Having spent time in Milan during the Corona outbreak and its expansion, I have come to face with racist issues, so I would like to think about the causes of these problems and how to deal with them.
In the background of racist problems, there is a process of human thought that believes that it is okay to mentally or physically harm others or to be disrespectful to them as long as there is a valid reason. Since this is embedded in our society in the form of any kind of punishment, it becomes difficult for us to realize that this is a matter that should be handled with care and not taken for granted. For example, a criminal should be punished for committing a crime. We as a society are allowed to punish criminals under the law because we believe that it is a valid reason. This system has been an effective and convenient tool for governing human society since long before we were born, so we do not feel like to doubt it, but is it really a perfect system and nothing controversial? I am asking this because on the behind of this idea, we believe that it is ok to punish criminals because they have committed crimes and we believe that a crime is a plausible reason to mentally or physically harm others or to be disrespectful to them. It is plausible according to the law, but is the law always and all the time perfect? Since the plausible reason cannot be evaluated objectively and quantitatively, it must be a judgment that includes human subjectivity. If this is the case, is human subjectivity always be able to make the best decision?
I brought the issue here is not to doubt the necessity or validity of the existence of laws and criminal punishments, but I intend to discuss the fact that these systems allow "mental and physical injury as punishment if there is a plausible reason," and that plausibility is subjective and therefore based on something very delicate.
In the case of the issue of racism regarding Corona outbreak, people who showed racist behavior may have thought that it was okay to hurt mentally and physically and being disrespectful to people who look like Asians because they are people from the region where the coronas occurred so they bring Corona. They judged that the people have corona and that is a plausible reason to be hurt mentally and physically or being disrespected. Due to its innate subjectivity of the human thought the process of thoughts it can be used inappropriately.
In addition to this, the same process of thoughts is probably responsible for slander on the Internet. Isn't it okay to slander someone because they have done something inappropriate?
I don't think it should be acceptable for a human being to harm another human being in any way for any reason. I think the reason why people do it is because hurting someone is allowed if there is a plausible reason in the case of criminal punishment without any explanation. In the case of punishment, it is a special case that is permitted because it is carefully handled by legal experts and legal systems, although they are not perfect and have problems. The problem is that we do not understand or even discuss those facts.
What we can do is to pay attention to the facts that we follow the process of thought that can be used in a wrong way and be aware of whether we are using it rightly. I personally think that if more people are able to act in this way, it will make society more comfortable for many people.
A Tram in Milan
There are those among us who do not see race. When we know we are foreigners and sense that others look at us and see our race, that is true and painful enough. But some in your host country walk their walk and talk their talk with full, open-hearted humanity. It's sad to think that people who only see the surface did not see the vivid, full of brio, essential international student in their midst. But I'm sure some did. We all have to grow up. Thank you for this insightful analysis.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comments. I am always happy to hear your opinion about my articles.
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