TED Conversations

Darius Teodorescu

Sales Manager, Professional Translations

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

What can Human Rights do about racism ?

It is known that for a long time racism was a big problem for all mankind. The question is: Can we accept everybody no matter what color, country or religion represent ? For example a concern is the gipsies from Europe who can hardly find a place an be accepted by the community. Can we do something for them? Where should they live, eat, pray or learn ? I think the answer to all these questions leans in each one of us (especially for the politicians) and has a major influence on minority. Human rights should be applied and intervene in every single case, when a human being or an ethnicity suffers because of not knowing how to handle the problem. Why human rights doesn't intervene, it remains an enigma..

0
Share:
progress indicator

  • Christopher Melvin

    • +1
    Sep 17 2012: Simply being aware of human rights and abuses may change behavior. By defining our desire for compassion we will be compelled to nurture it. People tend to be defined by their behavior rather than their intention, therefore , perhaps we can nurture our compassion enough to modify our intention to attain the will to modify our behavior.

  • John Smith 30+

    • 0
    Sep 17 2012: Human rights laws cannot stop you from thinking a certain way, they can only stop you from acting a certain way. Gypsies are protected by human rights laws in Europe, however that does not mean they can simply do as they please.

  • Mario Jimenez

    • 0
    Sep 17 2012: Buddha says; all necesities can be cover, but not desires. Because desires from humans has never end.
    go deeper in word , in the real significate of the word "love" will give to you the answer, becasue love its live in movement.

    Love never hurts, if hurts its not love, its other feeling.

    When people will start understanding and control them egos, then will see really changes, accepting the others, like himself extensions.
  • thumb

    Feyisayo Anjorin 50+

    • 0
    Sep 16 2012: We have to make sure that we constantly speak against injustice, intolerance, discrimination and racism. The world may not be totally free of these evils, but we have to make sure that our stand against these practices are known.

    Funding for media and arts campaigns against racism and other social ills should be provided by governments, companies and concerned individuals.
  • thumb

    Daryan Sankar

    • 0
    Sep 16 2012: I think human rights helps prevent things such as not getting a job because of your race or religion or whatever else, basically making all people equals, but human rights cannot make a person stop hating a certain race or religion. Part of human rights is being able to have your own opinions. I personally think that not liking someone because of where there from, what they believe in, or the color of their skin is ignorance at its finest but ,sadly, it happens a lot. However, i believe one day after diversities have been living together for a long time the racism and hate will slowly vanish. It's just one of those things that only time can heal.

  • gale kooser 20+

    • 0
    Sep 16 2012: I did NOT mean compassionate racism!
    I meant we all need to show more compassion towards others. This could lower the racist attitude towards all.

    • Christopher Melvin

      • 0
      Sep 16 2012: Of course, my apologies. I also agree compassion is the killer app and it must be networked and distributed to everyone on the planet and in every form.

  • gale kooser 20+

    • 0
    Sep 16 2012: The U.S. is still loaded with racism and I agree with R. Pavis but also add the term compassion.

    • Christopher Melvin

      • 0
      Sep 16 2012: Compassionate racism? Fascinating...

      In my mind, racism is a learned behavior. There are 24 hours in a day. Each day reinforces the next.
  • thumb

    Gail . 50+

    • +1
    Sep 16 2012: My opinion about why there is still tyranny over the few by the many is because people don't know what equality is and how beneficial diversity is. BUT - there is an even more urgent cause. That has to do with $$$$$$$$$$$.

    Our global financial model requires inequality in order to sustain the power base of the most monied. It is well served by the fearful who are easily manipulated into supporting their own tyranny. Fear-based religions and cultures are especially valued by the few because fear is the operative word in keeping a cruel system alive for the benefit of the few. The military-industrial complex with its unending wars also further fear and hatred while they line the pockets of the few.

    Most people are so familiar with the current global financial model that they do not know that money serves the interests of a social model that tyrannizes them. Therefore, education is essential. There are other social models that do not involve $$$ or even barter. My favorite is the "gift economy". It inspires mutual cooperation in the name of survival. Our current social model inspires hatred in the name of the inequality of power hierarchies.

    Hate and fear are systemic in our currently accepted social model.

    • John Smith 30+

      • 0
      Sep 17 2012: "because people don't know what equality is and how beneficial diversity is"

      It's statements like that that make potential racists feel like they're not being taken seriously, which then turns them into full blown racists. There is nothing beneficial or damaging about diversity in general, it really depends on the situation. Getting a mathematician and a physicist together in a room to solve a problem is beneficial diversity, putting a man in a room with a cannibal, not so much... You can't go tell German truck drivers that adding Polish truck drivers to their group is better for everyone: together they won't come up with revolutionary new ways of driving a truck, so there is no overall benefit and the Germans will even be worse off because the Poles will drive their wages down.
      • thumb

        Gail . 50+

        • 0
        Sep 17 2012: Diversity is very helpful in the context of the given question. Look what happens when you put a group of white anglo saxon Protestants (WASPs) together into a political party. You've got racism on display.

        • John Smith 30+

          • 0
          Sep 17 2012: Adding Muslim Salafists to their party would only make it even more extreme, so fundi Christian evangelicals and Muslims Salafists put together is the wrong kind of diversity. There are good kinds of diversity but that doesn't mean all kinds are good.

  • Rhona Pavis 50+

    • +2
    Sep 16 2012: We can eliminate the concept of race by not teaching it to children. There is a continuum of color, characteristics. The concept of racism oversimplifies the facts and misleads. The best approach would be to orient children to the concept of their being EARTHLINGS with interesting differences in individual characteristics.
    • thumb

      Ernesto Villasenor

      • +1
      Sep 16 2012: Such concept of eliminating race was brought up in a nice way (but on a different topic) through Richard Dawkin's "The Virus of the Mind."

      Racism is passed on generationally through individuals on a generation basis, as it is passed down and down. That's how the cycle continues to go, and usually such perception of racism is founded on the lack of knowledge about other cultures, in other words: one is ignorant of another race.

      Just as Rhona stated, children need to be taught as not only earthlings, but as humans altogether. There should not be any special ways of teaching minorities over others, as it is in the case through many education systems. Same thing as what goes on at home: older people should be exposed to various cultures and stuff.

      Racism usually arises in societies and communities where multiculturalism and diversity of communities/ethnic groups are poor, or at least such example is seen in the US.

      • John Smith 30+

        • +1
        Sep 17 2012: Having problems with another culture is not the same as racism (because you would not have a problem with someone who is from another race but was raised in your culture) and we should not pretend that it is. Criticism of other cultures can be valid, racism never is.
Showing all 18 comments