January 18, 2011

Section JX

SHEEP AND GOATS

by: Nikka Santos Orio

Undeniably, there are times we conceive that people are situated in a

farmland that sheep and goats must be separated. Every so often, we uplift

ourselves to some extent that we draw distinctions. We treat people less

favorably without knowing that discrimination is already sketched in our

minds. Black from white, wheat from chaff, beautiful from ugly King Phillip

from Queen Elizabeth and rational from illogical.

We are not aware of these situations. All we thought about, these are

healthy competitions and merely a comparison of what you have and what

they lack, what you know and what they don't know.

A distinction based on the personal characteristics of an individual

resulting in some advantages to that individual is called discrimination.

Discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favorably on the grounds

of a personal characteristic, such as sex, parental status, race, age or

disabilities.

With reference to our country particularly here in the City of Baguio,

Igorot, Ifugaos, Kankana-ey, Ibaloy and etc. are discriminated in days gone

by because they are different from the people who betake oneself from

different regions. This is why Candy Pangilinan's statement is so

contreversial. She mentioned that she is not an Igorot but a man. In this

case, it's a form of unjust and prejudicial treatment. This kind of

discrimination is called racial discrimination. In law, it is any action that

behave towards people of other races in an unusual manner.

Leaping to the breathtaking movie "Hotel Rwanda" in the context of

discrimination, there is a catchy line that was actually broadcast, daily, on

the national radio: "Why do we hate Tutsis? They are cockroaches. Rwanda is

Hutuland. We are the majority. Tutsis are the minority. Hutus must kill all the

Tutsis. Stay alert-watch your neighbours." In this piece, discrimination is

manifested. In here we see that that it has a horrible upshot, because of

power impulse, Hutus are willing to terminate Tutsis for domination. Indeed,

having power and desiring it is merely few factors why people was drove to

create such boundaries that may lead to blood and guts.

By good luck, there are also people who take discrimination as a

challenge to surpass and make such differences. "If you falter in times of

trouble, how small is your strength. Rescue those being led away to death;

hold back those staggering toward slaughter,"-Proverb 24:10-11. Paul's

character in the film gave justice to the Proverb. The crisis races ahead at a

fever pitch as supplies run low, Paul runs out of cash and items to bribe off

the Hutu army and fighting in the streets with the Tutsi resistance from

neighboring Uganda comes closer. Paul stood for his solid belief, he fought

not only for himself but for the Tutsis and their race. He authenticated that

Tutsis are not feed by scavenging like cockroaches, that they aren't the
people who are easily enslaved. Indeed, one person can make a great

difference.

"The test of courage comes when we are in the minority, the test of

tolerance comes when we are in the majority."-Ralph W. Sockman

It is up to us how we handle ourselves and treat discrimination. Yes, if

we are in the minority, it pushes us to be dedicated and persevere to win

your stand whereas setting perimeters and underestimating other people is

not a good notion. We have to treat every individual equally. We may not

born alike physically, but we have to remain unassertive. We have to keep in

mind that once the chess game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the

same box. "We are all equally wise and equally foolish before God."-Albert

Einstein

Citations: http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/D/Discrimination.aspx,
James Cook University:Australia and Frontline Fellowship Articles of Hotel
Rwanda