Minority Ethnic Group - Essay Example

Minority Ethnic Group AFFILIATION: Minority Ethnic Group Part Introduction In this present day and age, it can be observed that the concept of inequality is still prevalent in the world. Some form of inequality and injustice is always present everywhere. If the problem of practicing inequality is not addressed, it may lead to further major problems for the country as well as wherever it is being practiced such as organizations and other workplaces. If the nature and extent of inequality is not controlled, it may cause problems that may go out of hand after a certain time period (Ram and Carter, 2003). As the globalization started to touch its peak the distances among countries started to reduce. The concept of boundaries began to get eliminated. The entire globe was observed as a global village. The nationals of different countries in hunt of a better life style and professional opportunities started migrating to different developed countries. Some of them settled over there and since then never came back to their country of origin. The trend of migrating to different countries gave rise to the communities. These communities were named according to the country of origin. The communities were not only created on the basis of countries, there are also communities based on the basis of similar religion, lifestyle, culture, language, etc. If we examine countries like USA, UK, etc, we observe different communities within their societies based on the variables mentioned above. The major factor in the birth of a minority is the difference of beliefs, language, culture, values, etc, from the majority of that particular society of the country. In most of the countries, the ethnic minority groups are now recognized as influential factor in the political scenario of the particular country. A most recent example would be of “Blacks” in South Africa during the apartheid era. Wagley and Harris (1958) defines minority ethnic group as people portraying five characteristics. The list includes; unjust treatment and less control of their lives, different physical and cultural features, automatic membership of a particular group, understanding of subordination and frequent internal group marriages. So, it would not be wrong to say the societies especially of developed economies are now multi ethnic. According to National Statistics (2005), the portion of ethnicity in UK increased by 53% from year, 1991 to 2001. The increase in ethnicity was 7.9% of the total UK population (Sheikh, 2005). The multi ethnic societies started to develop more rapidly as the influx of the best human capital was very high. The problem however started with a birth of perception that the minorities especially the migrated one are deprived of their basic rights. They started to feel discriminated at workplace and within the community as well. A latest survey from the National Equality Panel (NEP) stated that the inequalities among the minority groups are massive. If these are compared against the whole population the word inequality would not be enough to describe the situation (Hill, et al., 2010). The major cause of concern is that there are inequalities within the minorities as well. All these inequalities are mostly based on the gender, race, disability, age etc. The differences among the ethnic groups might not be as huge as they are on the individual level. People belonging from different groups feel that they are being discriminated in their salaries at workplace. According to Steele (1997) there was a perception in the US society that the people from the African American and Latino American group are less intelligent than the European American people. He also elaborated that this perception was exaggerated by the stakeholders that they rarely reach the higher education level and ultimately the top positions in the corporate world. The reason for their low growth in the society was the fact that they were not allowed to study with the European students. The institutes in which they studied were entirely different from the institutes of European American in terms of infra structure and basic facilities. According to Crocker & Major (1989), the level of self esteems among the Latino and African American were similar to the European Americans. Lerner (1981) believes that people of the world generally see the world as a just place and believe that they will get the desired and deserved outcome or result. The residents of this world also have the tendency to view the environment of the world as predictable and controllable. This is totally opposite of the actual situation. However, the anticipation and perception of justice vary from culture to culture and ethnicity to ethnicity. The common example would be to assume the situation of Latino or African American mindset. With all the inequalities and hardships they faced it would be almost impossible for them to perceive that they will beat European American purely on the basis of merit. So, major reason for the present feeling of injustice is the past incidents and the absence of a role model. These perceptions and facts are major drivers in the increasing divisions among the society. Moreover, the surveys from different agencies also have further ignited the feeling of injustice among the minorities. A simple example would be the surveys conducted on the health care and problems. A survey report published by the European Urology in 2008 showed that the Black Americans in the UK are most likely to develop the prostate cancer than the white people (Shlomo Y, Evans et al.2008). They were of the opinion that the disease in the Blacks is three times more than the whites. The example shows the situation of injustice still prevalent in the world. The lack of opportunities and facilities for some particular groups is a cause of concern. These are damaging issues not only for the particular societies, but also for the rest of the world as well. The fact that most minorities will develop a sense of inferiority in most society is also unavoidable. Ogbu (1991) argues that any minority in the society will most probably develop an opposition to the society in which they are living. The basis of the argument is the natural tendency of inferiority humans have when they find themselves as minority. The last century is filled with incidents that depict the presence of inequality with minority ethnic groups within a society. The most famous examples however were the injustice with African Americans in US and the same in the South Africa. Other than that the recent incidents of killings of Muslims in Burma presents another example of inequalities on the basis of ethnicity. The Burma example portrays that the problem is still present in our world. The degree of brutality if not increased, it either did not decrease as well. Part 2 Introduction It is important by the authorities to deal with inequality taking place either in the country or at workplace. Proper policies and approaches should be designed so that the issue of unfair treatment can be addressed in its entirety. As the world saw a rise in the inequalities or sense of inequalities the stakeholders started to get concerned. The trend of rebelliousness started to increase which compelled the rulers of the society to take necessary steps to eradicate the problem from the root. The examples of Martin Luther King in US and Nelson Mandela in South Africa support the above statement. There is no arguing on the point that when the inequalities among the members of the society go beyond limits than the act of rebelliousness is definite. This is critical to any society on this planet. Every country which was hit or presently victim of this problem has introduced new policies and laws to nip this evil from the bud. Some have been successful and some are still fighting to diminish or destruct this problem. Most experts are of the opinion that the implementation of strict policies and law is the only solution to the problem. Parties that are formed on ethnic grounds may at times become the sole reason for conflicts to occur that are based upon ethnic reasons. This further leads to protests and many other communal conflicts start to emerge (Ishiyama, 2009). The enforcement of law will aid in promoting the justice within a society and eradicating inequality. Some countries have introduced the quota system and some have tried to implement same laws and policies within a society. Different countries are working their way through introducing new labor laws, education policies, health care benefits, etc. Giving equal rights to all the citizens is an important aspect of laws. and regulations. The government of UK has recently developed laws in order to deal with this problem tactfully. They are targeting the disadvantaged areas of education which mostly includes the educational institutes of minority ethnic groups. The initiative of Excellence in Cities is a prime example which targeted the up gradation of minority ethnic school. This is an important step because education is the cornerstone of the solution to any problem  (Coleman, 2010). There have been research studies conducted for evaluating strategies that are implied towards workforce diversity at NHS. These strategies are being evaluated at the senior level so that problems with the black minority can be addressed in the required manner. The research depicted that dissatisfaction was observed amongst the staff members and also inequality in health amongst the black population (Esmail, Kalra, and Abel, 2005). This initiative will make sure that children from the minority ethnic groups get the same education as children of native Englishmen are receiving. Education tends to groom the individual in a positive sense and also widens the thought process horizon for the individual. This is the first and foremost step towards the solution of the problem. This will make sure that they get the highest possible education and climb up the ladder when they enter the corporate world. The second most important aspect is to provide equal health facilities to everyone. This will help to wipe out the perception that the rate of death among the minority ethnic groups is higher than the natives. The example mentioned above about the blacks having a higher ratio of prostate cancer and this can be extremely damaging for any country. The UN Global Compact has introduced some policies and laws to deal with the problem tactfully. These policies at the moment seem the best possible solution. The proper implementation could go a long way in meeting the objectives related to inequality and injustice with the minority ethnic groups. A proper execution plan would allow the goals and objectives to be achieved in the required manner. Organizations need to make sure that the recruitments are made on the basis of skills, qualifications and the opportunities for advancement are equal for everyone. This is the first step in eliminating the inferiority feeling among the minorities at their workplace. The roles and responsibilities should be properly assigned and the progress should only be based on the performance. The performance evaluation methods should be transparent that may not create any ambiguity in the minds of the employees. The government and international labor laws should be abided by every organization. Furthermore, UN is trying to introduce the ways of monitoring the overall system especially in the organizations to ensure that policies are being implemented. The UN is especially focusing on the corporate world because they believe work place is the first place where the inferiority starts to creep in. They are also trying to introduce new training systems to groom the professionals in a bid to reduce the discrimination at the individual level. Information and communication technologies is important to be implied to all groups so that the barrier of knowledge and technical education can be removed from the ethnic minority groups (Owen et al.,2003). Another step towards the solution of the problem is to promote the culture of forgiveness and tolerance at workplace and community level as well. This will help erase the ignorance related to the inequalities and injustice. The forgiving culture will allow people to come closer to each other and respect the differences among each other. This will help in creating an air of equality and justice (Platt, 2011). It is the need of the hour to wake up and identify the policies and laws that have destroyed million of lives based on inequality. The story is not limited to one country in fact there would be hardly any country which was not hit by this problem. This created distances among people and trust which was once the forte of humanity, it was lost somewhere (Scmader, Major and Gramzow 2001). It is now pivotal to develop the lost trust among the ethnic groups. The loss of trust has caused violence which resulted in catastrophes. The first step that could be taken is the start of negotiation among the groups. The sole purpose of this activity is to create a sense of security among the affected groups. The policymakers need to make sure that they formulate policies that enable the minorities to have access to the basic need of life including the justice and social security (Duncan, 2007). This will help in removing the concept of differences based on the ethnicities, colors, beliefs, values, etc. People need to understand the value of multiculturalism within a society. The mixture of people from different backgrounds can only help in making a country better. The combination of the best human capital can only happen in the society which has multiculturalism in it. However, the scenario has been entirely different. The factor which could have been utilized as a key factor of success became factor of destruction. The individual differences combined and reached the group level and now at a threshold of reaching at the national level in most of the developed countries. All these developed countries should take a special note of the countries like Uganda and their fate which was destroyed based on the ethnicity. It is time that natives of the country should start thinking on the lines of embracing the expatriates and believe they will contribute to the welfare of their country. A peaceful world is in favor of everyone hence all and sundry should work towards making it one. Conclusion Ethnic minorities are present in all regions of the world and they deserve their due rights by the government and the organization where they are working. Treating them with inequality is injustice on them and all proper approaches and measures must be taken to avoid such a case. Ethnic minorities are also providing services for which they should be paid and treated in fair manner regardless of any type of discrimination. Gradually with time laws are being passed in the favor of ethnic minorities and it can be stated that in future the rights of ethnic minorities may improve to a very large extent. Education is advancing and if all citizens are provided with the same level of education then the differences due to ethnicity might reduce from the peoples mind as people would become learned in this matter. It is important to have principles on fair and just grounds rather than any biasness. References Ben-Shlomo, Y., S. Evans, et al. (2008). "The risk of prostate cancer amongst black men in the United Kingdom: the PROCESS cohort study." European Urology 53(1): pp. 99-105. Coleman, D. (2010). Projections of the ethnic minority populations of the United Kingdom 2006-2056. Population and Development Review, 36(3), 441-486. Crocker & Major (1989). 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Comparison of reporting of ethnicity in US and European randomized controlled trials. BMJ 329: pp. 87–88. Wagley, Charles and Marvin Harris (1958). Minorities in the New World: Six Case Studies. New York: Columbia University Press. Read More