Inquiry #9

Inquiry #9 Racism With Josiah

Intro

Did you know that black Americans are more likely than white Americans to be arrested. Once arrested, black Americans are more likely to have a longer time in prison compared to the White American. This inquiry we tried to find out some solutions to reduce the rate of racism. We found 3 possible solutions that we thought might help reduce racism. 1 Reach out to someone, 2 Call out racism and 3 education programmes. We chose an education programme because we thought they could teach kids at a small age things about Racism and they might come across it later in life and know how to deal with it. We also chose Reach out to someone because you might need to speak to someone or help someone with racism later in life so you know how to handle it or deal with it. Lastly, we chose to call out racism. By that we mean to help people understand racism because it comes in many different forms.

WHat is racism?

Racism can come in many different forms and it can also happen in different places. Racism is often associated with acts of abuse or harassment. However it doesn’t have to involve violence.Take racial name calling and jokes. Also consider different situations where people may be excluded from groups and activities due to where they’re from or their race. Not all racism is visible; you could hand in your job application and not get a call that you’ve been accepted because of your race or name.

What are the laws of racism in nz?

We all have the right to the equal enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Here in NZ we all have the right to enjoy everyone’s culture and to use everyone’s language, we have the right to freedom and cultural beliefs, we all have the right to be treated with respect, dignity and equity. We also have the right to not be harassed, taunted or teased because of our colour, our accent, the way we dress and the food we eat. There are laws that talk about discrimination and for example you can’t be discrimanted against becasue of your race, ethncity and because of your nationality and citizenship. Also if you belong to a minority ethnic group in New Zealand the government can’t deny you the right to use or practice your culture and language with others from the minority group.

What are some of the things that cause Racism?

During our research we found out that the main thing people target in racism is the colour of your skin and the race you are. Racism is mainly about people stereotyping and making quick assumptions about who they and the colour or race they are. For example In America they would take the majority of the african american adults and turn them into slaves to work for them. That only happened because they thought that they were way more superior than the african americans. And now because of that there is a lot of racism around the world because of those things that people did.

What races are mainly targeted by racism and why

As you can see in this graph there were lots of races included in this graph but the main one that got affected was african american and that was because everyone thought they were superior over them and they would just take them hostage and make them do work for them. Back in 2017 there were 5k crimes about racism and from that 5k nearly half of them were african american and those crimes were only single person crimes.

How is it different growing up being black/brown in NZ?

Growing up being black or brown we were brought up differently compared to the white kids. For example we learned how to do adult jobs at a very young age, for example doing the washing at the age of 5 and also doing all other jobs that adults do around the house. Growing up a dark skin kid we would get beatings/hidings and it’ll always go to notice at school by the teachers. Pacific islanders grow up with parents that are always wanting the best for their children and the parents giving beatings/hidings to their children is part of growing up in a household with a family of 8 or more. Another example is some of the black/brown children get taken away from their own family and put into different households and homes.

What are the consequences for those affected by racism?

When you get affected by racism you get lots of bad side effects just because you get stereotyped and bullied because of your race or culture. Some of the side effects are Depression, Stress, Emotional Distress, Anxiety, Suicidal Thoughts and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and much more but i will be mainly talking about Depression and Stress.

First of all when you get affected by Racism you get targeted by not only one person but from a lot of people. When they all gang up and be racist against you, you can get depressed because you feel insecure and you don't want to do anything because of what those people have said to you or what they physically did to you. There are things that you can do to get out of depression, for example if you are ever in that scenario we recommend talking to someone or just getting the word out to someone trustworthy or close to you because they can get in touch with other people or help you out through the tough times.

Another Side effect is Suicidal Thoughts. Whenever you get people bullying you, Stereotyping you or being racist there are many things that one person can go through. If you are the one being racist to another person you never know how much they can get affected by that saying or how they think of what you're saying. And what makes it worse is when you gang up with friends and they all encourage you and laugh. And one of the worst things that could happen to the person getting affected by racism is suicidal thoughts just from those little things you don't have to say.

What has been done to stop/prevent the effect of racism?

Be an upstanding citizen. In situations like bullying, racism we have a lot of bystanders that just watch the situation go by and not even do one thing about it. Being an upstander will help those types of situations by telling those bystanders that it is not cool to video people getting harassed, taunted or hurt. Being an upstander will set an example for those that don’t know what they’re doing.

Talking to someone that can help out with your problem. Avoid making negative statements about any racial, ethnic, or religious group. If you are worried about people who might be victims of racism because of their ethnicity or religion, then make sure you reach out to them. Ask them how you can be of assistance and if they require support. Speak to your teachers, youth workers, friends and/or family members about what's going on

What are the best solution/s to prevent or reduce racism?

It can be difficult to talk to people who have a different opinion to you about racism – particularly if you feel strongly about your beliefs.Our tip for avoiding an argument is to never call somebody a racist. If you do this, the person will become defensive and not listen to anything else you say. Instead, you should tell them that you disagree with what they have said, and explain why. You should only criticise the comment, not the person.

Reach out to someone

Speak to your teachers, youth workers, friends and/or family about what's going on so that you can get their help and support. If you're not sure how to start the conversation, Childline has useful information about. Also If you see someone else or know someone trying to get through any type of race act you can always help and support them and stand with them while they’re going through it. For example you can ask if they’re okay and you can help them report it if they offered to be a witness. Speaking up for a person having a hard time dealing with online bullying or bullying because of their race is always good. That way you’re telling that person doing the damage is not good and that they should stop.

Call out Racism

Racism comes in many forms. We need to recognize that “stereotypical” African-American names don’t get called to a job interview. Around the globe the beauty industry celebrated while degrading dark skin.Calling or recognising racism can help stop the evolution of racism. Dark skinned people would be accepted into more jobs. All ages except primary should be able to call out racism and should start to recognise what racism can do to people around them.

Education programme

Another good solution is doing an Education Programme. The reason behind that is they could teach kids when they are young till they have a mindset to learn about new things and do what they're told. The programme will work with all ages for example when you where in primary you were always hyped because you would have a guest come into the school with like a little toy or puppet to get your attention easily they could do that to little kids but for teenages they need to find out a way to get our attention ad not make it boring so i goes in one ear and out the other. They could do something like getting a famous person from a rugby team or just make the talk funny and have some jokes involved in it. What they will talk to the students / kids about is equality, race and skin colours. They could also include things like what happened to them or one of their friends about racism. And also explain what they did to handle or fix the problem or bullying. You might ask how it will be funded for the people to come in and speak to students or kids. There are many ways like Donations if they do some fundraising and the Government could even help them because it apart of the student or person wellbeing

Conclusion

To sum everything up our aim for this inquiry was to find the best way to prevent the cause of racism. We found that speaking to someone was the best way to reduce racism. We ended up finding 3 solutions out of our inquiry and they were to Speak to someone, Report it and Get Others Involved. We found out that the best solution was to speak to someone Because it gets everything off your chest and they can help you with everything. Thanks For Listening

Bibliography

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