Writing this article was hard for me. I just cannot accept this kind of society that exists around us full of lies and full of false promises. Why do we not understand that though there is geographical, physical, or lingual change, we're still human beings? It is like the Homo Sapience definition needs to be changed by the world leaders for themselves and call the others lower species. It is bitter, but it is the truth.
I've written an article about racism before and many of you have read it. While I thought about writing about climate change in the next article, I had to change my mind. While we think that Black Lives Matter is the only anti-racism situation, there is more in the world than we see before us. I am not saying I don't support BLM, but I am saying racism is not confined to BLM only.
Many world-renowned companies post and change their display photo to BLM or in black-and-white. They even changed their logo for a time showing that they support BLM and all anti-racism movements. But that thing only goes on when things escalate and many people become aware of the movement. And in the next couple of months, the companies don't take action to change things.
And so here comes another article: RACISM: You Deny It, But You Do It. The words are bitter here and may taste sour on some racists' tongues. I want the world and readers to understand how the racists are continuing their agenda in various ways. Maybe they're different groups, but they're of course with the same goal: attacks on other races.
Part 1: Black Lives Matter
It is totally unthinkable to start an article without mentioning BLM. BLM can be said the pioneer of the anti-racism movement in modern times. Black people have been somehow ignored and they've faced many problems in the last decades. Abraham Lincoln stopped slavery officially, but the concept of racism remained still intact in many minds.
After the murder of George Floyd on 25 May last year, the BLM movement escalated and many people joined it not hesitating a moment to think about COVID-19. People should've maintained some rules in the movement, but if you are telling them to stay home in this situation you're totally saying the wrong words.
When this kind of situation with the racists comes up, you should choose that moment to speak up against racism. Because at that time the situation and news stay hot - and for this reason, the whole world captivates it. I totally support BLM and they took immediate action at that moment. If they didn't, the racists would've gotten out of hand without exemplary punishments.
Part 2: Law & Order
The words "Law and Order" have now become so funny. Laws are made and bills are passed. But does order come into society and change things? No, it doesn't. You may say that it needs some time, but how much time can the victims spare? They've spared a lot, but time is valuable. You need to take action and it needs to be done quickly. I know that there are complicated processes in this, but how much time do you take?
We can pass laws and stuff, but the important thing is how much it is in the act? There are many laws from before to protect human rights, but how much they worked to protect those rights. Has sexual harassment still dimmed? Do people of other religions, casts, or colors are getting all their needs? This is the situation of our society now, we're forced to question our society.
A piece of hot news sometimes enlightens the whole media world and catches our attention. But there is much news of racism that goes away from our minds in the changing times. We cannot remember all of the victims by name, but we can remember why they had to face such a problem or fate. So, we need action!
Part 3: Religious Harassments
Religion is a touchy subject at present. And this sensitive subject must be seen and understood once in a while to understand the problems in it. Racism has spread in religion too and the racists are now undercover. There are a few things we should know.
The picture we draw when I mention "a man with beard and robe" is an ISS terrorist who is nothing but some people who are spreading hate. But Muhammad's sunnah (an act done or agreed upon by Prophet Muhammad) and people follow it because they love their prophet and they want to gain virtue. Wearing a robe isn't compulsory, it's also a sunnah of the Prophet.
I've heard many stories that airport security especially checks people with beards. The fact is, most of the Western media designed and caused this kind of mindset among many people. If you just talk about Islam now to any people, they quickly jump to terrorism and other subjects that come after a lot of basic things to be discussed.
The term 'terrorism' and the term 'Jihad' are currently taken as substitutes or alternatives to each other. Terrorism is something we don't support, but Jihad is completely a different subject. A boy is trying to study hard to do good in exams, which means Jihad. The problem is, that Jihad has been wrongly phrased by all the terrorist organizations to manipulate mass people and then used by some Western media for propaganda.
It is not that Muslims hate Israel and Jewish people. I absolutely hate the mass massacre by Adolf Hitler in World War II. It is not like I am saying it to gain your support; I don't have that kind of intention. Anyway, Jewish people are also human and we understand it. If any Muslim says, "I will kill any Jewish I want," then he/she is saying the wrong thing. The Jewish people have their own way of religion and other religions too, but that doesn't mean a Muslim has to hate a Jewish.
In various references to the Quran (the holy book in Islam) and Hadith (the words, sayings, acts, and consents of Prophet Muhammad), we find various references to help the people of other religions. He even interacted nicely with the people of Jewish. We often misinterpret various verses of the Quran and Hadith not knowing the background or clear reason. And this is what the racists want: to cause conflict among peace-loving people.
Part 4: Middle East Crisis
As I've said Muslims need to help and support non-Muslims too, it doesn't mean they've to give away all their belongings. It also doesn't mean they've to give away their motherland, or they've to suffer harsh tortures and oppression for decades! Have the Palestinians made a terrible mistake by being born as Muslims? Why'd they've to suffer the attacks from Israel for all these years?
Many Jewish people and many famous persons have supported ending the conflict and stopping the attacks on Palestinians. If you see the photos of how harsh their environment is, you'll have wide eyes in seconds. I understand that Israel hates Palestine, but why attack innocent lives by telling the world that the places you attacked were bases of terrorists?
Both Palestine and Israel have to follow one rule: no harming unarmed, no harming innocent women, and no harming children who don't even understand why they're attacked. The Palestinian Muslims have to remember that, their Prophet has instructed them not to hurt innocent lives. And the Israelites have to remember that, those unarmed people in Palestine aren't living that you can waste and count in numbers.
"Why am I being a little imposing on Muslims?" I know that this kind of question may arise. I can't speak too much against the Israel attacks, and if I do, you will say that I am anti-Semite and I hate Jewish, which I absolutely don't. If I say that the Israeli attacks have caused more destruction and loss than the Palestinian attacks, would you believe me? Certainly, you'll go to call me "anti-Semite"! But if you see the data and statistics, then you'll understand the true picture.
Part 5: Western Reactions
The West has always supported Israel's cause. But at present, we have seen many people speaking up to stop the attacks on Palestine after they've understood the true meaning of all these. They've understood that conquering lands and invasion is still possible in the modern era!
Mark Ruffalo, the Hulk star, has supported Palestinian innocents and has been called anti-Semite by various media. This is the picture of our society when some people support the true victims. Various other famous people have supported the attacks on Palestine, and that caused the media to blaze on them. They've been called "anti-Semites" too! Now think this way: Aren't the people who don't support Palestinians "anti-Arab"! Both are racism, but what's true racism is when a huge military force is attacking a country with, low defensive resources, and mainly targeting the innocents of the country.
Facebook has blocked several accounts of reporters who were trying to send the true picture of Palestine to the world via WhatsApp. We've also seen the news about how journalists are harassed and beaten by Israeli armed personnel. Not all the news is coming before us, but isn't the news that I've already come, enough for us to see the big picture? Anyway, we've also got news about YouTube's transcription changing "Palestine" to "terrorists"! I've only received this news though I don't actually check news frequently too often.
We've also seen Joe Biden supporting Israel and calling the Palestinians to stop attacking Israel. Come on, it's somehow like telling an ant to stop attacking an elephant! Bad joke? Well, then read the first line of this paragraph again, it's a good joke to entertain the racists and give them something to spread!
Part 6: Things To Say
There are certain things we should see before we go to any conclusion. It is very hard for all of us to get true information sitting in our homes. Pictures and videos can also be misleading to understand! But if you do deep research it should be clear for you to understand what's the real news.
I've relied on BBC a lot seeing how neutral they've been, but recently when a news anchor said Palestinian loss was "deaths" and Israel's loss was "killed", it was truly hurting. Though BBC has removed the anchor, it's still something that scratched the corporation's reputation. BBC has done much news about various good things that caused them problems in certain countries, but they stayed true to their news. Still, sometimes seeing my favorite sources being corrupted has made me terribly sad.
If you've seen the latest Disney animation: Raya and the Last Dragon, you know it says about 'trust'. In reality, there are still trust issues among us that are hard to solve. Trust is something if you break, can't be really recovered completely though the reason for the breaking is false.
Racism is something that has spread for many years and is still spreading. But if we come forward and speak up, there can be change. If our society changes, the way humans live can change. We can love each other. But some people don't want that, they want a conflict to continue and make this world a place of carnage.
If I've said anything wrong, I truly am sorry. There may be various mistakes in this article, but I am true to my words. Please forgive me for those mistakes. If you like it, please try to understand the 'big picture. If you don't like it, then please send me a message or comment, and let me know the reason; I will try to answer your questions.
Have a nice day. Hope I can be back with another issue, like 'climate change' the next time and discuss that. Hope the problem of racism can be solved. I wonder what it would be like when racism is completely gone from our world (maybe I can touch the subject too, but that won't be very soon)!
Part 6: Reminder
[I have added this part later, but this will also serve as a part of the conclusion. I thought this part was required to mold the article more perfectly.]
Remember the last part of the title: "You Deny It, But You Do It", there's a reason I have given this title. See, many big companies or people deny racism, but they do it anyway. If you read my article, you'll understand who I am talking about.
Don't think all the companies and brands are racist or mildly racist, but many of the world-famous brands are infested with this particular disease. Whether they admit it or not, it is really visible from their actions which side are they on. I admit, sometimes they may have done an action intentionally, but come on - these companies are BIG and why'd they be so careless?
Racism doesn't only mean color or religion, it also means gender discrimination. In some news, we know that women are sexually harassed by certain people whose mind is still filled with dark thoughts. Many times women are forced to submit themselves to this nasty work because either they need the job or the person who's harassing them is powerful. There are more causes, but it is to be reminded that still in this era when we've come to 2021, humans aren't fully civilized.
It also needs to be reminded that we pass certain laws and bills to make things right. But this stuff doesn't actually work out or come into action. Passing bills is easier sitting in your cozy office than executing them in action. Police and other law enforcement agencies should come forward to execute the actions perfectly.
When an incident occurs, many departments and organizations are accused. We do it how? We sit on our couch or sofa and bark at the TV. Is this how a society should know that things aren't going as they should've been? No, certainly not. That is why we need to speak up, we need to call for justice, and we need to hold our voice - and shout out loud over the voice of injustice.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Note: This article is not edited very much after the first write, so mistakes are obviously visible. If you find any, I am terribly sorry! And if you don't like the article art, I am also sorry for that. I tried to show words on the art but I think I wasn't that accomplished to design an awesome art. I'll try better in the future. ║ I will try to cover some books related to racism, and the Palestine-Israel crisis in one article in brief. It will take time, but I will try. It may not come, or it may come.
Disclaimer: The illustrations, texts, and colors are by Md. Iman Anwar (IA-Original art). This art is useable without any permission.
Suggested Links: Black Lives Matter ║ Raya and the Last Dragon
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Related Article(s): THE EFFECTS OF RACISM: A Quick Glance & Discussion
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