1.1 Social Justice – Emily Tinkler's ePortfolio of Education Training

As we look further into racism, the previous actions that people took against others of a different race are still present in today’s society.

We looked at how Stephen Lawrence’s case in 1993 was not fully investigated due to the racist views of the police officers. Stephen Lawrence was a black teenager who was attacked by a gang of white youths, the police did not convict anyone as it was assumed that it was a ‘street brawl’, to which his mum had compared to “white masters during slavery” showing that the times have not changed.

There is no reason why in the modern world that we live in today there should be differences like this one. If a young person dies, there should not be a difference in how the investigation is handled, finding the person who murdered them should be the main priority. Not their skin colour. Not where they grew up. Not one difference should hinder the fight for justice.

Although the Lawrence cause was 20 years ago, and slavery was a century ago. These problems have still not changed. In America, there are so many cases of police officers targeting African Americans, for example; Charlotte USA, Scott was shot by the police who claimed he held a gun, however, video evidence showed that he was only reading a book waiting for his child to finish school.

Many campaigns have started in order to support black people being discriminated against, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, Protests in the sporting world where player have knelt during the national anthem and Documentaries to show the extent of the issue.

Racism is not the only issue that hinders equality within our society. Discrimination such as; Islamaphobia and Patriarchy are still present today. Through political leaders supporting patriarchy where men are seen as ruling over all women in every aspect of life. It is clear that views will not change even with opposition leaders such as Angela Merkle, who are trying to show that woman are not inferior to men and are capable of running countries for example.

Patriarchy affects many people; women who feel uncomfortable in the workplace, partners struggle to support the victims. Yet no change is made. There is inequality pay gaps, a lack of affordable childcare and many other things that hinder the equality acts of 1970, from being carried out.

Discrimination needs to stop. Racism needs to stop. Patriarchy needs to stop. And Equality needs to start.

This week I attended a Values lecture where we learnt about how different forms of bias are present all around us; from news channels to how people unwittingly make judgments based on first impressions.

I found this lecture very interesting. We watched a video of Panti, an Irish drag queen who faced legal proceedings because she named people as homophobic for being against same-sex marriage. The treatment of bias against Panti and many other people in similar positions showed how divided the modern world is.

Later on, there was a workshop where our lecturer demonstrated bias in our class by providing some groups with more materials than others and providing the same 2 groups with more help and support than others. It was interesting to see that the groups that had all of the resources, materials and help were oblivious to the lack of support to the others. However, the groups that had less help and support were very aware of the lack of resources and support. On reflection, the learning outcome from this workshop is to ensure as a teacher, you do not apply unconscious bias to your teaching practice and that each child is given the same amount of support and encouragement.

Because I have always considered myself to be a balanced and open minded person I initially questioned myself and the purpose of these lectures. I have now changed my perspective on the magnitude of the issue.