Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison said, “When you go into a job like this with great training, remember that your real job is that if you’re going to be free, you need to free someone else.” Please,” he told the students. other than that. If you have any power, your job is to empower others. ”
This is the crux of the fight for social justice. An unwavering belief that all individuals everywhere should have equal access to rights, opportunities and resources, and the grit and optimism to achieve it.
A concept that has received increased attention and prominence in recent years, particularly in the wake of movements such as Black Lives Matter and Me Too, the core of social justice is ensuring fairness and equality for all people. This refers to the systemic barriers that exist in society, especially racial inequality, gender inequality, and class inequality, that prevent certain groups of people from accessing the same rights and privileges as other groups. and aims to address inequality.
Here’s a little primer on all things social justice.
Three examples of current social justice issues
racial inequality
Racial inequality is a problem around the world. Racial disparities range from unequal access to health care and education to increased state violence, including police brutality and mistreatment by the criminal justice system.
According to Freedom House, ethnic minorities such as Tatars in Russia “face discrimination and harassment from the government and society.” In Laos, 80% of children under the age of 5 among the majority Lao Tai tribe register their births, but only 59% of the minority Monkhmer tribe. From Brazil to Britain, black people are more likely to be stopped, searched and arrested by police, and more likely to receive longer prison sentences, than white people convicted of the same crime. The list goes on.
This inequality is not only patently unjust, it is also deadly.
In Australia, the suicide rate for Indigenous children is five times higher than the suicide rate for non-Indigenous youth. In the United States, black women are three times more likely to die during pregnancy and postpartum than white women. In 2020, George Floyd died in the United States after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes, despite Floyd’s repeated pleas that he couldn’t breathe. That same month, 14-year-old João Pedro Matos Pinto was shot in the back by police during a raid on his home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In April of the same year, Collins Khosa, a 40-year-old black man, was bludgeoned to death by soldiers and police in South Africa.
gender inequality
At current rates of progress, it could take nearly 300 years to achieve full gender equality.
The global COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, climate change, and severe backlash against women’s reproductive health and rights are undoing much of the progress toward gender equality. .
Violence against women remains high, the majority of the world’s poor are women, 1.2 billion women and girls live in places with limited safe access to abortion, and 30 million women worldwide Girls are not attending school, and a woman or girl has been murdered by someone. Every 11 minutes she introduces her own family and explains with some examples how gender inequality persists around the world.
LGBTQIA+ inequality
The LGBTQIA+ community faces high levels of violence and discrimination at home, work, and school.
At least 67 countries still have national laws that criminalize same-sex relationships between consenting adults. Therefore, it’s no surprise that 83% of LGBTQIA+ people around the world hide their sexual orientation.
Discrimination has skyrocketed in recent years for transgender and non-binary communities, already leading to violence and the rollback of rights.
In 2022, there were 327 reported killings of transgender and gender diverse people due to anti-trans violence worldwide. In 2022, the United States will introduce more laws restricting the lives of transgender people than at any other time in the country’s history. Meanwhile, in Ghana, parliamentarians in 2021 proposed a harsh and far-reaching anti-LGTBQ+ bill that could make it the world’s toughest anti-gay law, criminalizing things like identifying as LGTBQ+ and having same-sex relationships.
How do you solve problems like social injustice?
Before I think of quoting sound of music (Cue a great rendition of “How do you keep waves on sand?”) Social justice is not a utopia we can never achieve. A tall order to be sure, but we have to start somewhere.
Step 1: Recognize the problem
Recognize that social justice issues exist and pervade many areas of society, including education, health care, employment, and criminal justice. Understand how historical and systemic factors contribute to these inequalities. Identify the intersection of your own privilege and the discrimination you face, examine your biases and prejudices, and determine where you can best stand to challenge the status quo. Not sure where to start? Visit the Global Citizen app and take the Stock Hero challenge.
Step 2: Education
Learn about the root causes of social justice issues and the experiences of marginalized communities. This includes reading books, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, and attending workshops and events.
Step 3: Listen, Amplify, Speak
Listen to marginalized voices and amplify the perspectives and experiences of those most affected by social justice issues.
Step 4: Take action
Participate in advocacy and activities to raise awareness about social justice issues and work towards change. This includes organizing and participating in protests, signing petitions, contacting elected officials, supporting advocacy groups, and more. We’ve made it easy to start taking action today.