The Issue of Interracial Dialogue and Its Importance

Throughout the years, the world has become more globalized in a way that people allaround are communicating with one another. This action, also known as interracial dialogue,has been prospering and flourishing for many years. The promotion of interracial dialogue in-cludes not only the advocation of communication between people of different races, but also theacceptance and peace between people of different ethnicities, religions, genders, etc. The goalof interracial dialogue is for people to unite and fight for the respect that they deserve and advo-cating universal respect and justice.It is important to understand as to why interracial dialogue has been thriving all theseyears. As the years pass, changes in the ethnic and racial composition in different nations hasgreatly increased. In the United States, 43.4% of U.S citizens are of color.

By 2050, approxi-mately half the population will be non-Hispanic White in the U.S. The Asian and Latino popula-tions will triple, the African-American population will double, and the European-American popu-lation will remain constant.Promoting interracial dialogue and communication between people all around the worldshould be an issue that needs to be addressed on a larger scale. There have been measures tosupport this cause in the past, such as having the King Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz InternationalCentre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), an intergovernmental organiza-tion, take place in Vienna, Austria. Its goal is to spread interreligous and intercultural dialogue,while also trying to stop the spread of conflict between nations and cultural groups.

Definition of Key Terms Interracial Dialogue

Interracial dialogue is the action in which individuals, groups, or organizations conversewith one another by having an open and respectful interaction. These interactions canconsist of said individuals, groups, or organizations having conversations regarding cul-tural backgrounds or world views.EthnicityAn ethnicity, also known as an ethnic group, is a group of people that consider them-selves to be in the same category, based on having multiple similarities. These similari-ties include shared ancestry, language, society, culture, and nation.

Culture

Culture is the social behavior and norms found in a society in a specific country or area.Culture can be found in music, art, dance, ritual, and religion. In other words, culture canalso be considered as the set of traditions, customs, and values of a community, often asociety in a nation.RaceRace, also known as human categorization, is a concept used to categorize humans intoracial groups. Categorizing these humans are based on genetic, ancestry, shared physi-cal attributes and features, and similar cultural or social characteristics. Background InformationAs previously mentioned, interracial dialogue is the action of which individuals, groups,or organizations converse with one another by having an open and respectful interaction. Busi-nesses around the world are in need of keeping interracial dialogue in mind, as it is an importantfactor in maintaining an equilibrium between said businesses. Interracial dialogue is one of themain concepts relating to international businesses, as it seeks to identify, apprehend and adjustto communication divergence across different races and cultures.

Importance of Interracial Dialogue

It has been agreed by both policy makers and scholars that interracial and interculturaldialogue and communication has become highly important. This is due to the fact that globaliza-tion and blending of different cultures has been increasing over the past few years. People fromnon-speaking nations have come to the United States to be involved in the workforce. the work-force includes the free movement of goods, services and ideas across countries.Global economicsInterracial dialogue also plays an important role in global economics. From a globaleconomic perspective, citizens from the U.S. work with diverse people from all aroundthe world; they all have different ways of living and cultures of their own. The businessdeals made between people of different races and cultures can only be made if saidbusiness workers understand the racial and cultural expectations so they can continuecommunicating.

The Perspective of an Employee

When employees begin to work, their assignments steadily start to extend onto globalgrounds. These employees begin to work outside of their countries, and will perhapseven live in different nations. In order for these people to adapt to the different countries,they need to learn how to communicate with different people. When learning these skills,the employees tend to appreciate the diversity that is in the country.

Globalization

The procedure of interaction and integration among different companies, governmentsand people, also known as globalization, is a factor that helps promote interracial dialogue. It ismanaged by global trade and investment, with the help of technology. This procedure has aneffect on both culture and society, as well as the well-being of individuals in all communities. The connection between globalization and interracial communicationThere have been a scope of factors in which lead to some changes towards the globalscale, while also leading to the promotion of interracial communication, such as a rise in February 2018international trade and portfolio and external direct investment.

Other factors that havemade an impact on globalization and interracial communication include the rise of migra-tion and border crossings; as there are many people in need of jobs and places to live.Major Countries and Organizations InvolvedUnited Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC)UNAOC is an initiative that was established in 2005 by the former UN Secretary GeneralMr. Kofi Annan and co-sponsored by the governments of Turkey and Spain.

The UNAOC hasbeen described as an organization that would help dwindle the enmity between rivaling coun-tries and/or societies, while also advancing the partnership and harmony between nations, sothey can work hand in hand. Little by little, this organization is able to build a bridge betweencommunities of different races and cultures, so people are able to learn and understand differentidentity groups and countries. UNAOC has a variety of goals that are trying to be achieved bypeople all around the world.

UNAOC wants the world to understand and appreciate different dia-logues and races, while also diminishing tensions between different cultures and religions. Theyplan to do that by enforcing third parties that can help ease the strained relations, such as as-signing youth leaders, women leaders, religious leaders and nonhierarchical organizations. Theorganization would also like to encourage development of specific projects, and the appear-ances of the High Representative or UNAOC staff; as they want to advocate certain topics orcauses.

United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)UNESCO is an organization led by the UN that coordinates global and international dia-logue and collaboration in culture, communication, education and science. In this day and age,the importance of the messages delivered by UNESCO is increasing day by day, as the world isbecoming more globalized and interconnected. Diversity and variety both play a significant rolein serving opportunities to build peace in mind in the wits of men and women. In addition, theorganization’s goal is to strengthen the bonds between communities of different races and na-tions, and to mobilize the society. Their plan is to give people access to high-quality education,as that it a basic human right that needs to be fulfilled.

UNESCO also wants citizens of diversecommunities to live in a place where an environment abounding in culture and dialogue is ap-Research Report | Page 4 of 8Dhahran Ahliyya Schools Model United Nations 2018 | 9th – 10th of February 2018preciated, as heritage and traditions help bond people and different generations. They wantpeople to benefit from scientific advances, while also having people enjoy freedom of expres-sion; the grounds of democracy, evolution, and human nobility.King Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligius and Intercultural Dia-logue (KAICIID)KACIID, founded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Austria and the King-dom of Spain, is an intergovernmental organization that has a goal to promote interracial andintercultural dialogue in order to prevent any conflict between nations. For seven years, this or-ganization has been in the process of advocating the use of dialogue among people with differ-ent cultures and heritage.

The use of interracial and intercultural dialogue helps strengthen so-cial and cultural unity, demolishes the idea of prejudice, maintains peace among people of dif-ferent ethnic groups and promotes quarrel prevention and alteration. As an organization thatsupports interracial dialogue, KAICIID supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,considering the fact that the organizations also advocates the freedom of religion, thoughts andconscience. Its goal is to fight against all forms of intolerance and bigotry relating to culture, be-lief and/or religion.

Timeline of EventsDate Description of EventDecember 10, 1948 The UN General Assembly in Paris, France publishes theUniversal Declaration of Human RightsNovember 16, 1945 The launch of UNESCODecember 21, 1965 The ratification of the International Convention on the Eliminationof All Forms of Racial DiscriminationJune 25, 1993 The World Conference of Human Rights in Vienna, Austriaadopted the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action2005 The establishment of UNAOCResearch 8Dhahran Ahliyya Schools Model United Nations 2018 | 9th – 10th of February 2018November 12, 2012

The formation of KAICIIDRelevant UN Treaties and Events

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 10, 1948
• Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Basedon Religion or Belief, November 25, 1981 (A/RES/36/55)
• UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, November 2, 2001
• High-level Dialogue on Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperationfor Peace, May 25, 2007 (A/RES/61/269)
• Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversi-ty of Cultural Expressions, June 14, 2013 (CE/13/4.CP/Res.)

Previous Attempts to Solve this IssueAs mentioned earlier, there have been many organizations that have made efforts tosolve this issue, and promote interracial and intercultural dialogue. With the help of UNESCO,UNAOD, KAICIID and many other organizations, people have gained awareness of the impor-tance and significance of diversity and interracial and intercultural communication.

To further promote interracial dialogue, more plans should be executed in order for peo-ple to understand the value of interracial dialogue and communication. For example, schoolsshould hold monthly seminars regarding interracial dialogue, having the speaker be from an or-ganization that promotes the issue. By holding these seminars, students are able to learn aboutpeople of different cultures and heritage. They will acknowledge the significance interracial dia-logue holds and will perhaps try and apply what they have learned from the seminars.

Another solution is for schools to possibly integrate languages from all around the worldinto the school curriculum. By doing so, students will not only be able to speak their first lan-Research Report | Page 6 of 8Dhahran Ahliyya Schools Model United Nations 2018 | 9th – 10th of February 2018guage, but will also be able to speak another language that interests them. By doing so, saidstudent can learn more about different cultures and habits from all around the world. This won’tonly encourage others to speak in different languages, but will also help connect people of dif-ferent races and heritages.