have been run out of Indonesia and forced to find other means to take care of their families. This kind if discrimination has been going on for decades and continues to happen with no signs of it stopping or the government of doing anything to deal with this discrimination towards the Chinese or the Muslims. When the people of Indonesia look at the ethnic Chinese all they are looking at is the way that the Chinese look and not what they have inside or even in common with the other people of Indonesia. The Indonesian people are looking at the skin color of the Chinese and passing their judgment over them that way. The Indonesian people are just concentrating on the race of the Chinese and not trying to get to know them and possibly ask questions, or learn on their own, about the ethnicity of the Chinese from Indonesia. The Indonesian people are discriminating against the ethnic Chinese because they are afraid of the ways of the Chinese in Indonesia. The other ethnic groups in Indonesia, that are the ones discriminating against the Chinese, need to find out about the Chinese and learn about their ways and the way they prefer to live. These people need to be more open to the ways of life of others, I am sure that most do not understand or believe the way that the Indonesian people believe, but we do not see them making and passing judgment against them. With all of the violence and discrimination against the Chinese in Indonesia, the government complains about how the Indonesian economy if hurting because those ethnic Chinese have left the country and taken their money with them. The Indonesian government is trying to get the ethnic Chinese to come back to Indonesia because the economy of Indonesia is hurting and has been for several years. If the government sees that the economy is hurting and knows the reason behind it, why have they not done anything to help these ethnic Chinese that the Indonesian economy is so dependant on' This is a question I have been asking myself since I have gotten here and have become aware of the discrimination and violence against the ethnic Chinese of Indonesia. The government is pleading to the Chinese to come back to Indonesia and bring business and revenue back into the economy of Indonesia. The Indonesian government is also wanting the Chinese to provide jobs to the people of Indonesia and is having a hard time understanding why the Chinese are having such a hard time making such a decision. The people and the government of Indonesia is blind to the damage that has been done to the Chinese people of Indonesia over the last several decades. They do not believe that anything wrong has been done and therefore does not understand why the Chinese started to close their businesses and take up and leave Indonesia all together. It is just like a normal way of life to the people of Indonesia, to miss treat the ethnic Chinese and any others that they feel are different and not worthy of their respect. References The chinese dilemma Christine Hill. Institutional Investor. New York: Jul 1998. Vol. 32, Iss. 7; pg. 132 http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb'did=32513032&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=13118&RQT=309&VName=PQD Indonesia: Days of rage Cohen, Margot. Far Eastern Economic Review. Hong Kong: Apr 28, 1994. Vol. 157, Iss. 17; http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb'did=452347&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=13118&RQT=309&VName=PQD Blame Indonesia's Chinese' Michael Backman. Far Eastern Economic Review. Hong Kong: Mar 5, 1998. Vol. 161, Iss. 10; pg. 34, 1 pgs http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb'did=26959382&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=13118&RQT=309&VName=PQD INDONESIA SEEN BY OUTSIDE INSIDERS. Social Analysis; Spring2006, Vol. 50 Issue 1, p214-225, 12p http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx'direct=true&db=a9h&AN=21580819&site=ehost-live