"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite" - Nelson Mandela.
Discrimination is one EVIL that we, the future generations and leaders have to strive towards ELIMINATING. If you ask me, we need to discriminate those who discriminate! It was recently reported that Nigerian students were attacked in the GD Goenka University by local students, which in turn ensured that it was the right time for me to address this issue.
I got mixed reactions when I called up some of my students who had, and are, studying with not just Nigerians, but other foreign students as well. And the thing I realised was that each person had a SPECIFIC STEREOTYPE assigned to people from different nationalities. The Nigerian students, for example, were stereotyped to be either "SCAMSTERS, DRUG DEALERS or VIOLENCE PRONE". I wouldn't even want to debate whether it's a fact or not, as it completely defeats the purpose of my conversation this week. But I'd definitely love to use this example and drive a very strong point here.
Those who didn't allow their emotions to be clouded by such judgements told me that the same Nigerians were the ones who would shield and protect them with all their might, in spite of being foreigners and strangers to our land, once they felt that Indians were one amongst them. And I for one would focus on doing everything in my power to build this feeling of ONENESS with everyone.
This isn't the first instance of violence or unrest based on discrimination, but we should definitely do our best to ensure that such instances are never repeated, especially on campus! Come on guys, this is the place to study and have fun while doing so. I would still love to go back to college any day! Ask any working professional what they miss about college and I'm sure almost every one will repent losing people! We all would have burnt bridges for silly reasons (which we realise now, but wouldn't have then). And in most cases, it would be because of one form of discrimination or the other. Don't believe me? Sit back, analyse and tell me I'm wrong. If you do, I'd be the happiest as you would be one out of a million or even a billion who doesn't suffer from the guilt and heartache.
"Discrimination? Nope! I had other reasons," is the biggest LIE that we can tell ourselves, forget about others. Rather than going into the different types of discrimination based on race, sex, etc, it would be best if I make it simpler and give a broader classification under which every type of discrimination is covered.
There are three main types of discrimination:
Direct discrimination - This is the most common form of discrimination as this is based on a particular factor or attribute. It may be race, age, caste, creed, sex, sexual orientation, social strata and so on.
Indirect discrimination - This type of discrimination isn't very evident and exists in the shadows. It is vague but definitely isn't any less damaging. It's like mandating a person to be 6 feet tall to sit on a chair, though every chair is designed to handle any height without causing any inconvenience. If read between the lines, it's a very polished way of discrimination based on height or favouring tall people.
Harassment - This is a form of discrimination in which everything is out there: INTIMIDATION, DIRECT CONFLICT, BULLYING, NAME CALLING and the like. Pretty self-explanatory, isn't it? Harassment is a direct result of both PERCEIVED DISCRIMINATION and DISCRIMINATION BASED ON ASSOCIATION. It simply means the basis on which an individual is being discriminated against is either because of a pre-conceived notion or because of a previous experience.
Can we still say that we had "other reasons"?
United we stand, united we rule! We talk about unity most of the time and how it's important to be strong. I'd like to dive deeper into our unconscious about how we develop a bias. We are tied down with first impressions, which we often feel is the best impression, but seldom do we realise that we've actually been re-programmed to judge a book by its cover. If we just become a little self-aware and focus on having an open mind, understanding and breaking stereotypes, we will become truly un-tied and one, period!
I began with an amazing quote by Nelson Mandela and though I still have a long way to go to achieve greatness, I'd still like to sign off with my own quote which I'm sure will inspire you to follow my own religion which I refer to as HUMANISM. "If we all realised that we are classically conditioned to be biased and learn how to discriminate, we can definitely UNLEARN it and RELEARN one-ness, which will not only make our lives wholesome, but also ensure that we fill the void in every human, thereby becoming truly humane."
Adarsh Benakappa Basavaraj,
Your Loving Humanism Coach
