Online Racism and Hate Crimes on The Basis of Race Or Religion

Online racism or cyber racism is most commonly defined as racism which occurs in the cyber world. This includes racism which occurs on the internet such as racist websites, images, blogs, videos and online comments as well as racist comments, images or language in text messages, emails or on social networking sites. Cyber-racism will often be considered breaking the law under the Federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975 which prohibits racial hatred. This is doing something in public based on the race, color, national or ethnic origin of a person or group of people which is likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate. Quick history of how racism came, by the 19th century, racism had matured and spread around the world. In many countries, leaders began to think of the ethnic components of their own societies, usually religious or language groups, in racial terms and to designate “higher” and “lower” races. Those seen as the low-status races, especially in colonized areas, were exploited for their labor, and discrimination against them became a common pattern in many areas of the world. The expressions and feelings of racial superiority that accompanied colonialism generated resentment and hostility from those who were colonized and exploited, feelings that continued even after independence, until now racism has become a weapon of murder or suicide by the writer to the victim themselves.

The internet is indeed a powerful tool used to influence and reinforce divisive ideas. And it’s not only organized racist groups that take advantage of online communication; unaffiliated individuals do it too. But the way groups and individuals use the internet differs in several important ways. Racist groups are active on different communication channels to individuals, and they have different goals and strategies they use to achieve them. The effects of their communication are also distinctive. Individuals mostly engage in cyber-racism to hurt others, and to confirm their racist views by connecting with like-minded people (seeking “confirmation bias”). Their preferred communication channels tend to be blogs, forums, news commentary websites, gaming environments and chat rooms. Some people will react differently with these types of stuff, some people would take it personally and probably get depression and eventually kill themselves or they just kill themselves after just one single comment, or people would just ignore it like it’s a walk in the park.

Racism can be about anything like for example: racist and religious hate, something is a racist or religious hate incident if the victim or anyone else thinks it was carried out because of hostility or prejudice based on race or religion. This means that if you believe something is a hate incident, it should be recorded as such by the person you are reporting it to. Anyone can be the victim of a racist or religious hate incident. For example, someone may wrongly believe your part of a certain racial group. Or someone may target you because of your partner’s religion. A racial group means a group of people who are defined by reference to their race, color, nationality or ethnic or national origin. This includes; gypsies and Travelers, refugees and asylum seekers, Jews and Sikhs. A religious group means a group of people who share the same religious belief such as Muslims, Hindus and Christians. It also includes people with no religious belief at all. Racist or religious hate incidents can take many forms including; verbal and physical abuse, bullying, threatening behavior, online abuse, and damage to property. It can be a one-off incident or part of an ongoing campaign of harassment or intimidation. Hate incidents are not only carried out by strangers. It could be carried out by a career, a neighbor, a teacher or someone you consider a friend.

When racist or religious hate incidents become criminal offences, they are known as hate crimes. Any criminal offence can be a racist or religious hate crime, if the offender targeted you because of their prejudice or hostility based on race or religion. There are two main types of racist and religious hate crime; racially or religiously aggravated offences under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and any other offences for which the sentence can be increased under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 if they are classed as a hate crime. In both cases, when a criminal offence is classed as a racist or religious hate crime, the judge can impose a tougher sentence on the offender. Remember, the incident you’ve suffered may still be a crime even if it’s difficult to show it was carried out because of hostility based on race or religion.

Many hate incidents happen near the victim’s home. For example, you may be repeatedly harassed or intimidated by neighbors or local youths. People may be throwing things like rubbish in your garden or damaging your property. You can report these incidents to the police. There are also other things you can do to stop these acts. You can get your local authority or landlord to take action under their anti-social behavior powers. You can also take civil court action to get compensation and an order to stop the perpetrator continuing with the behavior under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. When bullying is motivated by hostility or prejudice based on race or religion, it can be a hate incident. Bullying in itself is not a criminal offence. But if it’s serious enough, it could also be a hate crime. Bullying includes cyber bullying. If you’ve experienced bullying, the school should deal with it under their behavior policy. They should also co-operate with the police and social services if they become involved. If the school fails to deal with the bullying, you may have a discrimination claim under the Equality Act 2010. You may also be able to challenge the school’s failure to act under their public sector equality duty.

One of the cases of this topic I found was; Creuza Oliveira, a domestic worker in Brazil. Born in a family of poor rural workers with no schooling, Oliveira began life as a domestic worker in Bahia when she was a mere 10 years old. Unable to balance work and school, she had to pick work and dropped out of school numerous times. At work, Oliveira would be beaten and taunted whenever she broke something, often called lazy, monkey, even 'nig*er'. The physical and psychological abuse was compounded by sexual abuse from the young men in the household where she worked. To top it all off, Oliveira was not paid. At age 14, her employers took her to Sao Paulo to work, without any authorization from her relatives in Bahia. Such was Oliveira’s life until she heard on the radio about meetings of domestic workers fighting for their rights. She attended one meeting and thus began her evolution from a suffering young woman with low confidence into a leader in the fight for the rights of blacks, for women and for domestic workers. 'Almost half a million domestic workers in Brazil are children and teenagers between 5 and 17 years of age working without compensation, as slaves,' she said. Racism is a problem, mostly the belief in the superiority of one race over another isn’t fair for every one including the people who are suffering, there are many people who see this as an opportunity of slavery, that’s what really happened, slavery became the United States probably began with the arrival of '20 and odd' enslaved Africans to the British colony of Virginia, in 1619. It officially ended with the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865. Use our timeline to navigate a history of slavery in the United States. Then outcomes the slavery trade, The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage, and existed from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Slave trade, the capturing, selling, and buying of slaves. In the 17th and 18th centuries, African slaves were traded in the Caribbean for molasses, which was made into rum in the American colonies and traded back to Africa for more slaves. Then this popped up, The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage, and existed from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

If you’ve experienced a hate incident or crime you can report it to the police. You can also report a hate incident or crime even if it wasn’t directed at you. For example, you could be a friend, neighbour, family member, support worker or simply a passer-by. If you’re being repeatedly harassed by the same person or group of people it’s best to report all the incidents to help the police get the full picture. When reporting the incident or crime you should say you think it was motivated by hostility or prejudice based on race or religion. Your local Citizens Advice Bureau can help you with reporting a hate incident or crime. There are many movements in efforts to stop racism for spreading across the globe, like the UNSR, Special rapporteur, independent expert, and working group member are titles given to individuals working on behalf of the United Nations (UN) within the scope of 'special procedure' mechanisms who have a specific country or thematic mandate from the United Nations Human Rights Council. The term 'rapporteur' is a French-derived word for an investigator who reports to a deliberative body. Special Rapporteurs often conduct fact-finding missions to countries to investigate allegations of human rights violations. They can only visit countries that have agreed to invite them. Aside from fact-finding missions, Rapporteurs regularly assess and verify complaints from alleged victims of human rights violations. Once a complaint is verified as legitimate, an urgent letter or appeal is sent to the government that has allegedly committed the violation. If no complaint has been made, Rapporteurs may intervene on behalf of individuals and groups of people of their own accord.

In conclusion, racism is the belief in the superiority of one race over another. It may also include prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against other people because they are of a different race or ethnicity, or the belief that members of different races or ethnicities should be treated differently. There are two main types of racist and religious hate crime; racially or religiously aggravated offences under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and any other offences for which the sentence can be increased under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 if they are classed as a hate crime. Racism is a problem, mostly the belief in the superiority of one race over another isn’t fair for every one including the people who are suffering, there are many people who see this as an opportunity of slavery, that’s what really happened, slavery became the United States probably began with the arrival of Europeans and Africans; enslaved Africans to the British colony of Virginia, in 1619. There are many movements in efforts to stop racism for spreading across the globe, like the UNSR, Special rapporteur, independent expert, and working group member are titles given to individuals working on behalf of the United Nations (UN) within the scope; special procedure; mechanisms who have a specific country or thematic mandate from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The color of Africans' skin intrigued, frightened, and repelled Europeans. Exaggerating the physical and mental differences that allegedly separated blacks from whites, European writers conjectured that blacks had descended from apes or had emerged as the result of a biblical curse on the descendants of Canaan and Ham. With the expansion of the Atlantic slave trade toward the end of the seventeenth century, theories of black inferiority abounded. It was, after all, in the interest of slave traders and slave owners to propagate the myth that Africans were not human beings, or at least not fully human, a species different from the rest of humanity. Defined as brutish and bestial, heathen and savage, Africans seemed to Europeans as fit only for slavery. These things are the causes of spreading racism.