Time to kick out discrimination

Discrimination is a common evil in our society today and it’s time we took a step against it if we need to reach the peak. Many societies have collapsed due to this common wickedness, not only in Rwanda but even other various places. Discrimination can simply be defined as a senseless bias of narrow-mindedness or evil that opposes good thinking and conduct in people. It’s everywhere; and every individual has encountered it at some point in their life. Most people have been psychologically tortured, communication lost and for some their health status has deteriorated due to the discrimination they face. In most cases, people have been discriminated not because of their own making but because someone else, a religion, class, job status, race and even cultural beliefs dictates their decisions. The other day, I visited a place around town where there are various homes. There was this young girl who passed by and happened to be well known by revelers in the place. But before she would leave the home streets, whispers ran the place in no minutes. “Her mother is sick of AIDS,” the whispers resounded. Nobody wanted to talk to her just because her mother is diagnosed with the disease; these revelers simply assumed that she was infected because her mother was. This young girl is traumatized and psychologically tortured; probably the only thing she does is to cry and curse the world at her tender age. It’s only a young innocent and harmless girl but society has condemned her without evidence. Discrimination has many dimensions; it can be racial, tribal or gender based—against women or men, against the middle class, it can be based on age, employment and unfortunately the list is endless. No matter what kind of discrimination we face, it’s the people and society’s responsibility to avoid it. It’s important to note that it’s a significant social issue that cannot be neglected. However, evidence indicates that discrimination still exists in many countries and communities, not only between the uneducated but also between educated ones. Citing an example from the middle class discrimination, I am reminded of a situation about a friend who was learned but could not get a job because on his first day of the interview he was smartly dressed. This carries a lot of humor with it but it’s so real and still happens today. Ironic as it is, his interviewers thought he was rich enough for the job or he had achieved what he wanted and was denied the position based on his appearance—too bad he was too smart for the job. Think about work places, women are still unfairly discriminated, in work places; they are still considered inadequate, yet it’s harder for them to climb higher on the corporate ladder. However Rwanda as a whole can be credited because it has put emphasis on women empowerment as compared to other African countries and the world at large. Some of the side effects of discrimination is that it yields to all sorts of poverty: Physical poverty for those discriminated against and intellectual poverty for the discriminators. Imagine that those discriminated against are learned and carry great skills that are capable of building a company, raising profits in a business or have the insight to great success. Definitely exploitation of talent is lost yet its contribution would positively impact the society. Our societies are riddled with such hatred based on peoples’ beliefs and origin and millions are still fighting each other for no relevant reason at all. Take a look at the Middle Easterner’s lives; they have been negatively impacted because of their heritage that is filled with hatred. Since the September 11th attack in the US, Muslims have been discriminated against and the public’s mind has been “poisoned” that Moslems are terrorists. This discrimination based on religion is also tragic. Three weeks back in Kenya the Muslim community was attacked after it was linked with the Al-Shabab terrorist network. Many were injured and the biggest mosque was destroyed. These disasters have put the Muslims and other Middle Easterners in a position of being suspected. Hatred as a result of discrimination has always occurred at customary times due to cultural values. Beliefs like “I cannot marry her because she’s from a tribe that is this and that…” are still common vocabularies in societies. Some African cultural values have brought discrimination which yields hate among people hence negatively affecting them. Fortunately there has been a great attempt to solve the problem of discrimination and many achievements have been gained but there are still areas where serious dilemmas persistently exist. Never the less, humanity should understand that discrimination is the number one enemy that hinders development and must be kicked out of our society. rutarindwabob@yahoo.co.uk