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1. Racism

    

   Racism is one of the social justice issues which has been witnessed over the last several centuries. The American Civil War was caused by social discrimination, among other social justice issues. Notably, according to DiTomaso (2015), racism is the belief that one of the races is superior over the other. Racism results in various forms of discrimination and prejudices towards some of the individuals in society solely because of their ethnicity and race. Adewunmi (2011) argues that the vice is pegged on the idea that people are divisible into distinct groups based on the colour of their skin as well as their social behaviour and various innate capacities and capabilities. As such, some people; according to racists, should be viewed as inferior or superior. Racism should be eliminated from society because it leads to discrimination and is against the social values of equality and fairness despite proponents arguing that it is a necessary evil.

   Racism is against the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which recognises that people should be treated with dignity and their economic, social, and education rights should be observed. Notably, according to the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1965, racial discrimination means any forms of exclusion, distinction, and preference which is based on the race, descent, color, national, or ethnic origin of a person. The sole aim of racial discrimination is to nullify or impair the recognition and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms of that person (DiTomaso, 2015). The UDHR states that every person is entitled to the economic rights and social rights and shall enjoy such rights without distinction of any kind. As such, the rights should not be limited merely because of the race, colour, sex, language, religion, or national origin of an individual (Clair & Denis, 2015). Racism is an affront to such rights as it leads to discrimination, which limits the ability of people to enjoy their fundamental rights because of the colour of their skin and national origins (Adewunmi, 2011). Such a vice should be limited from the society to ensure that the fundamental freedoms which are inherent to every person can be enjoyed without limitation.

   In any society where racism is perpetrated, one of the races is privileged more than the other and hence denies one race many fundamental rights. For instance, according to Clair & Denis (2015), in some of the western societies, there is a historically accumulated white privilege which is demonstrated by the various advantages that white populations have compared to the rest of the races (Lentin, 2018). Some of the advantages include access to quality education, decent wages, and even retirement benefits. Racism puts one race at a disadvantage while putting the glorified race at an advantage. Such discrimination results in various opportunities being offered to the superior race while the other is viewed as not worthy of some privileges. For instance, DiTomaso (2015) asserts that in some of the parts of the United States; historically, racial discrimination was the order of the day as the white race was viewed as superior compared to other races. However, when the African Americana and other races such as the Indians were fed up with the discrimination, the American Civil War broke up, which led to the loss of lives and the destabilisation of the American society (Bonilla-Silva, 2015). As a result, society should devise programs meant to eliminate racism form as it is one of the ways of causing disharmony and hate.

   Racism is against the social values and behaviours which everyone in the society are taught to both value and enact. For instance, some of the national values include fairness, equal treatment, collective responsibility, and meritocracy. The value of fairness holds that all people should be treated equally irrespective of their race and national origins (Adewunmi, 2011). Similarly, the value of equality requires that people should be treated equally before the law and none of the people should be offered special privileges merely because of their race or the colour of their skin (Lentin, 2018). Moreover, collective responsibility is pegged on the idea that people should live together as a nation and should not let their race divide them. However, racism is against all those values. Viewing one race as superior to others is an affront to the values of fairness, justice, and equality. For instance, when a person is offered a job because of their colour, they then prevent other persons who deserved the job based on meritocracy (Bonilla-Silva, 2015). Additionally, serving one person better than another because of the colour of their skin is unjust and thus should not be allowed in society. As a result, it is vital that racism is rooted out of society and that people are treated with respect and dignity despite their national origins and races.

   Proponents of racism argue that it is a necessary evil in society. Notably, some of the proponents of racism argue that racial equity is only based on moral as opposed to rational grounds and thus cannot stand up to logic (Lienhard, 2019). For instance, they state that white supremacy should be kept intact as there are various things and activities that a white person can do, which cannot be achieved by those from other races. Additionally, a biblical argument has been used to claim that when God created Adam and Eve, all the human being branches deteriorated; however, some of the branches deteriorated more compared to others. The idea; in this case, is that the biblical creation produced only the white race. As such, some races are viewed to have been created via separate and lesser establishments (Lienhard, 2019). However, the arguments by those who support racism are unfounded and a misrepresentation of the truth. For instance, it is not indicated in the Bible that God was white, and neither does the Bible state that Adam and even were white. Additionally, there are no specific activities which are a preserve of the white population. The arguments are only meant to provide justification for the glorification of one race and do not take into account the underlying effects of racism in society.

   In conclusion, racism is a social justice issue which should be rooted out of the society because it leads to discrimination, unfairness, and injustices despite supporters arguing that it is justified. Racism leads to discrimination; which is against the UDHR, which holds that all persons are entitled to certain inherent rights such as dignity and self-worth irrespective of their race, national origin, and religion among other factors. Additionally, racism is against the social values of equality, fairness, and collective responsibility, among others. Proponents of racism claim that white superiority should be kept intact because white people have some capabilities not possessed by other races. However, the claim is not justified because it does not provide any evidence of things that that can be done exclusively by one race and not others.

    

    

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