Racial Prejudice & Discrimination (WJEC Eduqas GCSE Religious Studies): Revision Note

What is racism?

• Racism or racial discrimination means discrimination against someone because of their ethnic group or nationality

  • Racism is based on the prejudiced belief that some races are inferior to others

  • Often, racism is linked to skin colour

• In the UK, Acts of Parliament have been passed to make racism illegal, including the 1976 Race Relations Act and the Equality Act in 2010

  • These laws make it an offence to speak or behave in a racist way

• However, racism in society still exists

  • There are many campaigns and education programmes aiming to educate people against racism and explain what they should do if they see racist actions

  • One example is football’s “Show Racism the Red Card” campaign, which uses high-profile footballers to present an anti-racist message and educate people against racism

Christian attitudes to racism

• Most Christians oppose racism in all forms

  • Racism views some people as “lesser” than others, which goes against the Christian ideals of love and respect for all

• The Bible teaches about the equality of all humans

  • All humans are created by God and in God’s image

  • Therefore, each person is important and special

• Although people are different, this does not mean that they are not equal in God’s eyes, as Paul wrote

• Paul also wrote to the Romans that “God does not show favouritism” (Romans 2:11), and James wrote, “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favouritism” (James 2:1)

  • Christians must follow this advice and treat each other with respect

• Jesus’s teaching to “love your neighbour” and the Golden Rule, “Do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12), make it impossible for Christians to show racism 

  • Instead, they need to show the love, respect and kindness to others that they wish to receive for themselves

• Christians are encouraged to treat everyone as equals

• Christianity is a worldwide religion, and believers of many races are united by their faith in a global community

• Historically, the Church has not always opposed racism consistently. For example, the Dutch Reformed Church did support the apartheid system in South Africa in the twentieth century

  • Apartheid kept black and white people separate

  • White people had all the privileges, including the ability to vote

  • Black people did not have fair access to education, housing, employment and other public services

• Other Christians campaigned against the apartheid system

  • Archbishop Desmond Tutu was one of the Christian leaders who headed a peaceful campaign for equal civil rights and the abolition of apartheid

    • Apartheid eventually ended in 1994

• Many other Christian individuals and groups have campaigned against racism

  • In 1998, major UK churches issued a joint “Churches Together” statement saying that racism contradicts the Christian gospel and damages the whole of society

  • The Church of England’s Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) and the Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ) work today to promote equality, support minority groups and challenge racism within the church and society

Martin Luther King

• Dr Martin Luther King Jr was a Christian Baptist minister who campaigned for equal rights for black people in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s

• King fought against racism in a peaceful and non-violent way

  • This response to injustice was strongly influenced by Jesus’s teachings to “turn the other cheek” and “love your enemies”

• After a black woman called Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus, King organised the Montgomery bus boycott

  • Black people refused to use buses for 382 days, causing the bus companies to lose thousands of pounds 

  • The Supreme Court took notice and changed the law so Black people no longer had to give up their seats on the bus for White people

• King led the Civil Rights movement, organising campaigns and protest marches to achieve equality, always using peaceful methods

• King received many death threats and attacks for his campaigning

• He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 but was assassinated in 1968 

• Martin Luther King Jr believed in equal human rights for all

• In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 Civil Rights March in Washington, DC, King spoke of his vision

Attribution:

Civil Rights March in Washington, DC [Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and Mathew Ahmann in a crowd.] is licenced under CC0 1.0

^{Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mathew Ahmann in a crowd.] is licensed under CC0 1.0}

Muslim attitudes to racism

• Muslims do not support racism

• The Qur’an consistently teaches people not to be racist

  • Although there are different races and tribes, humans have been created from the same single man and woman and are equal 

  • Instead of building walls based on stereotypes and prejudices, people should get to know one another

• Allah looks past the differences that cause inequalities between humans, such as colour or ethnicity

• The Hadith teaches about the equality of all people

• Muslims should follow the teaching and example of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) 

  • The Prophet chose Bilal ibn Rabah, a former black slave, as the first muezzin (caller to prayer). This showed that a person’s race does not affect their worth in Islam

  • The Prophet is believed to have said in his final sermon, “An Arab is not better than a non-Arab … a White person is not better than a Black person except by piety and good actions”

• Islam is made up of the ummah, a worldwide community, and no distinction is made between people of different races

  • This is demonstrated on the Hajj pilgrimage, where everyone wears the same white garments (ihram) to show equality in the eyes of Allah

• Although it goes against all teachings of Islam, some Muslims have been prejudiced against “Westerners” and those of different religions

  • Usually, this has more to do with disapproval or disagreement with the way they live their lives or their lack of religious belief than racism

• Many Muslims believe they have a duty to challenge racism, following the example of Muslims such as Farid Esack, a university teacher who campaigned against apartheid in South Africa at great personal risk

• Today, Muslims continue to work for racial harmony through interfaith organisations such as the Christian Muslim Forum. This UK-based group brings Muslims and Christians together to:

  • Build relationships

  • Organise joint community projects

  • Support victims of hate crimes

  • Promote understanding across racial and religious divides