#50: No More Discrimination (PART 12)

【Fear】
When we see into the future along the path of traditional privilege, we come to realize that the demographics will surely tip it over. That is, the majority will eventually join the minority and thereby lose the traditional privilege. Perhaps, it’s the fear of such inevitable outcome that fuels the anxiety of the fading majority to fight tooth and nail against it at all costs.
 
Nevertheless, let us all think through about this fear.
 
We all know that America was founded as a nation of immigrants. Just go back some 250 years, a vast majority of the people in America were immigrants. Surely, just because we’re now Inside, it doesn’t make it right for us to slam the door shut on the people wishing to enter that same doorway of opportunity we or our own ancestors once walked through. In fact, we should be holding that door open to welcome those who aspire to follow their dreams, instead of slamming it shut behind us. We’d be selfish not to do so.
 
For that matter, is it truly right for the first inhabitants of any place be given a privilege and the newcomers be mistreated?
 
When we elevate ourselves to adopt a broad perspective, we know that mankind was born some 5 million years ago. Grasping this sweeping tide of history, we’re reminded that a vast majority of the people in virtually all countries are immigrants from a place now called Africa.
 
Reflecting on our history, we certainly can’t justify any newcomer be mistreated, as we’re all a product of a newcomer at one point in our own history. That is, a newcomer who’s already entered or wish to enter in the future.
 
And what’s equally true is that we can’t justify a majority be given a privilege while a minority be mistreated, as history has repeatedly proven such obsolete pattern won’t help us attain global peace. It’s because most people naturally possess the desire to Live my life the way I want. And naturally, no one wishes to be discriminated against.
 
Truth be told, the fear of the fading majority has no place to bud if the majority had always treated the minority without discrimination. Then and now, a Majority preference is the norm of our society, and many people, knowingly or not, mistreat the minority. As a result, the fading majority fears the loss of its traditional privilege.
 
Perhaps, it’s because no member of the majority wants to be mistreated in such a way. As a matter of fact, nobody does. Nonetheless, have we truly acknowledged the fact that such mistreatment of the minority is forced upon by the majority, of which we’re a part?
 
“Yes, indeed, I’m a member of the majority. But I was just born into the majority, and I’ve never discriminated against the minority,” many people may say. 
 
If so, then it’s imperative that we don’t allow ourselves to remain comfortable under the umbrella of a Majority preference – that we actively strive to prevent and eliminate discrimination. Even if it were a passive acceptance, it’s nonetheless an acceptance of the social structure that breeds discrimination. And, no matter how insignificant we feel each of ours may be, the accumulation of our passive acceptances is collectively the sustaining force behind Discrimination beyond generations, across time, and throughout the world.
 
Martin Luther King, Jr., the leader of the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, nailed this point as he demanded that the government and American people honor the promises of Declaration of Independence – We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
 
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace, which is the absence of tension, to a positive peace, which is the presence of justice . . .  The ultimate tragedy of Birmingham was not the brutality of the bad people, but the silence of the good people.
 
For us to not allow ourselves become the “good people” who remain silent under the umbrella of a Majority preference. For us to truly feel neutral and impartial whether we’re a majority or a minority, we must change our society which has for too long baked in a preferential treatment for the majority group.
 
To actively strive to eliminate the traditional privileges so that we can make our world a fair place for all. To welcome people of all backgrounds and to accept our differences. To cooperate together for the better tomorrow of each and every one of us.
 
It’s because wherever we are on our life’s journey, we can be better tomorrow. As human beings, it’s our responsibility to help one another. It’s our duty as a citizen of humanity to cherish everyone’s rights, to celebrate our diversity, and to strive for peace.
 
To that end, what’s most important is not the person’s place of birth, nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation or medical condition. Rather, it’s to see the individual as who s/he is and to engage with honesty and sincerity. When we truly do so, we will prevent and eliminate discrimination.

Read Previous: No More Discrimination (11)【Traditional Privilege】

Complete Series: No More Discrimination (1)～(12)
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