Discrimination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Discrimination - Essay Example in was an openly racist society in 1959 when a black man, Kelso Cochrane, was lynched in London streets with little more than an apathetic response from police. The perpetrators of this crime were identified by several eyewitnesses but the four white men were simply interviewed and released. Racist murders continue to take place, such as the Anthony Walker ice axe incident in Wales last summer, but this type of senseless racially motivated murder is now viewed by society as a horrific crime against a human being and not as simply a byproduct of ‘purifying’ Britain. Beginning with the Cochrane lynching, attitudes began to change. This general intolerance of racially motivated crime has gained momentum over the past 10 years following a series of attacks resulting in the murders of Roland Adams, Stephen Lawrence and Kriss Donald. Inner cities were the usual center of racial issues but now in Britain â€Å"there has been a shift in the geography of public disquiet, and it is the small provincial towns on the coast like Margate, Dover and Hastings that have become the centre of concern about illegal immigration and asylum† (Back, 2003). While the point can be argued that there is less overt racism now than there was 10 years ago, there has been a resurgence of widespread unsympathetic reporting in both local and national print media which portrays refugees as ‘beggars’ and involved in ‘violent crime.’ This reflects the new surge of racist sentiments across the nation. This discussion examines racism in Britain, cau ses for the phenomenon and various reasonings for its continuance. Those of ethnic minority are more likely than whites to live in depressed neighbourhoods, suffer ill health, live in congested housing and suffer a higher rate of unemployment even when compared to white people of similar education and employment qualifications. The majority of violence motivated by racism takes place in economically depressed locations although it is not