Racial discrimination happens when someone is treated less fairly because of their race, color, descent, national origin or ethnic origin than someone of a different ‘race’ would be treated in a similar situation. This is known as ‘direct discrimination’.
Example:
It would be discrimination if a real estate agent would not rent you a house because you are an Indigenous person.
Racial discrimination can also happen when a policy or rule that treats everyone in the same way has an unfair effect on more people of a particular race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin than others. This is known as ‘indirect discrimination’. Unlike direct discrimination, indirect discrimination may be justified if the policy or rule is reasonable and relevant to the particular circumstances.
Example:
A policy that says you have to be a particular height or weight to be employed in the defense forces may be discriminatory unless the requirements can be justified.
PROPOSE THEORY
If, by reason of, or of a provision of, a law of a State or Territory, persons of a particular race, color or national or ethnic origin do not enjoy a right that is enjoyed by persons of another race, color or national or ethnic origin, or enjoy a right to a more limited extent than persons of another race, color or national or ethnic origin, then, notwithstanding anything in that law, persons of the first-mentioned race, color or national or ethnic origin shall, by force of this section, enjoy that right to the same extent as persons of that other race, color or national or ethnic origin.
Examples of racist behavior which may be discriminatory include:
1. Verbal racist comments, made in the course of lectures, classes, meetings or
interviews;
2. Derogatory name calling, insults and racist jokes;
3. Written racist comment by staff or students;
4. Racist graffiti;
5. Distribution of racist material in the School;
6. Making threats against a person or group because of color or ethnicity;
7. Using the school facilities to recruit students or staff to racist organizations or
groups;
8. Discrimination on the basis of racial or cultural practices (including learning
practices) or stereotypes;
9. Exclusion of the knowledge or experience of Aboriginal peoples from
discipline areas to which these are particularly relevant.
My proposed solution is that we revamp the current criminal justice system to ensure that the same rights and protections are extended to all, even if it means that the rights now enjoyed by the privileged class are reduced. If the rights of anyone have to be abridged to ensure equality before the law then the solution is no better than the problem it purports to rectify. Equality before the law is supposed to be granted without regard to race, gender, religion, creed or socioeconomic status. The poor and rich alike deserve to benefit from equal protection of the laws. The rights of one group should not be lowered to rectify the problem of inequality. Instead the rights of the disenfranchised need to be increased.
The strength of this solution lays within my final proposition, which declares “we must identify and develop community-based programs to crime, both at the preventative and punitive stages”. This solution emphasizes the importance of community watch groups, reinforcement of community ties to deter crime, the need for community involvement in punishment and rehabilitation and the notion of community shaming. In essence I am proposing that the responsibility of policing fall on the community because I speculate that the community can exact more moral authority over citizens than any law enforcement agency. It is my belief that crime can be curtailed and trust in the criminal justice system restored by community policing strategies that acknowledge community disapproval of certain actions while simultaneously positively restoring the offender to social networks that would deter future criminal conduct.
References
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment