Racism and discrimination

People go to the street very easily, but they also easily forget. The echo is over, but racism remains. In addition, we all discriminate others and have been discriminated at least once in our lives. We weren't born discrimination, but were raised so. Thus, just attending a demonstration does not solve the problem.

 

This isn't an easy topic. Whatever I say, I'll be criticized. I am white, I cannot talk about racism. Well, this might be true, but as woman working in a man-dominated field and living abroad I know what does discrimination mean. Prejudicial discrimination is everywhere and is not limited to people with a different skin color, but applies to weight, gender, disabilities, origin, sexual orientation, status, job, etc. Even though we know how frustrating and painful is being discriminated, we continue to discriminate others on the base of unreasonable prejudice. A kind of revenge?

 

From here. Credits:© John Darroch. Used under CCA license.

Let's check the past. Germany is still ashamed for what done in the 30s and 40s. The UK and USA never plead guilty of what done centuries ago. Probably because the facts happened long ago and because they weren't the only ones exploiting slavery. The US puzzle me, as European. They had an Afro-American woman as Secretary of State and an Afro-American President, but still discriminate people with a darker skin color. The US haven't yet "digested" their history. But demolishing monuments dedicated to ancestors or historical figures like Columbus might even result dangerous. This would imply deleting their own history. That's not the way to cope with it. If we delete our history, we'll make the same mistakes in a couple of generations! If we want to delete racism, we should stop discriminating and reject prejudice.

A practical example. Recently, on a structural geology mailing list, racism in geosciences was discussed. Honestly, I was quite surprise that it could be a topic of discussion. I don't see that the skin color has to do with the quality of a scientific publication, as well as gender. However, I must admit that discrimination against women and developing countries exist. A scientist affiliated to a top university in UK will be believed and praised immediately, the same paper written by a Chinese female geologist or an African scientist from an unknown university will be seen with suspicion. In this case, though, there is a solution, which is "double-blind" reviewing process. Authors and reviewers are hidden. A scientific paper would be then evaluated only for its content, not the name of the authors or their affiliations. Similarly to musical auditions for an orchestra, where the player is hidden behind a curtain and the judges decide on what they hear.