|
|
Anti-discrimination Work: The Basics
Working against intolerance and harrassment at grassroots
level |
When the streets are
no longer safe for minorities, we have to act. When people threaten our
neighbours because of their background, be it Muslim or Roma or because of
their disability or sexual orientation, we have to act. One of the worst
consequences of being a victim of discrimination or racism is the feeling
of isolation. It seems that no one cares; with anti-discrimination work we
try to make the aggression stop, but we also want to end this feeling of
isolation.
The leaflet is mainly aimed at those of us who are not
very experienced in anti-discrimination work. Anti-discrimination work is,
quite simply, the work that organisations undertake for and with the
people that suffer discrimination. It is also the work that is done before
the actual discrimination takes place, especially community work. In this
information leaflet, UNITED wants to give you ideas about how to set up
and structure that kind of work.
Discrimination and racial
harassment take the form of threats, of physical violence and verbal
harassment. Often however, it can be much more subtle. Anti-discrimination
work deals with all these different forms.
This information leaflet is
not a handbook. It is not able to give you ready-made answers. It hopes to
help you in asking yourself the right questions
about the
anti-discrimination work that you are doing or plan to
do.
CONTENTS
1.
GENERAL
PRINCIPLES
2. ANALYSING THE
SITUATION
3. BASIC
COMMUNITY / GRASSROOTS WORK
4. WHEN RACIAL
HARASSMENT OR ATTACKS ARE TAKING PLACE
5. ACTION
AGAINST RACIST POLITICAL ACTIVITY
6. CHECKLIST FOR
THE SETTING UP OF A CAMPAIGN
7. TO FIND
CONTACTS
1. GENERAL
PRINCIPLES
1. The most important principle of
anti-discrimination work is that you respect the wishes of victims and
their families. You should not assume that you know what is best for
them. You can tell people what their options and choices are but let them
tell you what they think should be done.
2. The second principle is
that you should know what is going on. You should be informed of both
possibilities and dangers. Going into an unknown situation can be
dangerous. Be safe, be informed.
3. The third principle is
cooperation, on all levels. You can be more effective when you work
with local, national and international contacts. They can help you with
their experiences, help you put pressure on authorities, etc.
2. ANALYSING
THE SITUATION
Before taking action, you need first to
analyse the situation. Ask yourself the following
questions:
- Targets: who is being targeted by the
attacks, discrimination, threats?
- Origin of the threat: who
are the people that discriminate and threaten others?
-
Possibilities for action/solution: what are your possibilities as an
organisation, what possibilities are there for cooperation, what kind of
action would be supported by the community, by the people living in the
area?
- Support expected: sometimes it is possible to cooperate
with the 'authorities' in combating discrimination. Think about the
police, the housing company, the churches... Is there a possibility to get
support there?
3. BASIC
COMMUNITY / GRASSROOTS WORK
When no known racial attacks are taking
place it does not mean that there never will be any and it does not mean
that low level racial or other harrassment is not occuring. In such a case
it might be a good idea to think about setting up the following
structures/activities:
- Community work: In most communities where racial harassment and
other forms of direct discrimination take place the inhabitants are not
very close. When people get to know each other, they are less likely to
attack each other.
- School education: Schools are the places
where most children develop their friendships and get their basic
education. To prevent problems later on it is good to talk about racism
and discrimination in the classroom. Children should have a possibility to
talk about problems with a teacher or someone else they trust.
-
Monitoring: Be sure to stay informed on what is happening in the
community, i.e. you know about it if a racist band plays in the area, if
pub owners do not serve to black customers etc. This approach requires
that you are available to the community: your activities and phone number
should be known and there should be someone to answer the phone. If you
have an answering machine it should be checked often.
- Equal
opportunities: When there is no immediate action needed, it might be a
good time to lobby local businesses and organisations to set up an equal
opportunities policy. That means that the business thinks of its policies
for employing people, its atmosphere, the possibilities of complaining
about discrimination, etc., and concretely puts on paper what it does in
those areas to ensure equal opportunities for ethnic minorities, women,
disabled people, etc. This would apply also to schools, care facilities
and other institutions.
4. WHEN RACIAL
HARASSMENT OR ATTACKS ARE TAKING PLACE
There are three main areas in which you can
take action when racial attacks or racial harassment are taking
place:
support for the
victims
The support victims need
is on the one hand to be heard and on the other hand to have the feeling
that someone wants to help. Another part involves giving them information
on where to get help. Lots of times you will not be able to provide them
with all the help mentioned below on your own, but you can point them to a
good lawyer, doctor, etc.
- legal aid: give information about
the law, organise contacts to specialised lawyers, help in providing the
means to go to court...
- physical help: sit with the victims,
help them to secure their house, provide a temporary place to
stay...
- psychological help: listen to the victims and their
families, get them into contact with people to whom the same thing
happened, end the isolation...
community action
- "Multi Agency
Group": try to combine the
forces of different institutions in the area, like the housing company,
the school, the church, that can all help in their own way.
-
community meetings: people that are under attack feel isolated, you
can try to break the isolation through meetings in which you or the
victims give information and in which you try to get more people
involved.
- monitoring and gathering evidence: if you need to go
to court, you need evidence and witnesses, you will not be able to be
everywhere at once. Get the community to help you monitor the
situation.
- setting up a help line, an alarm line, giving out legal
advice cards: communication is vital in a situation that is critical.
Be sure that people know where to call and what to do when something
happens. If possible, set up a 24hrs phone line where people can call when
being threatened or when witnessing an attack. It might be a good idea to
design little cards that people can keep in their wallet with information
on their rights, and the phone number they can call for help.
campaigning
- publicity and press
work: It is important to make
people aware of what is happening. But be sure to take into consideration
what the victims want!
- political representation and pressuring
authorities: It is clear that something should change in a situation
like this. One way of changing things is to make politicians listen to
what you have to say. You can do that yourself, but you can also try to
get a trustworthy politician to help represent your interests.
-
aiming at the general public: There are a lot of myths around racism
and discrimination. If you are campaigning, take into account what people
say and think about the ethnic minority. One way to combat prejudice is by
spreading the truth. You can do that by posters, leaflets, etc. Make sure
that you have the right information.
5. ACTION
AGAINST RACIST POLITICAL ACTIVITY
- monitoring/observation: keep in contact
with people in the community and observe the activities of racist
organisations/parties, collect leaflets/posters.
-
investigation/research: get as much background information about the
organisation and the activists as possible, use (newspaper) archives,
international contacts with other anti-racism organisations, collect
material on the history of the organisation.
- political activities
against the racists: you can picket the meeting places, put up
posters, try to unite the other parties to form a united front against the
racist party (e.g. by signing a statement and by excluding the party from
political forums).
- cooperation: as said before, cooperate on
all levels. Don't be afraid of admitting that some things are not your
specialty and you need specialised help from local, national or
international organisations, institutions or from experts.
-
publicity: if you have discovered something interesting, or you
organise a spectacular or important counter-action, be sure that you
organise press work. One way is to let the press come to you, but you can
also think about ways of going to the press yourself. Think about writing
good press releases and complete feature articles. Find out if you can get
into the 'Opinions' section of the papers.
6. CHECKLIST
FOR THE SETTING UP OF A CAMPAIGN
- What does the campaign aim to
achieve?
- What change do you want (short AND long term)
- Do you
really need a campaign?
- Who is the target of the campaign? Who needs
to change and how?
- Who do you need on your side?
- What publicity
do you need?
- Try and have a planning committee that consists at least
partly of the people
concerned, the people living in the area
-
Choose the most appropriate method:
- direct action (non-violent
protest actions)
- political lobbying
- public
demonstrations/festivals/manifestations
- education
- media
-
Delegate responsibilities
- Make a time table for the campaign and
check it regularly
7. TO FIND
CONTACTS:
In UNITED's European Address Book Against
Racism and on www.unitedagainstracism.org you can find the addresses of
organisations that are active in the field of anti-racism in your area.
The addresses below can help you to find contacts, when you experience
discrimination or want to act against it.
European Disability Forum (EDF)
39-41 rue du Commerce
B-1000 Bruxelles,
Belgium
phone +32-2-2824603, fax +32-2-2824609
info@edf-feph.org, http://www.edf-feph.org/
European Roma Rights
Center (ERRC)
Postafiok 906/93 -
Nyár utca 12
H-1386, Budapest 62, Hungary
phone +36-1-4132200, fax
+36-1-4132201
office@errc.org, http://www.errc.org/
International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA)
Avenue des Villas 34
B-1060 Bruxelles,
Belgium
phone +32-2-5022471, fax +32-2-5022471
ilga@ilga.org, http://www.ilga.org/
Center for Expertise on Age and
Society
Postbus 9472
NL-3506
GL Utrecht, Netherlands
phone +31-30-26620000, fax +31-30-2662837
info@leeftijd.nl, http://www.leeftijd.nl/
This leaflet is based on a UNITED Training
Session, which relied heavily on 'When hate comes to town' a handbook
published by Searchlight Educational Trust.
Searchlight - Education Trust
PO Box
1576, GB-Ilford IG5 ONG, Great-Britain
phone +44-20-76818660, fax
+44-20-76818650,
editor@searchlightmagazine.com, http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/
Up
UNITED for Intercultural Action
European network against
nationalism, racism, fascism
and in support of migrants and
refugees
Postbus 413, NL-1000 AK Amsterdam,
Netherlands
phone +31-20-6834778, fax +31-20-6834582
info@unitedagainstracism.org,
http://www.unitedagainstracism.org/
|