This thread will discuss how a variety of issues related to discrimination can affect your human rights
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Stereotypes: A human rights issue?
1. March. 2008.
- Sofia Fortin
Stereotyping.
People make judgments about others based on their looks, their age, racial background, gender, and all sorts of other physical characteristics without any real knowledge about the person.
It’s uncomfortable, embarrassing, and often downright insulting.
But when do these assumptions cross the line?
If you look at the Yukon Human Rights Act, you’ll see that there are 13 different types, or grounds of discrimination. On a lighter note, there’s tons of funny video clips, TV shows, Movies, and stand up comedians that poke fun at stereotypes – of all kinds.
But wait! Stereotypes aren’t really as funny as some comedians (or YouTube “stars”) make them seem. Especially when the false assumptions have a real and negative effect on your life.
That’s what happened to Canadian boxer Kirk Johnson.
As a first-class contender in the late 1990s, Johnson was scheduled to fight against heavyweight title-holder Lennox Lewis until he was sidelined by a chest injury. While recovering and training in his home province of Nova Scotia, Mr. Johnson had several negative experiences with the Halifax municipal police.
After being pulled over by police 28 times in a period of roughly three months – according to Mr. Johnson – an official complaint of racial discrimination was filed with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.
The Commission ruled in December of 2003 that the police had indeed violated Mr. Johnson’s human rights by discriminating against him based on a racial stereotype, and awarded him $10,000 in damages.
Basically, the police relied on a kind of racial profiling in their treatment of Mr. Johnson, who was essentially only guilty of D.W.B. – “driving while black.” But unfortunately, racial profiling is a sad fact of our world. And the judgments people make based on stereotypes can have much more serious consequences.
The backlash against Muslims and Middle-Eastern People in America after September 11th is another example of how stereotypes can negatively impact people’s lives.
In many ways, “flying while brown” seems to have become the new “driving while black,” and there have been several lawsuits against American commercial Airlines for removing people from flights. This seems to happen because passengers or members of the flight crew believe that they “look suspicious.” There is also growing concern over theway that Muslims are being portrayed in movies, TV, and the media in general... see the video below for details.
And what about youth??? Do you ever feel that you’re being stereotyped when you go shopping, or to a restaurant, or some other public place?
So what do you think? Do you ever feel the uncontrollable urge to steal or randomly become violent? probably not. So how can we help to dispel these myths? What can we do about stereotyping, which could lead to discrimination in our community?
Well, for one, if you were stereotyped in a way that violated your rights under the Human Rights Act, you can file a complaint with the Yukon Human Rights Commission.
But what can we do to prevent stereotyping from happening in the first place? What can we do to educate people about this issue?
Do you have some answers?
Rights Now!
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