Natia Shakaia

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality…I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Racism can be defined as the discrimination of people for different race, skin color or religion.

I reckon that racism can be viewed as the worst enemy for the development of the world. Dark skin, curled hair, full lips, wide nose-these are the features according to which “black-man” can be distinguished. Several centuries ago these people had no any rights for existence, their rights (if they had any) were limited in everything and everywhere.

“Black people” were not able to go to the cinema with white people, eat in the restaurant, even to seat next to them in the public transport, they had to seat in the back seats. After several years of battle, it seems that the world accepted them as people with equal rights. We can say that the 21st century is the epoch of fighting with racism.

If we take a look at the history we will see that appearance of “black men” in the society was unbelievable fact and their names were considered only just as slaves. Now the situation has completely changed including the relationships with each other. Let’s say that the world became more civilized than it was ever.

The president of the United States of America would be a perfect example. Barack Obama will be remembered in the history as the first Afro-American president. Some questions arises to me, was this choice a political step? Did America intend to prove that the country is a place where everyone lives with equal rights? The reason does not matter matters only the fact.  America played a significant role in the battle against racism. I really think that the tolerance is a vital for us, for humans, without it we will look like animals.

Racism is quite common issue in my country, Georgia. For instance, one citizen of Georgia Chibuike Ubani, coming from Nigeria lives in Georgia for 8 years and he Georgian wife. I found out that the adaptation in Georgian society for Chibuike was very difficult, as he was abused almost everywhere even in the public transport. Nowadays, the situation fortunately has changed and people like Chibuike are not excluded form Georgian society, however Georgian needs to do a lot to say definite no to racism.

What is racism? From my personal view, racism is nothing but illiteracy, non-sufficient knowledge that we get at school or university, because we forget the most important thing in life: life is too short and everyone in this world must be equal. Let’s don’t return back, and don’t say no to civilization. And I do agree with Bobby Seale when he says: “you don’t fight racism, the best way to fight racism is solidarity”.

Natia Shakaia

Read this article in Georgian here.

The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the author, and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of ALDA and the European Union.