“We are all equal before the law”. To what extent is this common statement about the law reflected in practice? In answering the question, refer to one social issue and one group of people.
We all are Equal before the Law
This conclusion has been made not on the basis of stories heard but the incidents that have occurred that have occurred purely on discrimination of some kind and the law has acted that again depicts some kind of canonization and partiality. This may be the result of canonization or other political forces acting up on. This has been the major discussion in many public forums of national and international level and there has been much debate about it but the result has not been much fruitful and there has not been much improvement seen in the enforcement of law or rather proper enforcement of law. This cannot be blamed on one or handful of countries as such cases of law not being equal for all has been seen in many countries, somewhere in greater magnitude somewhere in a lower magnitude. There has not been much solution to it as the solution making body itself is seen to be at fault. One might be judgmental in making such remarks but that does not change the reality and the reality won’t cease to exist if remarks are not made against it. There are many questions that arise in this relation and not all gave been answered as the society keeps on experiencing one after the another whether Europe Asia or Africa it stretches all over the world in some way or the other. This topic can be interpreted in many ways as the lack in equality from the side of law is not something that can be described dealt with in one heading. It is widespread and can have several sub divisions. The matter can be dealt with geographically and also according to the social divisions. There has been one person in particular who has become the victim of the impartiality of law or there has been a group that over the period constantly have been the victim and have agreed to the fact that law is not equal for everyone and the phrase we all are equal before the law does not hold true in practice.
If a statement is made it is also important that the statement is also justified by citing examples of statement. Speaking in a generic tone it has been found that the impartiality on the law have been experienced on a great basis in the European nations and also in USA and Australia (Pager et al , 2009).
The crime of whatever sort is committed by the citizen of a country and on being reported when the law-making and law maintaining body of that country fails to tale actions or on purpose does not arrive at any solution it is then that the above statement starts to exist. On a whole it is the racial discrimination that has chiefly been the reason for the commotion that over this topic.
As racial discrimination in UK has been chosen as the issue that is to be dealt with in this essay the example would largely be related to that. UK has always experienced some or the other kind of racial discrimination throughout the UK. And in most of the cases it has been seen that the law has not done much to help the citizens about it. Recently England opted out of the European Union that cane as a shock and a sudden blow to the working machinery of EU and also to the economic set up of the entire world. After this there has been numerous cases of racial discrimination that has been matter of shame and the law has remained quiet about it whereas there could have been actions taken. The UK citizens have been haughtily claiming that the Asians must leave their country whereas many of them have the citizenship of the country. It is not acceptable to call a person a foreigner only on the basis of skin color and we do not see ,any people penalized of committing this even though there have been many agencies that have reported this case. The main law executing body has not been much into action regarding it though many NGOs have been active on this note that includes white people (Williams et al 2009).
We must go through a few true incidents in order to fully arrive at the conclusion. After the EU referendum there has been around hundred a cases and still counting that has been registered as the racial abuse and racial discrimination cases. There have been cases registered where the Asians have been open shouted up in to leave the country and the matter is though registered gets somewhere lost in the process and to increase the matter there have been more and more cases registered concerning this matter. People have been reminded of their originality even though they hold the citizen of that country. It is not that comments of returning back to the country have been made only to Asians but also Europeans who have faced this in UK
There has been many cases reported and one of it is that of Agata Brzezniak came to the UK on a scholarship from Poland when she was 17 and presently has enrolled herself in an integrated program of PhD in the subject of Chemistry. She had told that she did have doubt of things becoming a little racial after the EU referendum but she did not expect that it would so fast and she herself would be the victim of it. As she has said a few hours after the EU referendum was passed Agata met a woman or rather she was approached by a woman who asked her nationality and on being confirming that she is a Polish the woman said that she must be scared to live in this country and that she must decide on getting the visa if she thinks to stay in England (Troyna & Carrington, 2011).
“The vicious smile and the way she looked at me brought me to tears,” said Ms Brzezniak.
The above statement made by her was emotion laden and she felt a sense of being betrayed after spending around eight years of her life in this country. The remarks came as a shock to her as Agata wishes to have a bright future in England based on the fantastic academic recorded that she has maintained by her in graduation masters and now PhD. Not just these there have been many cases that have made the Polish in UK feel bad about their individuality and their sense of belonging. It has been widely accepted that the politicians do not want to take stern steps against it as they believe this will be rectified with time hardly keeping in mind that with time and other political developments this will go on becoming worse. The citizens of UK who are not originally from UK have said that though there has been a step taken to get the racial differences in check there are vibes of racial discrimination that is greatly felt in the academic and other working sectors (Vin et al 2015).
Since the topic deals with the law it is also essential to have a look at the laws that have been formulated for eliminating racial discrimination in UK.
Race Relations Act 1965
The Race Relations Board was created in the year 1966 in order to see that the law is being enforced properly and all the cases that are registered are well investigated and taken action. The act was introduced at a time when there occurred many cases of racial discrimination in UK.
The Equality Act 2010
Though this does not necessarily concentrate on the racial discrimination but the discrimination in general the problems of racial discrimination at work places is dealt with the Board that is set up to enforce this law.These are the two main acts that deal with cases of racial discrimination in UK (Cole, 2011).
Conclusion
Even though the laws have been made there are yet many cases that have gone unchecked and the occurrence of these kind of cases have been so high lately that it has become a problem for even the law to keep a check yet this cannot be seen as an excuse of the law not been equal to people even though there have been laws made and enforced. The statement stands still (We all are equal before the law) but without any weight in it and this is nothing but an ironical statement or a paradox laden statement made only to give dignity to the law formed for the country. EU referendum has only taken it to another level and the matter has become more and more acute (Ware, 2015).
According to me, laws are really meant to be equal for everyone and everybody needs to respect the laws of a country. All persons should be held accountable for their actions under the laws irrespective of their social stature or position in the society. However, the legal prosecutions under the law takes place based on the amount of evidence produced in the courts. Without evidence the occurrence of a crime cannot be proved and the law becomes really helpless without the presence of any proper evidence which can substantiate the occurrence of a crime. Racial discrimination is a serious offence which is punishable under the current laws of the UK and in spite of all the legal regulations and guidelines which are in practice ad which aims to prevent the occurrence of racial discrimination, the incidence of racial discrimination continues unabated.
There have been many instances when the perpetrators of racial discrimination have been convicted in a court of law and they have to face imprisonment and fines for their misconduct and there have been also times when offenders of racial discrimination has been let off by the law due to lack of any substantial evidence regarding their actions or misconduct. In order for the laws to take effects, the courts require evidence about the incidence of racial discrimination and if the victims are unable to provide any evidence in the courts regarding their mistreatment then there is nothing the law can do to provide them justice. I personally think that racial discrimination is a social evil and it needs to be curbed at any cost. All persons are equal irrespective of their gender, religion, ethnic backgrounds, nationality, social status and sexual orientation and every person must be treated with the same dignity and respect. Education and upbringing of an individual plays a vital role in determining the behaviour of a person once he/she reaches adulthood. I strongly think that parents should teach their children that all persons are created equal by god and one should never discriminate against another person based on their nationality or ethnic backgrounds. This would really play a vital role in creating a better society for tomorrows citizens where there will be equality and mutual respect among the people and this will invariably create a world without racial discrimination. Thus, it is the task of the government to educate people regarding the need to change their perceptions towards people belongs to other racial and ethnic backgrounds as this is the only way in which the issue of racial discrimination can be properly addressed.
References
Williams, D.R. and Mohammed, S.A., 2009. Discrimination and racial disparities in health: evidence and needed research. Journal of behavioral medicine, 32(1), pp.20-47.
Pager, D. and Shepherd, H., 2008. The sociology of discrimination: Racial discrimination in employment, housing, credit, and consumer markets.Annual review of sociology, 34, p.181.
Pager, D. and Shepherd, H., 2008. The sociology of discrimination: Racial discrimination in employment, housing, credit, and consumer markets.Annual review of sociology, 34, p.181.
Van Dijk, T.A., 2015. Racism and the Press (Vol. 5).Routledge.
Krieger, N., Carney, D., Lancaster, K., Waterman, P. D., Kosheleva, A., & Banaji, M. (2010). Combining explicit and implicit measures of racial discrimination in health research. American journal of public health, 100(8), 1485-1492.
Troyna, B., & Carrington, B. (2011). Education, racism and reform (Vol. 123). Routledge.
Cole, M. (Ed.). (2011). Education, equality and human rights: issues of gender,’race’, sexuality, disability and social class. Routledge.
Ware, V. (2015). Beyond the pale: White women, racism, and history. Verso Books.
Seaton, E. K., & Yip, T. (2009). School and neighborhood contexts, perceptions of racial discrimination, and psychological well-being among African American adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(2), 153-163.
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