Racial Inequality

Some of us are experiencing disadvantage because of what we look like or because of where we were born. There are lots of organisations in our world actively lobbying against this kind of injustice. What we’re doing here is providing a platform for the stories of people and organisations that are helping in a practical way… helping those of us experiencing disadvantage due to race.

A few facts; the UN describe racial discrimination as “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.”

This form of discrimination is seen throughout most societies, particularly against refugees and Indigenous people who often have a hard time accessing social services or having political representation… to make matters worse, they’re also more likely to face poverty.

More than 370 million of us are indigenous people, spread across 70 countries. In case you didn’t know, indigenous people are the descendants of those who lived somewhere before people of a different cultural or ethnic origin arrived, whether through settlement or conquest.

In Australia, the disadvantage due to race is frighteningly obvious, particularly among the Indigenous population - translating into lower life expectancy, health and access to education… The life expectancy for Australia’s Indigenous population is 17 years lower than the national average, at 59 years for males.

…The Australian Indigenous rate of kidney disease is 10 times that of non-indigenous.

…In 2006 Indigenous students were half as likely to continue to their final year of high school.

Race related disadvantage also translates into personal security. Amnesty International draws attention to a US Department of Justice report that found Native Alaskan and American women to be 2.5 times more likely to be sexually assaulted or raped when compared to the general USA population – More than one in three will be raped in her lifetime.

Whether it’s safety, equal access to health care, education, housing, food or water, where are the people, the groups, the organisations seeking to help those of us experiencing this inequality?

Race should be not be a decider of quality of life…

For more info, visit:

SOURCES:
UN (1966) ‘Article 1’ in International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2007) ‘Fact sheet’ in ‘Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Voices’
Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision (2009) Australian Government, ‘Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage,’
Amnesty International Australia (2007), ‘Indigenous Peoples’