Some people are treated more unfairly than others By Valarie Lam, North Campus

                                

People in society treat others according to their differences. It can result in prejudice and being disrespectful towards people who are unfamiliar or different. It is judging those whom we generally do not appreciate because of their race, sex or religion - the list is endless. People make assumptions about each other and don’t take the time to understand different people around them.  We are all equal. As Martin Luther King, the influential American leader, once said: “…. men are created equal.” We tend to ask ourselves, ‘Why does this happen?’ but we are often the ones who are guilty of this shameful habit.

Racism is a big part of these acts of unfairness. Asians and other races are often stereotyped because of their background. For instance in 1939, World War II started. Germany’s leader, Hitler, persuaded most of his Nazis that Jews were the reason their nation was in such a bad way. For this reason the Nazi party decided to exterminate these ‘worthless’ Jews. They quarantined them at concentration camps and eventually marched them off to their deaths. 6 million Jews were killed by the time World War II ended; just another appalling example of prejudice and racism.

Everybody has been judgemental in their lifetime; it is very easy to do. There are some people who take it to extremes and flaunt this in front of people they think are unworthy. This is revealed in the movie ‘Freedom Writers’  where a well known school had been recently integrated. The principal of this high school was ashamed of this change and thought poorly of her multicultural students with the exception of her ‘beloved’ white students. There is a scene in which she doesn’t permit the new English teacher of a multicultural class to allow her students to use their books because she is afraid the students will ‘destroy’ them. It is truly shameful to see someone like a principal behaving so badly.

Bullying has occurred in all times and eras. It is a never ending issue. Everyone has probably experienced it -  either as a victim or the person victimising others, in my case I was the victim. I would get teased because I was different to most of the people in my school. It is a horrible. We see many times on the news the consequences of bullying. Please consider the effect of bullying; the blood might be on your hands. 

Some people are treated more unfairly than others, it is human nature. This still isn’t an excuse and hopefully one day everybody will be treated with matching respect. Everybody needs to take into consideration the feelings of others, because at the end of the day, you are hurting the innocent.