Discrimination in the media. Article by Young Reporter
Civil rights activists have changed the way that governments treat minority groups, however people belonging to those groups still feel as though they aren’t being treat as fairly as other people are. Discrimination continues to be ignored and almost accepted by our society and this shouldn’t be happening, especially not in 2019. Some people of colour, trans men and women, gay people, certain religions and many other minority groups are at times being shunned by politicians and the media. This needs to change, people need to support each other and create a safer space for the future generations.
Some people have been blaming religions for issues and as another wave of anti-semitism and islamophobia sweeps the country, more and more people are becoming worried that future generations will forget about the effect of discrimination and the horrors of such as the Holocaust.
In order to educate those who continue to have a prejudice against many religions, races and minority groups, over 55,000 Holocaust survivors have openly spoken about the torturous horrors they were subjected to on a daily basis in books and interviews. Thousands of people endured torment every day and many of them are speaking out to prevent a repeat of the worst event in history. Despite the bravery of the survivors, there are still people who deny the Holocaust. These people are widely discredited however they still have a small platform and some support. This support is small but it is still unacceptable and needs to be stopped.
There has been and is a substantial amount of abuse and violence towards the LGBT community in North East Lincolnshire as well as some homophobia and crimes against LGBT people nationally. This upset seems to be caused by a lack of education and this is beginning to be tackled by head teacher, Andrew Moffats project, ‘No Outsiders.’
This programme aims to use education to prevent discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community as well as other groups by teaching primary school children about the Equality Act 2010 and British Values in order to encourage children to be proud of who they and celebrate difference and diversity. Over the past few months, there have been protests outside of Moffat’s school because people don’t want their children to learn about LGBTQ+ people because they feel like it’s inappropriate or that it’s is something that they disagree with.
This is disappointing because this program is extremely necessary and could help reduce the issues that people face on a daily basis. In a stonewall survey, 52% of gay people had experienced depression during 2018. This statistic could be greatly reduced with the No Outsiders programme and that would affect many other groups and their families as it could prevent hate crimes and mental illnesses.
Hate crimes are something that has also been in the media recently due to a lesbian couple that was attacked on a bus in London. In April this year a trans teenager was attacked in school which is in Grimsby. There was anti-Semitic violence in Charlottesville where people chanted “Jews will not replace us” and in the UK there was 1414 respirated acts of anti-Semitic violence in 2017 as opposed to 541 in 2008. Some people have been growing in anger and blaming minority groups for issues in the UK and that attitude is spiralling. Something needs to change quickly.
By Young Reporter Maddy Wainman
First appeared in Grimsby Telegraph 16th July 2019