Intercultural Education in the Post-Primary School - National Council ...

UN International Convention on theElimination of All Forms of RacialDiscriminationArticle 1 – "racial discrimination" shallmean any distinction, exclusion, restrictionor preference based on race, colour,descent, or national or ethnic origin whichhas the purpose or effect of nullifying orimpairing the recognition, enjoyment orexercise, on an equal footing, of humanrights and fundamental freedoms in thepolitical, economic, social, cultural or anyother field of public life.The term ‘race’ appears in invertedcommas each time it is used here (except inquotes) because scientific research has nowmade clear that, although the term iswidely used to describe groups of peoplewho are thought of as biologicallyseparate, there is, in fact, no genetic orother scientific basis underlying the term.Racism is one of a number of forms ofdiscrimination that exist in contemporarysocieties. Others include sexism, ageism anddiscrimination on the basis of a disability.All involve rules, practices, attitudes andbeliefs which have the effect of denying orimpairing someone’s access to the samebasic rights and freedoms as everyone else.Despite their similarities as forms ofdiscrimination, racism is sometimes wronglyperceived as being worse than other formsof discrimination, perhaps because it isoften associated in people’s minds withviolence, genocide or ‘hate crime’. The termracism, used properly, has much widerimplications than a narrow focus on ‘racial’hatred or violence would suggest. Itencompasses a range of attitudes or beliefson one hand and practices or rules on theother. This means that the term ‘racism’actually includes some things that may nothave appeared as such to many people at afirst glance.• An attitude or belief is racist if it impliesthat some groups are superior or inferiorto others based on their ‘race’, colour,descent, or national or ethnic origin.This might include the belief that certaingroups (for example, Traveller, Asian orMiddle Eastern cultures) are moreprimitive or contain less intrinsic valuethan others.• A racist practice or rule is one thatdistinguishes, excludes, restricts or givesrise to a preference based on ‘race’,colour, descent, or national or ethnicorigin. Racist practices and rules make itmore difficult for members of somegroups to attain the human rights, accessto opportunities and life chances to whichthey are entitled. Racist practices or rulesmay be practised by individuals (forexample through name-calling, racistgraffiti, excluding people or usingviolence against them), or by institutions(for example, though the application ofrules or regulations which do not makeallowance for cultural difference).These interlocking dimensions of racismare represented graphically in Figure 1.RACIST ATTITUDES OR BELIEFSStudies in Ireland from the 1980s onwardshave consistently found a significantminority who held hostile attitudes. In hisstudy of Prejudice and Tolerance in IrelandMicheál Mac Gréil found that in the late1980s there was a significant minority ofIrish people who expressed racist views:• 16.7% of his national sample said thatblack people could never become asgood Irish people as others because oftheir basic make up.• 10.8 % believed that black people wereinferior to white people.6Intercultural Education in the Post-Primary School