International Day of Tolerance 2012 ............... How Can Intolerance Be Countered? & more

How Can Intolerance Be Countered?

Fighting intolerance requires law: 

Each Government is responsible for enforcing human rights laws, for banning and punishing hate crimes and discrimination against minorities, whether these are committed by State officials, private organizations or individuals. The State must also ensure equal access to courts, human rights commissioners or ombudsmen, so that people do not take justice into their own hands and resort to violence to settle their disputes.

Fighting intolerance requires education: 

Laws are necessary but not sufficient for countering intolerance in individual attitudes. Intolerance is very often rooted in ignorance and fear: fear of the unknown, of the other, other cultures, nations, religions. Intolerance is also closely linked to an exaggerated sense of self-worth and pride, whether personal, national or religious. These notions are taught and learned at an early age. Therefore, greater emphasis needs to be placed on educating more and better. Greater efforts need to be made to teach children about tolerance and human rights, about other ways of life. Children should be encouraged at home and in school to be open-minded and curious.

Education is a life-long experience and does not begin or end in school. Endeavours to build tolerance through education will not succeed unless they reach all age groups, and take place everywhere: at home, in schools, in the workplace, in law-enforcement and legal training, and not least in entertainment and on the information highways.

Fighting intolerance requires access to information: 

Intolerance is most dangerous when it is exploited to fulfil the political and territorial ambitions of an individual or groups of individuals. Hatemongers often begin by identifying the public's tolerance threshold. They then develop fallacious arguments, lie with statistics and manipulate public opinion with misinformation and prejudice. The most efficient way to limit the influence of hatemongers is to develop policies that generate and promote press freedom and press pluralism, in order to allow the public to differentiate between facts and opinions.

Fighting intolerance requires individual awareness: 

Intolerance in a society is the sum-total of the intolerance of its individual members. Bigotry, stereotyping, stigmatizing, insults and racial jokes are examples of individual expressions of intolerance to which some people are subjected daily. Intolerance breeds intolerance. It leaves its victims in pursuit of revenge. In order to fight intolerance individuals should become aware of the link between their behavior and the vicious cycle of mistrust and violence in society. Each one of us should begin by asking: am I a tolerant person? Do I stereotype people? Do I reject those who are different from me? Do I blame my problems on 'them'?

Fighting intolerance requires local solutions: 

Many people know that tomorrow's problems will be increasingly global but few realize that solutions to global problems are mainly local, even individual. When confronted with an escalation of intolerance around us, we must not wait for governments and institutions to act alone. We are all part of the solution. We should not feel powerless for we actually posses an enormous capacity to wield power. Nonviolent action is a way of using that power-the power of people. The tools of nonviolent action-putting a group together to confront a problem, to organize a grassroots network, to demonstrate solidarity with victims of intolerance, to discredit hateful propaganda-are available to all those who want to put an end to intolerance, violence and hatred.

On the day of its fiftieth anniversary, 16 November 1995, UNESCO's Member States adopted a Declaration of Principles on Tolerance. Among other things, the Declaration affirms that tolerance is neither indulgence nor indifference. It is respect and appreciation of the rich variety of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. Tolerance recognizes the universal human rights and fundamental freedoms of others. People are naturally diverse; only tolerance can ensure the survival of mixed communities in every region of the globe.

The Declaration qualifies tolerance not only as a moral duty, but also as a political and legal requirement for individuals, groups and States. It situates tolerance in relation to the international human rights instruments drawn up over the past fifty years and emphasizes that States should draft new legislation when necessary to ensure equality of treatment and of opportunity for all groups and individuals in society.

Along with outright injustice and violence, discrimination and marginalization are common forms of intolerance. Education for tolerance should aim at countering influences that lead to fear and exclusion of others, and should help young people develop capacities for independent judgement, critical thinking and ethical reasoning. The diversity of our world's many religions, languages, cultures and ethnicities is not a pretext for conflict, but is a treasure that enriches us all.

Recent events however have been wondering are we really seeing an increase in tolerance for LGBT people, predominantly MSMS as every time there is a major public homo-negative or homophobic incident it is as if old anti gay feelings are re-awakened and persons just return to where they were before calming down again. 

An article in the Jamaica Observer pointed to it as written by former TV presenter Janice Budd entitled 

Gay? No Way

Study shows J'cans growing more tolerant, but majority still opposed to homosexuality

It spoke to the UTECH abuse matter and the JFLAG study that supposedly suggested that Jamaicans are tolerant today towards gay persons. Also hear my take on it at that time:

However the UTECH and the HFLE matters which followed suggested we are far away from the ideal although JFLAG's strategic plan includes work to raise the tolerance levels from 17% to 50% they have not however said how exactly they intend to achieve this monumental feat. 

see also my previous post: JFLAG says new study finds LGBT persons deserve equal protection under the law

My comments may seem intolerant but some of us have grown impatient and tired of the slow pace at which the advocacy has been dragging while the frontline issues that can be spruced up to bolster our positions get ignored or are slow to be handled chief among them homelessness. However we cannot be simply making calls to the political establishment for tolerance or statements by them on tolerance when our very political climate fosters gross intolerance on views and our culture fosters impatience to difference.

Here is my two cents as a podcast:

also hear an excerpt of an interview (the only one marking the day's recognition on morning radio) with Arlene Harrison Henry of the Independent Jamaican Council for Human Rights, IJCHR who looked at the need for discrimination legislation and the charter of rights etc.

also hear my two cents on the other major public matter though seemingly distant has some connections with freedoms in a public space, that being the ban on preaching on government run buses.

Peace and tolerance

H

Here is last years commentary:

 International Day for Tolerance 16.11.11 my concerns of our state