By Abdirahman Mohamed Idris Ahmed
Nelson Mandela, in his book the Long Walk to Freedom said, œNo one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
Racism is really a critical issue which people found to be doing willingly and sometimes they do it unconsciously. I agree with Mandela that people do not get racism through genes or hormones but they learn it from their environment. There is no problem for one to be proud of his race and culture but the issue is when someone believes that his or her race is superior to others. We are all of the same kind, no one should be titled as superior or inferior to anybody. We are all sharing one category which is œhuman. It is really hurtful to look down into somebody and cause him or her to lose opportunities in life even though they are qualified just because of their skin colour. One might overcome the pain that might come out of an injury but the pain that comes out of being discriminated because of your outside features would stay for a long time and sometimes forever.
I really do not understand why do colours matter? All human beings are sharing the same bodys organs and parts. One should think what differentiates a red car from another which is similar to the first one but having different colour which is yellow? Both are cars at the end the colour does not make any difference in the function. People are similar to this example, we are totally the same being, so why are we discriminating people for their colours?
We are all the offsprings of Adam and Eve and the earth is not our property or the property of anyone. It is the property of who created it. So, why are some people acting like some places belong to them when everybody is sharing the earth with equal status of œhuman being. What makes one really wonder is how some people could share a place with animals and some others share their houses with animals but they dont want or cant share their places with people like them. There is a story of a guy living in one of the gulf countries, he approached the immigration at the airport when he was traveling and he was wearing the traditional clothe of the country even though he is not a citizen of the place. The immigration staff asked him where he was from, he said he’s from Palestine but proudly said, œI was born and raised here. The staff replied with, œohh yeah even dogs and cats are born here. The guy was really disappointed and decided to not wear the traditional clothe after that.
Individuals who think that their race is superior to other races are deviated from their humanity. People are equal, what differ them is their expertise, their intelligence and their hard working. People are more than their colours, therefore it is very hurtful to exclude individuals just because of their appearance and colours. Humans are creatures with emotions and feelings, one could lose his or her humanity through racism because they will strip themselves from feeling about what might hurt other people. When people lose their humanity they become emotionless, they might hurt others emotion without even noticing that they are hurting others.
What differentiate a human from a solid wall then?
Racism at workplace would affect the work and lead to weak and slow performance. Staff members who are discriminated would not be motivated to work. Why would they give their best when they are not being appreciated? When people are annoyed by the treatment, disrespected by others and discouraged by racism they would not be able to contribute to the company or the organisation that they are working for. The management should have strict rules and punishments to deal with the racism incidents in their companies. Staff should know that even though our colours might be different but the goal that all  in the organisation is after is one.
Everyone wants to succeed in this life, people aim to reach to high position and for that they would do whatever they can. As the white wants to reach a certain position the black also wants to. Therefore, the only way for each to reach their goal is by cooperating and combining the efforts of each to reach the targeted destination. Isolation and separation from others would only make us weak and distracted from our goals.
Usually a manager would choose a group of people to do a certain job with a deadline. In a group project if there is no harmony and peaceful atmosphere among the group members the project will never see the light. Racism between the group members could affect the group work and lead to problems. Members of one group must work in harmony and mutual responsibility towards oneself and the group as a whole. The colour does not mean that people are who one might think that they are. One should keep in mind that people are more than how they look outside; one should not be deceived by appearance for beauty is mostly found within. Some people would have same colour as one does but they might be very shallow minded and unqualified for anything. The team members should put the objective of the team on top of everything else for no good will come from disliking other team members because they are from different races. One should bear in mind that before judging others based on generalisation try dealing with them first and give them a chance.
Other races are not diseases, they are human like us, breathe and smell the same air as we do. It is a great experience for workers to mix with people from different races to learn from different experiences and cultures. If every race is grouping with their members and ignoring the other races no changes will be made. We should stop thinking that other are not like us just based on their appearance. What differ one person from another is the way of thinking. Therefore, if workers are communicating only with others from their own race only, people with same mentalities and experiences would not give them more like if they communicated with people from different culture and different way of thinking.
Quitting the job could be the only solution one would go for when there is no solution for the racism at workplace. Racism would lead experienced people to leave their companies to another where they are respected. People who are highly knowledgeable do not have to take any disrespecting treatment because if they quit their works they will find another easily. The loser in this equation is the company because the expert might go and work with a competitor. However, the story could not be the same with small workers or those who are very difficult to find a replacement for would not quit their job even if they were discriminated because they know if they did they will face a hard time finding another. They would digest and compromise being not promoted for long times or being paid the same amount of salary for a long time. These workers if they grouped up and decided to quit their jobs at the same time they would put their company in boiling water. The public and the government would start questioning the company of the reason behind the action that was done by the workers. Therefore. it can be said that the company that does not value its staff will not stay around for long period. Respect and consideration are the least of what people deserves.
The victims of racism would feel very down and discriminated, lonely, sad and disappointed. One might reach to the extent of saying why was I born in this race? I had no choice in choosing my race so why are people treating me badly even though that it is not my mistake or choice to be from different race. According to the Immigrant Council Ireland, 120 cases of racism have been dealt with from 2012 and 2013. Most of the cases was taking a place at the workplace. One of the cases was with one young woman who said that her manager would speak to her very slowly as if she did not understand him even though English is her first language. She continued saying her sad experience which no one can put up with, œthe manger would leave the elevator every time I entered it, she said. The racism towards her was not only by the manager but also by her co-workers.
At one time she was offering them a cake but none of them had touched it. It is known that too much pressure leads to explosion and that what happened with this young lady who decided to quit the job after she heard some of her workmates talking negatively about foreigners. She said, œI felt so stressed to the point of considering suicide.” Apparently racism would only delay the job but it might lead to the loss of great and hardworking individuals. Some would feel very depressed and consider leaving this world to the racists to enjoy it if leaving of the victim would make them happy.
Most of the countries around the world are sharing the problem of lack of job opportunities. Racism if becomes a standard for hiring, the main problem will become worse. In some parts of the world and in some companies people are not hired by their speciality but by their race. Ahmed is a foreigner who lives in one of the gulf countries. He shares with the Arabs their language, cultures and norms. The only thing that he is not sharing with them is the colour of the skin and the citizenship. When he and his best friend graduated from high school, they were planning to find a job and start their journey of struggle. They applied together to the same company and they waited the response. After a while the company called Ahmeds friend for an interview but Ahmed was not called up. Ahmeds friend got the job and he didnt. Both was having very similar grade at the high school and both were at the same age but Ahmeds friend was a local and Ahmed was not. How would you feel when you are treated the same way? Is it permissible for the local people to live and other races to die?
Some staff cannot even hide their racism when dealing with clients; they would treat people from their race differently than others. Racism in the treatment of the client will drive them to not do business with you again since there are other choices to invest with. Nobody can stand racist treatment why would they invest their money in a company that is not appreciating their humanity. The goal of the company should be to satisfy their clients whom their investment is important for the existence of the company that they are investing on. People will not let it go easily but they will tell others about the racism incident they had. Other people would lose the interest to invest in such a company and eventually the company will lose a lot for a stupid action by its staff.
Nobody can choose his or her race, therefore, it is really hurtful to be treated badly and inhumanly for something we didnt have role in. Everybody values freedom and equality and these are the least that everybody deserves. Im afraid that qualifications are not anymore important in some parts of the world since race is the criteria that get us jobs, what for we are studying for years then?
The conclusion that one can reach from the stories that were mentioned in this article is that justice can never take a place where racism exists. Racism is a sign of ignorance and stupidity because people need each other in order to survive in life. Ignoring and disqualifying others based on their races are actions that would not be implemented by knowledgeable individuals.***