A Multicultural Country

Some countries have official, or de jure policies of multiculturalism aimed at recognizing, celebrating and maintaining the different cultures or cultural identities within that society to promote social cohesion. In this context, multiculturalism advocates a society that extends equitable status to distinct cultural and religious groups, with no one culture predominating.

A multicultural country must respect, support, and be sensitive to different cultures. It is probably very difficult to achieve all these at the level of individual citizens, but at least the government must adopt policies in doing so

A country isn't a multicultural country just because it has a few immigrant children attending some public schools, and other few immigrant legal workers.

In a multicultural country, policies may include:

* recognition of multiple citizenship (the multiple citizenship itself usually results from the nationality laws of another country)
* government support for newspapers, television, and radio in minority languages
* support for minority festivals, holidays, and celebrations
* acceptance of traditional and religious dress in schools, the military, and society in general
* support for music and arts from minority cultures
* programs to encourage minority representation in politics, SET (Science, Engineering and Technology), Mathematics, education, and the work force in general.
* enforcement of different codes of law on members of each ethnic group (e.g. Malaysia enforces Shar'ia law, but only for a particular ethnic group)

International Women's Day

Because today, is the Internacional Women's Day, i rembember to post here what is the real meaning of this day, not just the party's and stuff that womens do with their friends especially on this day, it is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women.

The idea of having an international women's day was first put forward at the turn of the 20th century amid rapid world industrialization and economic expansion that led to protests over working conditions.

By urban legend, women from clothing and textile factories staged one such protest on 8 March 1857 in New York City. The garment workers were protesting against very poor working conditions and low wages. The protesters were attacked and dispersed by police. These women established their first labor union in the same month two years later.

More protests followed on 8 March in subsequent years, most notably in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

In 1910 the first international women's conference was held in Copenhagen (in the labour-movement building located at Jagtvej 69, which until recently housed Ungdomshuset) by the Second International and an 'International Women's Day' was established.

Discrimination by being fat (does "help" helps?)

Obese people feel "a culture of blame" against them, which they say has been made worse by media reports about the health risks of obesity.
Researchers at Monash University in Melbourne conducted one-hour personal interviews with 76 obese individuals (62 females, 14 males), ranging in age from 16 to 72 years.
The authors found that the messages from media and health care professionals to engage in healthy behaviors, such as physical activity and eating healthier, may actually be doing more harm than good, Komesaroff said.
"Obese people frequently feel overwhelmed and disheartened by the publicity about their condition," he said. "They often feel disrespected and not understood by medical practitioners. Our participants express the view very forcefully that they feel victimized by current social attitudes about obesity. To be told that, in addition to the problems that they recognize only too well, they are now regarded as 'sick' is unlikely to assist them to find a solution."

The Skinhead Groups

A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian (specifically Jamaican) rude boys and British mods, in terms of fashion, music and lifestyle. Originally, the skinhead subculture was primarily based on those elements, not politics or race. Since then, however, attitudes toward race and politics have become factors in which some skinheads align themselves. The political spectrum within the skinhead scene ranges from the far right to the far left, although many skinheads are apolitical. Fashion-wise, skinheads range from a clean-cut 1960s mod-influenced style to less-strict punk- and hardcore-influenced styles.


White power skinheads, , are known for wearing Dr. Martens or combat-style boots, flight jackets, jeans and suspenders (also known as braces). White power skinheads generally have more tattoos than the skinheads of the 1960s, and these tattoos often feature explicitly racist content. Some wear badges, chains or rings featuring Nazi or white power emblems In Germany, the Lonsdale clothing brand has been popular among some neo-Nazi skinheads.

Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism, also known as cultural diversity, happens when people from different cultures interact with each other.
Due to immigration, the existence of more than just one specific culture or an ethnic group in certain places is possible. However, sometimes it can lead to discrimination for many different reasons.
In the presence of distinct cultures, people can assume different policies, such as ethnocentrism, cultural relativism and interculturalism.
Ethnocentrism includes people who see other cultures based on their own culture. These people usually develop a negative behaviour towards other cultures, in order to preserve theirs. Xenophobia, racism and chauvinism are common beliefs/attitudes among ethnocentrism supporters.
Relativism refers to people who believe someone’s actions should be judged according to their culture, since what’s right or wrong depends on each culture.
On the other hand, interculturalism is a policy that respects other cultures. It promotes the dialogue in order to understand the complexity and commonalities between different cultures and to collaborate on finding solutions for world-related issues.
Since we can’t say that a certain culture is totally developed, dialogue can be used as a way of development multiple cultures at the same time.
Interculturalism intends to teach people how to live among different costumes and traditions, respecting each other.

A strong example of racism

The following history is real and give us a strong example of racism.

It happened in a flight of British Airways between
Johannesburg (South Africa) and London.

A white skin female, approximately 50 years old, reached her place in the economic class, and saw that she had a black person on her side.
She got upset and called the stewardess.

-"Do you have any problem, ma'am?" - she asked.

-"Are you blind?" -said the old lady-"you just put me next to a black man, i can't stay here! You Must get me a new place to sit."

-"Please, calm down" - the stewardess said -"unfortunately, all seats are occupied, but I will see if we have any available.

The stewardess comes back momments later.

"I'm sorry, like i said before, there are no seats avaible in economic class. I spoke with the commandant and he confirmed that we have no seats avaible, not even in economic class, we have only one seat avaible in first class"- before the costumer made any comment- "It isn't usual our company allowing a economic class passanger to change for first class, but, given the cirunstances, the commander thinks that it should be scandalous to make a passanger travel near such an unpleasant person".

The stewardess said to the black men " So, please sir, may u grab your luggage, because we reserved for you a seat in first class." ALL the passengers applauded and were amazed.

Bullying

What is bullying?

Bullying is when someone keeps doing or saying things to have power over another person. Some of the ways they bully other people are by: calling them names, saying or writing nasty things about them, leaving them out of activities, not talking to them, threatening them, making them feel uncomfortable or scared, taking or damaging their things, hitting or kicking them, or making them do things they don't want to do.

Why do some people bully?

There are a lot of reasons why some people bully.
They may see it as a way of being popular, or making themselves look tough and in charge. Some bullies do it to get attention or things, or to make other people afraid of them. Others might be jealous of the person they are bullying. They may be being bullied themselves.
Some bullies may not even understand how wrong their behaviour is and how it makes the person being bullied feel.

Why are some young people bullied?

Some young people are bullied for no particular reason, but sometimes it's because they are different in some way - perhaps it's the colour of their skin, the way they talk, their size or their name. Sometimes young people are bullied because they look like they won't stand up for themselves.
What can you do if you are being bullied? Coping with bullying can be difficult, but remember, you are not the problem, the bully is. You have a right to feel safe and secure.
If someone is bullying you, you should always tell an adult you can trust. You have a right to be safe and adults can do things to get the bullying stopped.
What can you do if you see someone else being bullied? If you see someone else being bullied you should always try to stop it. It's always best to treat others the way you would like to be treated.You should show the bully that you think what they're doing is stupid. Help the person being bullied to tell an adult they can trust.

What is Xenophobia?

Xenophobia is a fear of strangers. It is not a phobia in the sense that a stranger will cause someone with xenophobia to have a panic reaction or attack, but it is a dislike of strangers and usually foreign strangers.Most cultures are xenophobic to some extent in the sense that people will be polite to strangers, but will still prefer to live and work amongst people who share the same culture. However, now immigration has become more common, people mix more with other cultures.For most people this is a good thing and they enjoy meeting people of different faiths, different belief systems etc, but some people find this distasteful and want foreigners to 'go back home'.Xenophobia is usually different from racism in the sense that racists do not like people of different colours or cultures, whereas xenophobes are quite indiscriminate. They just dislike all (foreign) strangers, whatever colour or race they are!

Immigration Stories

I first came here to conduct university studies. I was fortunate enough to obtain a Bachelor, Master, and PhD degrees. When I went back to Honduras, I realized that political connections, and economic class trump education. After four years of struggling over there, I entered a Post Doctoral program in Ohio. Then, I met a lovely lady who soon became my wife. She turned into an abuser as soon as she sponsored my conditional residence. My life was full of constant stress and humiliation. She took economic advantage of the situation. Finally, after 2 years of getting married, my life became so unbearable that I was forced to apply for divorce without having a permanent status. The immigration lawyers I met were incompetent and just after the money. I submitted the petition myself. It was granted in less than two months. This renewed my faith in the American immigration system. However, I recognize that many immigrants go through horrible situations. If you follow the law, the path may be lengthy, but the outcome is usually favorable. I am sorry to say it, but people should not expect to break the law and have a positive result.

Salvi

El Paso, TX

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I have lived in the United States for 8 years. I was born in Burma. My family came over here to have a new life. We were chased by the government and our lives were in danger. My family has separated since I have come here. I am adopted and live with a great family.

Tim

BoyerWhitewater, WI

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I came to the United States when I was 16 years old. I was born in India and my family was having a lot of problems. All my life my mom told me of how wonderful America was and ever since then I have wanted to live there and become a legal citizen. While I was in town one day, in India, I met the man of my dreams. He told me that he was from America and it took my breath away because of the way that he talked about the amazing place. He asked me to marry him only after knowing each other for a couple of months. I said yes because I felt that I was truly in love with him. He took me back to that United States because he knew that it was my dream to live there. After three years of being married and getting my green card, I finally become a legal citizen. I guess that dreams do come true.

Tanushri

Chicago

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My family came to this country as legal immigrants, in search of safety, education, and most of all, a better life. I come from Somalia where a Civil War broke out in 1991 due to corruption of the government. When I came to America I was 12 years old and I had never attended school before going to the Newcomer Center at John Adams Middle School in Rochester in 2004. Unfortunately, when I transferred to Kellogg, my classmates were not very friendly towards me. I knew that people were talking about me and I would have stood up for myself, but at the time I couldn’t express what I wanted to say in English. However, these words were so hurtful that I thought of killing myself.
One night, my grandmother asked me how school was going for me. I told her that I never wanted to go back. My grandmother was shocked and speechless. Then, she told me that these are just some of the challenges that everyone has to face in life. She told me to be strong and just live through it. It is not the end of the world. She also encouraged me to keep working hard in school and to ignore what people were saying. Then I said, I will kill myself if you make me go back to that school. She slapped me across the face and said, You will what? If you kill yourself, then who is going to look after your little siblings? Do you think that killing yourself will solve all the problems that you have? She also said that if you give up now; then all the sacrifices we have made coming to this country were for nothing. That is the night I realized that if I kill myself, I would be giving up the fight.
To close, I would like to leave you with this thought: Since this country is made up of immigrants, and you or your ancestors were immigrants, why should you treat other immigrants any differently? Awale

Osman

Rochester, MN

Sorces:

http://www.myimmigrationstory.com/

What is Racism?

Racism has existed throughout human history. It may be defined as the hatred of one person by another -- or the belief that another person is less than human -- because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes.

Some refer to racism as white supremacism, the belief that the Caucasian race is superior to all other races. Others define racism as discrimination against a particular race’s culture, beliefs or traditions. Racism is not exclusively the province of the Caucasian race. Racism between different racial groups is quite prevalent in areas where two groups of different races exist. For example, the rivalry between Asian and Black street gangs in urban America can be tied to racial tensions that have existed for many decades.

This belief was not "automatic": that is, Africans were not originally considered inferior. When Portuguese sailors first explored Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries, they came upon empires and cities as advanced as their own, and they considered Africans to be serious rivals. Over time, though, as African civilizations failed to match the technological advances of Europe, and the major European powers began to plunder the continent and forcibly remove its inhabitants to work as slave laborers in new colonies across the Atlantic, Africans came to be seen as a deficient "species," as "savages." To an important extent, this view was necessary to justify the slave trade at a time when Western culture had begun to promote individual rights and human equality. The willingness of some Africans to sell other Africans to European slave traders also led to claims of savagery, based on the false belief that the "dark people" were all kinsmen, all part of one society - as opposed to many different, sometimes warring nations.

Sources:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-racism.htm

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