Yesterday, 21 March 2019 was International Day for the Eliminiation of Racial Discrimination. Let’s use this moment to realise how important it is to stand with the people in a troublesome situation, stand up against discrimination, no matter what type of discrimination.
It takes courage and self-confidence to be the one to stick up for a minority, to step up for the people that are getting discriminated. This is especially the case when discrimination, unfortunately, is being presented as an acceptable opinion. Don’t follow blindly in the footsteps of the ones who discrimate. Turning a blind eye to it is just as bad as actually discriminating yourself. It allows people to think that they are not doing anything wrong. The more we speak up the easier it will be for others to speak up in similar situations.
Freedom of speech is great and everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. In no way should we prevent people from giving their opinion on people with a different origin. If they are not allowed to talk about it, the hatred will be hidden untill the moment of real discrimination comes up.
I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over. – Jimmy Carter
Current migration crises turns up the heat in the debate about discrimination. Hopefully with this article I can reach out to some people to stand with me against discrimination. The world is a better place if we are tolerant to everyone, no matter which origin they have or what language they speak.
Imagine a war breaks out in your country. You have to leave behind your country, house and maybe even lose some of your family members. By escaping the war you have to settle somewhere, in a distant country where you don’t know the culture, the people or the language.
Agreed immigrants receive social assistance for surviving in our country. Plus there are actually some people that are purely here for benefiting from our society. Like there are stories of people who have multiple homes in their home country and they receive support in our country. But there is also the other side of the coin: People who left everything behind and struggle to be accepted in our society. They have to try to build a new life here, with the high costs of life. All of this without even knowing the language. Receiving a job and maintaining one in a foreign country in which you don’t speak the language is extremely difficult.
Put yourself in the shoes of the people trying to build up a life in a strange country. See them as persons and not just part of the “immigration crisis”. Remain unprejudiced support them against discrimination and against people acting negative around them. Help us make the society a better one, together with everyone around us.