Category Archives: Contemporary issues

Reflections on Racism

Have we moved that far as a society, in relation to racism, since the 1950’s? It would be easy to say yes, we have come a long way. Before researching this, I would have thought that the majority of attitudes have changed and Britain has become a more inclusive society.

As I researched more into this, however, I found this was not quite the case.

I found out that the recorded crime in Scotland, looking at racially aggravated conduct and harassment, shows a steady decline in offences committed. However, it is important to remember that many offences may be going unreported and the total amount of offences (1,993) is still eye-wateringly high. This shows that racism is still a very real issue that needs to be tackled.

Furthermore, the media can be an influential factor affecting the views and stereotypes, held by society, of minority groups. In fact, this year a false story was retweeted by an MP. It stated that  Muslim men were cheating the benefits system by claiming for multiple wives.

After reading about this I found this was a great example of how influential figures and the media can contribute to spreading false information, as well as suspicion and fear of minority groups. This also can be expanded on by thinking about our future roles as teachers and the importance of being unbiased, accepting and inclusive.

I recently watched the movie BlacKkKlansman, which was set in the 1970’s, and was shocked to discover this was a film based on reality, but more importantly, the ending shows footage from the events in Charlottesville. I thought this was a moving addition to the film and found that it really made me reflect on the re-emergence almost, of racism in today’s society. The film made me rethink the scale of this issue as did the lecture. As a white female living in Scotland I regret to admit, in the past, I haven’t always noticed the scale in which racism is still present in our society. However, I believe it isn’t and shouldn’t just be an issue that minority groups have to speak up against alone. Although they may have a deeper understanding, racism is everyone’s problem to address and should never be accepted.