How would you end racism, sexism, homophobia, etc?

It's a question that's being hanging around in the back of mind for a while now. Curious to see the answers.

The answer by the way isn't stuff like "when people stop being assholes and stop discriminating" or "when being gay is as normal as being straight", as those are the end goals, what I'm looking for specifically is the part in between of how you get to that point. How do you get people/the world to stop being racist/sexist/homophobic, how do you eliminate it from society? What are the means/methods you think are required to achieve the end goal?

hopefully that makes sense

You don't have to address every single form of discrimination, nor are you limited to just the forms mentioned. It's ok if you want to type a lot of words too. It's also ok if you feel that your idea(s) will not completely erase it and just reduce it--post anyway.

Society needs to stop categorizing people and placing individuals into collective groups such as "black", "white", "gay", "straight" etc. Rather, we need to view each other as individuals and not see others based on WHAT they are (ethnicity, religion, skin pigmentation, sexual orientation, etc) and see people for WHO they are (what they contribute to society, their personalities, hopes and dreams, etc). We need to look past all of these unnecessary labels and view each other for what we are: human beings. Plain and simple. Focusing solely on one aspect of an individual, be it their race or gender, is like looking at one part of a painting but failing to see the whole picture in all of its glory. People are so much more than labels, we are complex beings and unique beings. Therefore, I think it's absurd to categorize people and reduce them to a label.

However, not to be pessimistic, but I think racism, homophobia, etc are inevitable. As long as people are different there will always be judgement based on those differences. Sure, we can combat it and educate the ignorant, thus increasing tolerance and the acceptance of others. Although, discrimination will continually exist as long as humankind inhabits the earth because we are imperfect beings.

A semi good way to reduce it is to prove bigoted folks wrong is by working hard at something like a job, being a decent person and proving yourself an equal or even better. Not being provoked helps too. Convincing people through actions is more effective than words. Some good examples would be my father who is an immigrant and has been discriminated but works hard to make a living and Rais Bhuiyan who forgave the racist guy who shot him.

I would say this impossible, unless we start going the direction of thought crime & mind control. People will always have their preferences, no matter how much one would want to legislate integration, and naively think everyone will get along just fine---and feel the need to force the issue.

As long as individuals (or groups of individuals) don't act aggressively towards other individuals, let it be.

CrimsonMajestic said:

I would say this impossible, unless we start going the direction of thought crime & mind control. People will always have their preferences, no matter how much one would want to legislate integration, and naively think everyone will get along just fine---and feel the need to force the issue.

As long as individuals (or groups of individuals) don't act aggressively towards other individuals, let it be.

Click to expand...

So we should just let the condescension and racism and whatever else alone as long as they aren't aggressive about it? Come on man, that's no better than doing nothing.

strangerhypno said:

A semi good way to reduce it is to prove bigoted folks wrong is by working hard at something like a job, being a decent person and proving yourself an equal or even better. Not being provoked helps too. Convincing people through actions is more effective than words. Some good examples would be my father who is an immigrant and has been discriminated but works hard to make a living and Rais Bhuiyan who forgave the racist guy who shot him.

Click to expand...

I disagree with this. People shouldn't have to do anything to be treated decently. They should be treated decently anyway.

Make it a crime to be racist. Add repercussions for it. Ruin racists lives, make them shunned in society. That's how I see the only way to do it. This behaviour is unacceptable and should be punished.

strangerhypno said:

So we should just let the condescension and racism and whatever else alone as long as they aren't aggressive about it? Come on man, that's no better than doing nothing.

Click to expand...

You seem to be making the assumption that there's anything to be done about it; as if actively doing something is going to 'cure' the problem of other people having preferences over interactions with others. Come on man, that's no better than coercively dictating how people should interact with each other (regardless of scale). Of course, we (as a human race) already have a system in place that we use to do such a thing called The State, which government is such an effective tool for on a large scale. It should go without saying how effective that has been (depending which perspective you're referring to); not to mention the fact we are having this discussion in the first place.

That said, yes, I propose that we do nothing. But then, doing nothing is doing something passively, that is providing people the space to interact freely with as little conflict as possible, and voting with their feet.

Discrimination is caused by fear, misinformation and a tribe mentality. I think that Crimson is very much on the right track. If you want to combat fear and misinformation the solutions are education and dialogue. You'll never completely remove discrimination from the world because there's always going to be shitty people but you could drastically minimise it by actively fighting stereotyping and negative rhetoric.

Raven said:

Make it a crime to be racist. Add repercussions for it. Ruin racists lives, make them shunned in society. That's how I see the only way to do it. This behaviour is unacceptable and should be punished.

Click to expand...

This has been tried. It only served to fuel hate. Nazi leaders got thrown in jail repeatedly before they finally rose to power. You'd probably have to execute people outright if you wanted a law to make an actual difference re an opinion.

Educating people and treating people decently regardless of differences is probably the only real way to change people's minds. Allow the dialogue and let people work it out.

*wave's cheerfully* Bi sexual girly girl with a crush on Korrina from x and y here.

I'll say this much: I'd probably not be alive anymore or something if not for Korrina. She's my very reason to work even harder to get past the autism and be more cheerful about life in general now. She's just so beautiful to me and I really do think she helps me (and this world felt waaaay too dark before i re-saw her arc on disney XD and fell in love....oh man its a pain to remember x.x; ). And i'd like to share that beauty she brings to me with the world :) If a same sex crush can be such a GOOD thing for someone, why would anyone want to be so unkind to people for crushes like these?

Here's hoping people keep working to make things better as a whole, even with the a-holes who manage to make this world seem dark and (sadly) a bit unlivable.

But this world is a lot more livable for me now that KORRINA is in it ^_^ And anyone who would deney me of that is just o_o; I don't understand how they can live with themselves...

And yes I know Korrina isn't real. But just loving something that looks beautiful and has a personality thats beautiful is fine for me even if maybe they can't love me back xD Although, you never know 100% if they aren't some-what real...aha.....

LadyJirachu said:

*wave's cheerfully* Bi sexual girly girl with a crush on Korrina from x and y here.

I'll say this much: I'd probably not be alive anymore or something if not for Korrina. She's my very reason to work even harder to get past the autism and be more cheerful about life in general now. She's just so beautiful to me and I really do think she helps me. And i'd like to share that with the world :) If a same sex crush can be such a GOOD thing for someone, why would anyone want to be so unkind to people for crushes like these?

Here's hoping people keep working to make things better as a whole, even with the a-holes who manage to make this world seem dark and (sadly) a bit unlivable.

But this world is a lot more livable for me now that KORRINA is in it ^_^ And anyone who would deney me of that is just o_o; I don't understand how they can live with themselves...

And yes I know Korrina isn't real. But just loving something that looks beautiful and has a personality thats beautiful is fine for me even if maybe they can't love me back xD Although, you never know 100% if they aren't some-what real...aha.....

Click to expand...

??.okay, but the topic isn't about Korrina or interest in characters, it's what the question up there stipulates. So let me ask you this. How would you try to better the situations in that, since removing it is essentially impossible as humans are?

Vragon2.0 said:

??.okay, but the topic isn't about Korrina or interest in characters, it's what the question up there stipulates. So let me ask you this. How would you try to better the situations in that, since removing it is essentially impossible as humans are?

Click to expand...

I'd try to....

Remind those people that the others they're going against have feelings too :( And ask them how they would feel if someone was going around hurting them like they're hurting others.

....Also, I think people should be open to the fact that korrina helps me and my condition a ton cuz it shows just how much someone a person loves can mean to them was the point i was driving at before

I wouldn't, because I can't. No one can.
Even in the most totalitarian society, where people will be hanged for thinking or saying racist/sexist/homophobic shit, it would still exist.

All we can do, as a relatively liberal and free society(assuming you live in one of those), is to make laws against hurting other people and against actions that are in direct opposition to the moral codes and rules that were established in the given country/nation(as in murder, rape, etc.)

I wouldn't make laws against speech or thought, and yet some of those - against speech - exist, to my disdain.
I'm a classic liberal in that sense. I wouldn't take away a person's right to be a racist/sexist/homophobic idiot who says racist/sexist/homophobic things. I would, however, support a negative social reaction to those things(which is how things are for the most part in the western world).

There is no way to end these things, they arise naturally in some people due to the interplay between their natures and the environments they grow up in. What we should strive for is to protect the basic human rights of all people and to do our best to do right by each other.

twocows said:

There is no way to end these things, they arise naturally in some people due to the interplay between their natures and the environments they grow up in.

Click to expand...

And when politics comes into play & States (built upon coercion via militarization & taxation) arise, funny things tend to happen "between their natures and the environments they grow up on."

What we should strive for is to protect the basic human rights of all people and to do our best to do right by each other.

Click to expand...

Now would be a good time to draw the line the land in the sand as to what "human rights" we are referring to:

• Right as defined by the Natural Law Tradition (NLT)

• Rights redistributed via The State (Legal Positivism)

It starts with just talking about prejudice. If you witness a situation of injustice happening in the world or in your local community, then share the experiebce with others. Also don't be afraid to speak if you hear someone you know express views that are bigoted, you have some influence with this person. Whereas they may lump black people or muslims or immigrants or gay people into a collective group, they see and respect YOU as an individual.

Its easy to not want to have a serious conversation at all and stick with polite topics, and say that it isn't worth getting worked up about. I've done this for years of my life, not wanting to bring any trouble into friendships by talking about social issues, but not doing so is like leaving a wound to fester untreated. There is no progress, and the divide only grows larger if we don't start talking to eachother. It is easier to deny the existence of potential prejuduce in a situation rather than take a long look at ourselves and our society.

I agree with some of what StrangerHypno says too as a minority myself.
We should love our neighbors, we are all human, and nobody should have to do anything to get others to recognize our humanity. The key word though is *should.* We would not have to make a thread like this if this was the way of the world. This topic is about finding strategies to defeat bigotry, and reason is a tool that can fight prejudice because hate is not based in reason. Racism, homophobia, religious persecution stem from fear and ignorance, not logic. This is why I agree that being an influence for good in life should not be undervalued. The example that you set can upset stereotypes that others cling to and cause people to re-evaluate their beliefs. More importantly it may be the first experience that some people have with someone who is different from them and could helpfully shape a new generation to be more tolerant

Yes, innocent, decent people can still be victims of discrimination. Some people will not change no matter what you do, but you might change some people. Whereas criminalizing prejudice is not going to change anyone's mind, more likely it will make someone more embittered, and the goal here as I understand it is to change sexist, racist, homophobic views rather than what legal actions we can take against hate crimes or discrimination in the workforce. Somebody just being a bad person is not against the law, it has to translate into a criminal action.

Dicourse is important because babies don't come into the world thinking about sexual orientation, gender, skin color, class or religion. Prejudice is taught. You learn it from other people in your community and what you see in the media. However, just like someone learned this, they can learn other things.