(Photo Courtesy of Sean Gallup/Getty)
You can’t change people’s perceptions, but you can change what they perceive, influencing and guiding them; that is our solution to save humanity. Today’s world is a white world, with consideration for humanity decreasing down the colour scale; an absurd mentality perceived by everyone and passed on over generations; an invisible pact of racism.
As we face more racial discrimination than ever before, we have started to realise what a bad feeling it leaves in our mouths. And we have decided to take action to ensure that we are never to taste it again. Still, protests won’t make the cut anymore to change society. We need to be ambitious and aim higher to see change.
Black people around the world, being part of an ethnic minority, have been pushed to the lower class, with high rates of unemployment, low rates of education and low salaries. They, therefore, have inadequate living facilities in comparison to other ethnicities. Their stressful lives may lead to increased crime in their communities. The media often portray these crimes, spreading the belief that ethnic minorities are unsuitable for society, and are dangerous company.
Defeating the people’s wrong impression of black people will certainly not be easy. It will take a long time before racism is entirely eradicated from our planet, but the situation will, slowly and surely, get better.
We need to start accepting black people as a community and allow them to share our peace, our privileges, and our resources. Black people shouldn’t have to fear us; they shouldn’t have to live in areas segregated for the ethnic minorities. We need to acknowledge them in our lives, neighbourhoods, and workplaces. This is when we can begin to make a change, although it is only the tip of the iceberg.
To really see a difference across the globe, we need governments and governing bodies to get involved. Being responsible members of society, we urge governments to take initiatives with constructive timelines that keeps them accountable and achieves a long term solution to our problem. Governments need to establish laws to ensure that people of all ethnicities, especially blacks, are protected, and treated equally and justly, and must intervene when inequality is practised. They must also ensure that all people are aware of the difficulties ethnic minorities face. People should also be educated about practising racial equality.
We need to aspire to allow for equal opportunities in society and to establish justice in all aspects of life. Countries’ main priorities should be to eradicate poverty and to bring their unemployment rates to zero. They should also encourage people of different ethnicities to live and mingle in the same area to make society more accepting of ethnicities unlike their own.
In Islamic culture, racism is generally frowned upon, as our Lord mentions in the Holy Quran,
“And among His wonders is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your tongues and colours. For in this, behold, there are messages indeed for all who are possessed of innate knowledge!”
-Quran 30, 22
The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, is also known to have said, “O people, your Lord is one and your father Adam is one. There is no favour of an Arab over a foreigner, nor a foreigner over an Arab, and neither white skin over black skin, nor black skin over white skin, except by righteousness.” Muslims practice anti-racism in their daily lives: attending their prayers at masjids, their places of worship, they stand shoulder to shoulder as brothers, without discrimination or judgement. Islam’s encouragement of unity in society is an exemplar of the values we as humanity need to instill in our future generations.
With Islam being one of the fastest-growing religions, among others, in the world, and today’s youth taking action to eradicate racism around the globe, we will certainly be able to see a world in which numerous ethnicities can peacefully coexist in society, without discriminating caste, creed, or colour.