Essay Sweden

Acknowledge there’s a difference.
We aren’t all the same.

A couple of days ago, we were asked a question in class. Will racism ever disappear? Everyone seemed to think. And then someone answered “no”. At first, I agreed. It’s just the human nature. But I’ve changed my mind.
I say yes. If we truly believe that we can change this, we can. We have to talk about it. Especially in school, and in an earlier age. Before the children gets brainwashed by all the preconceptions. I’ve been seriously concerned about this topic – racism. I don’t know if it’s getting better or worse? The discussion is only growing, and particularly on social media. There are like two sides that always argue. Some accuse another ethnicity for many problems in our society, while others stand up for everyone’s equal worth.
What scares me the most is that people are writing stuff on the internet without any certain source. “The immigrants take all of our money. They can get up to 30 000 in a month from our taxes.”
Please. How can people believe in such things?

I believe the reason to racism is the will of having a “we and them.” We humans feel comfortable in groups, and that’s why we love our families so much and want them to be close. That sounds great, right? But it can also lead to that we shut others out. Why aren’t others welcome to our group?
Because we don’t want to feel threatened by others, and we will do everything we can to keep our closest safe. That might be a reason to why we are so afraid of letting people we don’t know in. We don’t accept people who act or look different. We don’t tolerate their opinions.
If you have a bad experience with someone from a specific country or ethnic group, you easily get to think that all are the same. And that’s exactly what defines racism. To pull everyone together and blame innocent people for stuff they haven’t done. Without thinking about it we create stereotypes, which leads to fear and hate against each other.

Therefore, we close ourselves up in countries, where we think we belong. Just because everyone looks and lives in pretty much the same way. We exert our own religion, culture and tradition, while we consider others as weird or lower standing.
Why can’t we all just be in harmony together?
Why can’t we all have the same right to live as we want, in a society with all kinds of people in a wonderful mix?
We are all different, so accept it! You think “they” are different. But for them, you are different too. So don’t be afraid of each other.
We still have the same human rights, the same worth, and we all deserve an honest chance.