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consequences of xenophobia
consequences of xenophobia
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The shocking and outrageous xenophobia, which is an irrational fear or hatred of foreigners, has hit South Africa. I want to discuss this terrible behaviour with you today because I believe it is important that people should know about the issue of xenophobia and how it leads to violence and racism amongst the people within South Africa, as well as the effects it has on South Africa and its people as a whole.
I also believe that if people are more aware of this situation, they can educate others and try finding a solution to decrease and possibly prevent the issue of xenophobia.
Following the 1994 elections, when South Africa became a democratic country, the fear of xenophobia increased and is still continuing today. In May 2008, xenophobia became the topic of conversation owing to the shock and outrage of the occurrence of violence against foreigners in South Africa.
This is owing to the fact where several riots and protests broke out that started in the township Alexander as residents attacked migrants from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe causing two people ending up dead and forty others injured.
Within a number of weeks the violence and xenophobia spread to other communities within the Gauteng Province and then spread to the coastal cities of Durban and Cape Town. Attacks were also reported in parts of the Southern Cape, Mpumalanga, the North West and Free State.
During 2009, reports arose indicating a possible reappearance of xenophobic attacks in the Western Cape. In July 2012, there were new attacks in parts of Cape Town and in the Free State. The attacks arose again in 2013 as on 30 May 2013, 25-year-old Abdi Nasir Mahmoud Good, was stoned to death, which was taken on a mobile phone and posted on the In...
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The organization AXA was formed as a managing body that works on national scale by giving a shared technologically based setup to help its member organisations work more successfully, individually and cooperatively by helping to reduce the issue of xenophobia and violent attacks.
The South Africa’s legal system and the constitution law makes have taken a clear position that recognition of the fundamental human rights is only inside of South African borders.
So in conclusion, the media has covered xenophobia extensively. They have gone into these areas, interviewed both attackers and victims of xenophobia and published many stories in many different media platforms.
Whilst the media can research, communicate and play on people’s emotions, we need Government and the Law to listen and work with the media to put an end to such draconian behaviour.
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The topic of the article i read deals with Xenophobia in the township of Alexandra located in the Gauteng province. Xenophobia is defined as the fear of being perceived to be a foreigner. The author, Jason Hickel, briefly gives a background on the hostility that had ensued in 2008. Local residents from the township were attacking people from foreign countries such as Mozambique, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. Foreigners were collectively known as makwerekwere. Throughout the article, Jason Hickel gives several reasons for why xenophobia exists in the township. The article breaks down the issues into three important reasons: poverty, globalization, and witchcraft. The article demonstrates a knowledge of how the global economy impacts the lives of countries who are left out of it.
Harris, Colin. "Why Do We Fear Others Who Are Not Like Us?” Ethnics Daily, 20 June
Media headlines play a huge role in how a person reading or listening to a report will view the suspect and the victim, The media will often do this because of the race of the suspect or killer. “Demonstrating the power that news outlets wield in portraying victims based on images they select” (Wing). The media can portray victims and suspects however they want and
Fear is the fundamental basis for racial thought. ‘’Racism consists of ideologies and practices that seek to justify or cause the unequal distribution of privileges or rights among different racial groups.’’(www.soundvison.com). This fundamental flaw of fear in human nature has manifested itself in a historical context, in local and global connections with environmental consequences and could have disastrous ramifications for human kind without transformation.
South Africa was positively affected in the way that before the Dutch and British, South Africa had been split up into many different tribes, who though they were free were not united. Through the centuries of hardship South Africa came out of apartheid very strong and the ANC has maintained a popularity of 60% popularity for all the elections since 1994. Economically South Africa has blossomed and is the 2nd largest economy in all of Africa and has managed to triple its GDP even though it has been less than 30 years since it has left apartheid, established democracy and freed itself from many international sanctions. South Africa’s economy still has many issues though for it is still an underdeveloped country which suffers from lack of education, employment, and crime. Socially South Africa remains strong as it is united under one goal of making its nation once again great, and it has maintained its heritage and culture. In fact, a quick look at a South African site will show many articles and memorials, of days in the past remembering the struggle for freedom. Politically, South Africa has remained strong and united with the ANC still carrying the vast majority of the votes and uses a governmental system quite similar to ours with a separation of powers and a thriving democratic system. Luckily, political diversity has also started to appear with many other groups appearing making the most out of South Africa’s democracy and all of which pledge freedom and are led by native
“Even without incidents of violence, mass media stroke fears of terrorism by reporting hugely inflated estimates of alleged threats” (Kurzman 15). This also relates to the United States and how they used film and media to put fear into the community during World War II. CNN’s senior media correspondent Brian Stelter covered this topic on a debate segment of -Red News Blue News titled “Does the Media Promote Islamophobia”. Stelter begins the segment by touching on how Islam is manifested in the media to cause exaggerated fear and hostility toward Muslims, perpetuated by negative stereotypes. He gives different examples of this. For instance, Tom Shillue (stand-up comedian) stating on Fox’s The Five that if there is a moderate Muslim voice “out there” now is the time to speak up and Sean Hannity calling a “Jihad rising worldwide”. This not only shows how one with no credentials can input their outlandish views on a national platform, but also displays an exaggeration of the problem being discussed. Later in the segment, guest co-host Brigitte Gabriel is introduced to soon give a false statistic that 25% of all Muslims are radicalized, once more proving the buffoonery being fed by present day
Racism is based on the belief that one’s culture is superior to that of others, and this racial superiority provides justification for discrimination. Racism begins with categorising by race, and therefore stereotyping particular cultures. A simple definition of prejudice given by St Thomas Aquinas states prejudice as “thinking ill of others without sufficient cause” (1. pg 21). Racism is a major issue in today’s society, affecting a large number of the world’s population and causing political and social turmoil. To evaluate the true meaning, effects and views concerning racism in today’s world, a number of literature sources were researched including novel, films, short stories, poetry, song lyrics, textbooks and magazine articles.
Human history has been marked with long and painful struggles that fought for human rights and freedoms. Discrimination and racial oppression has always been one of the most controversial struggles for mankind. For South Africa, it was a country where black people were oppressed by the white minority. The colonization of South Africa began in the 18th century by the Dutch empire after Dutch trading companies started using its cape as a center for trading between Asia and Europe (sahistory.org.za). Soon after, the British took over the country and declared it part of the British Empire (sahistory.org.za). Decades after, Afrikaners, who descended from the original Dutch settlers that occupied South Africa, started working on creating a state that separates between black people and whites. Their plans were to create a separation between black people and whites that involved excluding blacks from all types of social, economic, and political activities within the country. All South African natives knew the bad conditions that their people were forced to live in but only a few of them took the responsibility of sacrificing their lives and freedom for the rights of their people. One South African citizen, Nelson Mandela, can be considered the main hero for the South African freedom revolution and the hero for millions of people fighting for their freedoms worldwide. Mandela’s long walk for freedom defined South African history and entered world history as one of the most influential fights for freedom and human rights in the world.
Xenophobia is discrimination against and hatred of foreigners, targeting outsiders and strangers or more often those who are in effect part of one’s own society but are perceived as incommensurably different from the majority population (encyclopedia). Xenophobia is not a new subject to the world, in fact it is a recent issue concerning not only America but several parts of the world. While discussing xenophobia, perhaps the most pointed, long-term, and widely documented case of xenophobia is that of anti-Semitism, which culminated in the mass murder of six million European Jews and countless others during World War II (encyclopedia). However, there are new forms of xenophobia that have grown in places such as North America one of the most
Islamophobia is a newly coined term that is used to describe the growing fear of Muslims or specific groups that are considered to be associated with Islam. As a new term, the validity of Islamophobia is still a subject of huge debate even as its causes and characteristics are also controversial. This term was coined to refer to the events in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in light of people’s attitudes towards Muslims and those associated with Islam. Actually, after the dust settled following the attacks, a new gesture of nationalism was witnessed across the United States and racism soon followed, which are usually faces to the same coin (Rose, 2013). In light of these developments on the question on whether Islamophobia is a form of racism has generated arguments and counter-arguments in support and opposition to the claim. People who consider Islamophobia as a form of racism have supported their argument through various reasons including the division and exclusion associated with the fear of Muslims. On the contrary, opponents have argued that Islamophobia is not a form of racism because of lack of a clear link between the term and racism as well as the fact that Islam is not a race but religion. An analysis of these arguments and counter-arguments reveals that Islamophobia is a form of racism, particularly cultural racism.
South Africa and its inhabitants have generally assimilated a defensive nature of living. High walls, electric fences and lurid headlines are all features of life that the population has become accustomed to. The crime statistics, however, still remain staggering and annual crime reports still manage produce waves of anxiety amongst the country’s inhabitants, as well as making the rest of the world fearful.
South Africa really began to suffer when apartheid was written into the law. Apartheid was first introduced in the 1948 election that the Afrikaner National Party won. The plan was to take the already existing segregation and expand it (Wright, 60). Apartheid was a system that segregated South Africa’s population racially and considered non-whites inferior (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). Apartheid was designed to make it legal for Europeans to dominate economics and politics (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”).
It causes discrimination due to the fact that it causes tensions to build when people refuse to associate and interact with each other based on irrational thoughts. It is a common fear that can be accurately described by citing the red scare in the 1900’s. This event in the domestic community caused discrimination and isolation of other cultures based on unrealistic information. Similarly, in recent times, stereotypes that existed towards those of German descent in the era of the red scare now exist and are posed on those of African American culture. As a result, Xenophobia is an intense area in which prejudice
Old South Africa is best described by Mark Uhlig, “The seeds of such violent conflict in South Africa were sown more than 300 years ago, with the first meetings of white settlers and indigenous black tribes in an unequal relationship that was destined one day to become unsustainable” (116).
The apartheid was a very traumatic time for blacks in South Africa. Apartheid is the act of literally separating the races, whites and non-whites, and in 1948 the apartheid was now legal, and government enforced. The South African police began forcing relocations for black South Africans into tribal lines, which decreased their political influence and created white supremacy. After relocating the black South Africans, this gave whites around eighty percent of the land within South Africa. Jonathan Jansen, and Nick Taylor state “The population is roughly 78 percent black, 10 percent white, 9 percent colored, and l...