Discrimination

Prejudice and Discrimination Kelly Robertus SCO/120 08/11/2013 Bonnie Bickford   The class was asked to research another country, on the forms of prejudice and discrimination faced within different cultures, races, and ethnic backgrounds. While in the process, there were three different countries that came to mind, China, Russia, and Germany. The choice was China. DEFINITIONS OF PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION: Prejudice: A rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people. Discrimination: An unequal treatment of various categories of people. (Macions, 2011) Prejudice and Discrimination Before entering the topic at hand, research was done to find the different ways that the issue is studied. In the University Library, Encyclopedia of Social Problems Prejudice was found, to base some of the information off of. In the past, researchers have focused on understanding the individual. Some would say that, “Prejudice should be considered a pathology, the source of which can be understood and ferreted out.” (Parrillo, 2008) “More contemporary researchers, suggest that prejudice is a natural, oftentimes a product of normal behaviors of the human’s way of thinking.” (Parrillo, 2008) The information found provides different topic in which it is believed, prejudice to be caused by social problems. Whether, it be in the form of discrimination, involving employment. At one point there was a case study conducted, having, Whites interview Blacks and vice versa. This study showed that the Black applicants were treated differently. The findings were that the White interviewers would distance themselves away, as well as their interviews were shorter. (Parrillo, 2008) This study showed that decisions made were discrimination based. The disturbing part is, that patterns like this causes many other issue to arise. Issues, like hate crimes, and police violence. These are just a few issues that prejudice and discrimination can cause. After researching, some of the ways that prejudice and discrimination are studied, it is time to see how China and surrounding countries can be affected. China has a very unique social structure around the world. “Close to 90 percent of the Chinese population is derived from the Han Ethnic stock.” (M in General, 2013) “The Han Chinese dominate the major political, judicial, and military institutions of the country.” The Han Chinese carrying the minority status within china, and the other groups are spread throughout the country. Most of china belong to the same racial groups, causing the discrimination to be ethnic, not racial. Prejudice is shown between the ethnic backgrounds. One feeling the other has less power, then themselves. In the 1950s, China had exiled the Tibetans, causing them to flee to other areas, like India and other places around the country. The Han people came to believe, “that the ethnic minorities in their conventional costumes are viewed as having violent tendencies, uncivilized ways, and uneducated minds.” (M in General, 2013) The three minority groups, Tibetans, Hui, and Uygur have the largest population, inhabiting remote regions, and having unique religious beliefs. Their choice not to adjust to the Han’s way of life, makes them a threat in the Han’s eyes. The belief of the Han Chinese, was that all Chinese ethnic groups should follow their lead, abided by their rules, and religion. Those who choose not to follow are considered to be involved in activities of the illegal sort. This kind of stereotyping, puts these ethnic groups in the class of criminals, which cannot be trusted within society. When society sees, those who choose to follow their own beliefs, as bad people they are showing prejudice. Which is discrimination against others, without any knowledge of who they really are. Throughout the year, there have been issues that revealed, cracks in their system. An example would be the Tiananmen Square shootings, causing political unrest. This situation caused the political leaders to think of new ideas of organizing a more effective society. After the crisis in 1989, resources were removed from the central to the local government and the level of resources increased. “China was moving toward what was termed as regionalism.” (Yang, 2002). Yang, stated, “ Now the new crisis that is brewing is not so much about decentralization of the economy as it is about localization of politics. Unless smaller ethnic groups are given due representation in the CPC cadre and leadership; and are not given a degree of autonomy in the realm of culture, language and religion, the situation would only worsen.” (Yang, 2002). In the case above, prejudice and discrimination caused the two cultures to separate, one side running from the other, because of something that could have been avoided from the beginning, by seeing one another as equals. As humans, we seem to think that we are at a higher level than others because of where we come from, or what family we are born into. This is not the case, we all carry the same body parts, bleed the same color, yet because we are different on the outside, we do not fit in with someone else’s group. Part of this paper is supposed to be a comparison of the country of choice, and the US, with ways we deal with discrimination issues. Another part, we are asked to write a brief proposal on how to make changes. This task was difficult to do, everyone has ideas on how to make things better in our lives, the follow through is something that we lack. Throughout the years things have changed, yet, we spend the same amount of time separating ourselves from others, we may not even realize we are doing so. It does not matter what country we are in, until we can stop seeing others as different, and view all as equals, things will stay the same. When we stop stereotyping because of something one person does, things will stay the same. Example of this would be, when we watch the news and there is a story of a Black man who has robbed a store, for most, the thought of all Black men will do the same thing. A Hispanic man selling drugs on the corner, most visualize all Hispanics sell drugs. The one that sticks out in my mind is, all long haired males do drugs. The list can keep going on, these are things that for some reason we cannot relinquish this I want to say that I am not part of this, but that would not be true. No matter how hard I try, I even find myself thinking things like this. It is human nature, even when we do not want it to be. I would not want to play a role in changing everyone, I can only change myself. References: Yang, D. L., & Wei, H. (1996). Rising Sectionalism in China. Journal of International Affairs, 49(2), 456-476. Hu, X., & Salazar, M. A. (2008). Ethnicity, Rurality and Status: Hukou and the Institutional and Cultural Determinants of Social Status in Tibet. The China Journal, (60), 1+. Yang, G. (2002). Civil Society in China: A Dynamic Field of Study. China Review International, 9(1), 1+. M in General, S. (2013, June 27). Jottedlines.com. Retrieved from Jottedlines.com: http://jottedlines.com/society/affect-of-prejudice-and-discrimination-in-china/ Macions [Do not leave spaces around a slash mark] , J. J. (2011). Society the Basis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Parrillo, V. N. (2008). Encyclopedia of Social Problems. Encyclopedia of Social Problems, 706-710.