RACIST BULLYING

What goes on in the psyche/mind of people who racially harass a colleague and fellow worker? I am referring to the three (3) road maintenance workers (white men) who tied up their Muslim fellow worker (Asian man) to railings and forced fed him bacon, placed a rucksack with protruding wires on his locker and set his trousers on fire.

How deep can prejudice, ignorance and hate run? Is this the behaviour of human beings? From the mug shots of the three who were jailed for just three years, I can imagine walking on the other side of the road with such stern looking fellas coming my way – especially as a group. At this point all my notions of inclusivity and sitting at the same table fly through the window.

I wonder what the 3 years sentence would do for them – whether they would have the opportunity to reflect on their ignorance, bigotry and prejudice that culminated in such unacceptable human behaviour. Would their racism disappear and would they re-enter society as activists for racial justice or as people with a more generous view of humans who may look different. There is a long shot that this is still possible – at least one needs to believe in it for the sake of hope and a different world.

And, what about the victim who suffered at the hands of these callous individuals: what respite will he have trying to work through his post traumas, his depression, lack of sleep and suicidal inclinations as a result of what he experienced at the hands of workmates? Would he be able to trust workmates in his new job?

One party in this case of racist bullying that we need to look closer at is the employer whose response to the incident is as unhelpful, as it is revealing. Sure the three bullies were dismissed and are now locked away. But, why do I not believe that they were taking incidents like this seriously as they claimed in their defense, and in the process reverting back the onus on the victim by noting that he only reported the incident until after he left the company?

All victims know this tactic very well! What the employer should be asking is: why, if they had systems in place to monitor racist bullying, did the victim not feel inclined to report while on the job, but only after he left? Did their workspace, policies and ethos encourage a sense of due process, honest listening, a fair hearing and a sense of security? From the perspective of the victim, it is evident that this was not the case. And this is what should be listened to.

It is an indictment for any employer when racist behaviour goes unnoticed and unreported over such a long period. What employers still need to ask and act upon is whether their ethos, policies and operations create a safe and secure space for such racist bullying to be dealt with immediately or even better - to stop it from ever happening!

copyright© jagessar April 2008

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FOOD CRISIS?

In previous blogs I noted the scandalous economics and underlying greed that govern our human lives. Again, this is the underpinning factor in what is presented to us as the world’s present “food crisis” – as a small group of people continue to make billions as a result of astronomic rises in the price of corn, rice, soya and wheat etc. In this part of the jungle, when we shop we are all aware that food prices are rising. Of course, poor people in the South or majority world have been starving long before the West declared a food crisis. Millions of children die every year of malnutrition! What a screwed up world! One where the rich are always calling the shots! They now speak of food crisis and we are all jumping! People in Haiti and Darfur have been going hungry for years!!! Think of Haiti that used to grow its own food to feed itself now living on imports from the US. No wonder Haitians have been rioting for food! "A hungry man (sic) is an angry man", is that famous line from Bob Marley.

At the same time needs continue to rise and waste is the order of the day. Who is trying to tighten their belt and shrink their stomach by eating less? Most likely not any of us who have the choice to do so – only those who do not have a choice. Try calculating how many kilos of food leave our tables, kitchens, refrigerators and supermarkets as waste. “Waste not, want not” could not be more appropriate for the West and the affluent, while the poor will scramble for the crumbs that fall off our overfilled tables. The cynic in me wants to reason: “it’s pay-back time. We reap what we sow: So let’s stuff our stomachs with our credit-cards, gadgets and trinkets and see how well that digest”. The problem with such cynicism, however, is that it is still the poor people who are sufferings and will continue to do so.

The pundits, including the world bank (who are desperately seeking a facelift or image makeover) are informing us of a host of reasons why we are in this state: farm lands are being lost to industrialisation and urbanisation; global warming and change of weather patterns (floods and cold weather) are hurting production. Rising oil prices (which should read more like the wasted war on Iraq and terror) and fears over climate change have resulted in turning to maize to make bio-fuels 'jacking up' the prices. And as if we are unaware, the pundits then inform us that there will be billions of mouths to feed.

Indeed there are billions mouths to feed and how to sustain this is a problem. Yes, and we need to control population growth: but this is not about birth control only: it is also about our preoccupation with longevity – living longer lives to the extent that the liturgical line at funeral services should now read: “to live we must (have to), to die we may”. So while the west will look to the majority world and cry “forced sterilization” the majority world can rightly respond, “forced euthanasia”.

Yet, the pertinent question is: are we really interested in changing habits and re-orienting our life styles to so that the enough food we have can be more than enough for all? Perhaps we should re-visit Psalm 23 to read, “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want more than I need”. This, of course, will be a difficult proposition as one significant implication is the need to rethink our whole economic system.

If one takes the logic of simple economics and applies it to a country like Guyana (as one example), then the fact that their rice production is increasing ought to mean that with rice shortage and increasing demands, Guyana may soon strike it rich. But it is here where the logic gets skewed and becomes illogic – for Guyana will remain poor while the rich companies in west with some stooge native company will reap profits till their eyeballs pop trying to follow the numbers in their bank account, while the farmers rot in their swamps and the government try pay off long standing debts.

The writing is on the wall for us to read and it is not an asteroid that will wipe the human population out. It is our self-denial about the greed that has taken over our lives, to the extent that we all want everything immediately and not only that: we want more and more of it all. So what the head of the World Bank needs to know is that “putting our money where our mouth is now so that we can put food into hungry mouths” will get us nowhere until our hearts are in the right place. Our economic theories need a heart-beat to offer life.

© Copyright Jagessar (April 2008)

image credit: www.food-4-you.co.uk/.../large/Picnic%20food.JPG

WHO IS OUT OF CONTROL?

During my Easter break, the cover of a recent issue of Time (April 7, 2008) caught my eye as I was on the hunt for light reading: “Unhappy, Unloved and Out of Control” with the under-title reading “An epidemic of violence, crime and drunkenness has made Britain scared of its young. What is causing the crisis?”

A good question indeed; though I am not sure that after reading the article I am any better enlightened as to the reasons. The article, however, does highlight society’s problem with youth and violent crime, teen pregnancy, heavy drinking and drug abuse. And, in comparison with its neighbours, Britain’s young people are outstripping their European peers on alcohol, sex and drugs. Is it that British teens are less integrated into the adult world? Is it the class structures or the education system? Or is it that Britons are yet to learn how to be at ease with what childhood means? Continental Europeans and people from countries further afield do find Britain hardly a child friendly environment.

And we reinforce that image by suggesting that one of the ways to address the so-called anti-social behaviour of our young people is to declare a “noise war” on unruly youths by investing in “Mosquito machine”. Imagine using machines that produced 80 decibels squeal (high pitched ultra sonic blast) – only heard by under 25’s as our adult response to our progeny’s behaviour. We are even told that the squeal is not damaging – only irritating. Ironically, we are using another form of irritation to deal with what we consider irritating without even examining how we are contributing to the irritation. After all – behaviour is caused!

Why do we need to disperse our young people? Why are adults afraid of youngsters? When are we going to learn that children and young must be seen and heard? Why are our young people congregating? And what is wrong with that? Why is it we can no longer talk with them and reason together? Where have we failed as parents, adults and a society? When will we stop avoiding something we consider too uncomfortable? Perhaps, we adults need another squealing machine to wake us up from our slumber!

Any society that degenerates to the level of dealing with its young people by installing robotic machine emitting 80 decibel squeal and ultra sonic high pitch blast to get its young people to listen (instead through a mature conversation and dialogue) has got some serious self-interrogating to do. It is certainly confession time. But even that may be a problem: for “unless we become like children”, which we certainly seem incapable of even imagining, we will remain enslaved to our use of low-level sonic weapon on our children. Who, then, is really out of control?

[image credit www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/.../mosquito_3.jpg]

Copyright© jagessar 2008