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Thursday, July 23, 2009
Social Evil (my essay)^^
The most notorious social evil ever existed in mankind is racial segregation which is defined as a practice of restricting people to a certain circumscribed areas of residence or to separate institutions and facilities on the basis of race or alleged race. Racial segregation provides a means of maintaining the economic advantages and higher social status of politically dominant races. In fact, racial segregation has appeared in all multi-racial communities, except where racial amalgamation has occurred on a large scale in places such as Hawaii and Brazil. Generally, the government and media influences most social evils that ever took place. The government was seen to be out of touch with the real issues people face and to be ineffective at tackling social problems. The media was criticized for fueling negative and damaging attitudes and behaviors. Racial segregation clearly leads to cruelty unimaginable to those who did not face it. Therefore, racial segregation alone is able to cause commotions and destructions bigger than war.
Evidently, this social evil in the United States can lead to social, economic and political tensions. Back in history, the desire of many whites to avoid having their children attend integrated schools has been a factor in white flight to the suburbs. The United States of America was founded in the 1700s and slaves from Africa were used to work the lands. In 1804, most of the northern states in America banned slavery and wished the Southern states to do the same. However, the Southern states believed that slavery was right and part of their life; it was something they did not want to give up. The Southern states tried to leave America and the American Civil War began. President Abraham Lincoln led the North to victory over the South and in 1865 slavery was banned throughout the whole country. According to the 1847 Virginia Criminal Code, "Any white person who shall assemble with slaves, or free negroes, for the purpose of instructing them to read or write shall be punished by confinement in the jail and by fine". Under this code, Margaret Crittenden Douglass, a former slaveholder, was arrested, imprisoned and fined for teaching free blacks. Thankfully, all these ended as an official practice by efforts of civil rights activists such as Clarence Mitchell and Martin Luther King Jr where their efforts to stop the separation were effective. By 1968, all forms of segregation had been declared unconstitutionally by the Supreme Court. Recent studies shows that groups of homeowners of all races tend to self-segregate in order to be with people of the same education level and race. Many individuals tried to make everyone see the possibilities if all these did not happen, the effects and the future. Even singers like Michael Jackson wrote a song titled “Black or White” to convey a message that it does not matter which race you are. Somehow there are cases where people would be ashamed because their lineage is half of each race. Nowadays, African Americans plays a significant role as mayors, governors, state officials and recently, as the president of the United States where Barack Obama won the hearts of millions and made history, change is promised.
The Jews suffered a whole lot when the Christians and Muslims acted to segregate them. They are forced to wear distinctive clothings to segregate themselves from the Christians in 1204. Not only that, they are obligated to live in separate parts of town for they are considered as unclean creatures. Even going out when it rains is prohibited because the rain would wash the dirt of them which would sully the feet of the Mussulmans. If a Jew is recognized in the streets, he is subjected to the greatest insult. The passer-by would spit in his face and sometimes beat him up, unmercifully. If a Jew shows himself in the street during the three days of the Katel which is the Muharram, he is sure to be murdered without consideration. These are such forms of cruelty, a result of this social evil. In Germany, marriages between Jews and Aryan Germans are not allowed as it is classified as racial difference. In general, race is just defined as a person who has distinct physical characteristics.
During the ruling of the British in Malaysia before the Second World War, they separated the Malays, Chinese, and Indians to different territories. The Malays working on the paddy fields, Chinese people on the mining sites and the Indians on the oil palm plantations and the rubber estates. The main purpose behind those actions is to prevent the races from coming together and communicating to demand for independence. In connection to that, not all children are given education so that they won’t have any ideas about the rights the locals have on ruling their own country. Everybody especially the younger generation must respect and be sensitive towards the aspirations and the rights of others so that there is mutual understanding, which in turn will lead to a greater unity, quoted one of the Malaysian ministers. Racial, cultural and religious differences need not hinder Malaysians from being united but be binding factors to strengthen relationships among the various communities in the country.
As a conclusion, those who are being involved with racial segregation, even giving a slight contribution to it has lost their “moral compass”. This social is really not ineradicable and inevitable; it’s just that the knowledge isn’t there to guide a person to do the right thing. The phrase “social evil” has struck a chord with many people and tapped into their thoughts on the fundamental challenges where people are starting to realize the importance of having a strong foundation in the country which is staying united. As time goes on, history is simply avoided and the future will be kept bright as long as there is no interference with any of these issues. The past should stay as the past and the future be led by the younger generation who will strive on into success but taking note of the past issues just for knowledge so there isn’t any repetition to it.
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