What Do We Need? Equality For All! When Do We Need It? Now!!
Hi Musers, today we’re going to talk about how in this day and age there should be equality for all and it’s a disgrace that there still isn’t.
This topic came about by my trying to earn a little extra cash. I found out about a site where you got paid to take surveys. While doing one I came across a petition to create a race equality action plan for the United Kingdom. Honestly I was shocked and saddened that we don’t already have one. It’s a tragedy that George Floyd had to be murdered on a street in broad daylight for us to finally wake up and do something.
It’s NOT Just An American Problem
Many of us in the UK believe institutional racism isn’t a problem here but I assure you it is. I’ve watched too many videos on social media where people of colour right here share everything from the daily micro aggressions they face all the way up to flat out racism. One of the most wonderful things about this country is how multi-cultural it is. My school was in a predominantly Indian and Pakistani area and I truly loved smelling the spices as I walk past houses and seeing gorgeous brightly coloured sari fabrics in shop windows. Resenting these people for being another race or colour never entered my mind. This should not be unusual!
We’re Blind To It
Until Lewis Hamilton started campaigning in earnest under the We Race As One banner I had never noticed he was the only black driver. In hindsight it’s obvious that it’s easy for me to be colourblind. I’m white so life is easier for me. The fact is there should be more black drivers and more black staff members in Formula One teams. It’s not good enough for us to miss that groups are being casually excluded, we need to actively ensure we include everyone.
Fatphobia Stems From Racism
The body positivity movement was started by queer black women in direct response to the fatphobia directed specifically at their bodies. In her book Fearing The Black Body Sabrina Strings explains fatphobia traces it’s roots back to the slave trade. Society wanted a way that they could differentiate a slave and a free person. Skin colour wasn’t good enough so they decided that the slaves body types and eating habits determined who deserved freedom and who didn’t. so in other words, focussed mainly on black bodies.
This racism continues to this day. Not only do we not have equality for all in societies, we don’t even have equality for all in social media! Instagram’s algorithms will block an image of a nude black woman and leave an image of a white woman in an identical pose alone. We need to stop this. We need to like and share the hell out of these pictures until the algorithm learns we want them or IG make necessary changes.
We Need Equality For All In All Things
Although this post has been about racism that is far from the only types of inequality festering in our society. Racism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia and misogyny need to be stamped out. We need opportunities, education, and access to healthcare to be the same no matter who you are or what part of the country you’re in. I encourage you to read around this topic and sign petitions insisting on equal rights for ALL. We don’t race as one, we LIVE as one.
Here is the petition I signed…
Please add your signature and make our government take notice. We need equality for all, NOW.
