A Story from Mexico Olympics:
The picture in fig.2 depicts important landmarks in the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, the medal ceremony of the 200 meters race in the 1968 Olympics held at Mexico City.
The two men standing with clenched fists upraised and heads bowed, while the American national anthem was played, are the US athletes, Tommie Smith (Gold Medal) and John Carlos (Bronze Medal).
They are African-Americans.
They received their medals wearing black socks and no shoes to represent Black poverty.
With this gesture, they tried to draw international attention to racial discrimination in the United States.
The black-gloved and raised clenched fists were meant to symbolise Black Power.
The silver medalist, white Australian athlete, Peter Norman, wore a human rights badge on his shirt during the ceremony to show his support to the two Americans.
The International Olympic Association held Carlos and Smith guilty of violating the Olympic spirit by making a political statement.
Their medals were taken back. Back home, they were subjected to a lot of criticism.
Norman too suffered for his action and was not included in the Australian team for the next Olympic.
But their action succeeded in gaining international attention for the Civil Rights Movement in the US.
Differences, similarities, divisions:
Origins of social differences:
Social differences are mostly based on accident of birth.
We all experience social differences based on accident of birth in our everyday lives.
People around us are male or female, they are tall and short, have different kinds of complexions, or have different physical abilities or disabilities.
But all kinds of social differences are not based on accident of birth.
Some of the differences are based on our choices. For example, some people are atheists.
They don’t believe in God or any religion.
Some people choose to follow a religion other than the one in which they were born.
Most of us choose what to study, which occupation to take up and which games or cultural activities to take part in.
All these lead to formation of social groups that are based on our choices
“Every social difference does not lead to social division.”
Social differences divide similar people from one another but they also unite very different people.
People belonging to different social groups share differences and similarities cutting across the boundaries of their groups.
Carlos and Smith were similar in one way (both were African-American) and thus different from Norman who was white.
But they were also all similar in other ways – they were all athletes who stood against racial discrimination.
“Many a time’s people belong to the same community or religion, but still they feel different.”
It happens because their caste or sect is very different.
Rich and poor persons from the same family often do not keep close relations with each other for they feel they are very different.
Thus, we all have more than one identity and can belong to more than one social group.
We have different identities in different contexts.
Over-lapping and cross-cutting differences:
Over-lapping differences:
Social division takes place when some social difference overlaps with other differences.
Social divisions occur, when one kind of social difference becomes more important than the other and people start feeling that they belong to different communities.
The difference between the Blacks and Whites becomes a social division in the US because the Blacks tend to be poor, homeless and discriminated against.
In our country Dalits tend to be poor and landless.
They often face discrimination and injustice.
Overlapping social differences create possibilities of deep social divisions and tensions.
Cross – cutting social difference:
When social differences cross cut one another, it is difficult to put one group of people against the other.
It means that groups that share a common interest on one issue are likely to be in different sides on a different issue.
Cross-cutting social differences are easier to accommodate.
Consider the cases of Northern Ireland and the Netherlands, Both are predominantly Christian but divided between Catholics and Protestants.
In the Netherlands, class and religion tend to cut across each other.
Catholics and Protestants are about equally likely to be poor or rich, result they never had conflicts in Netherlands.
While, in Northern Ireland, class and religion overlap with each other.
If you are Catholic, you are also more likely to be poor, and you may have suffered a history of discrimination.
The result is that Catholics and Protestants have had conflicts in Northern Ireland.
Do the social divisions in a country depend upon its size?
Social divisions of one kind or another exist in most countries.
It does not matter whether the country is small or big.
India is a vast country with many communities Belgium is a small country with many communities.
Even those countries such as Germany and Sweden, that were once highly Homogeneous, are undergoing rapid change with influx of people from other parts of the world.
Migrants bring with them their own culture and tend to form a different social community.
In this sense most countries of the world are multi-cultural.
Politics of social divisions:
“The combination of politics and social divisions is very dangerous and explosive.”
Democracy involves competition among various political parties.
Their competition tends to divide any society.
If they start competing in terms of some existing social divisions, it can make social divisions into political divisions and lead to conflict, violence or even disintegration of a country. Take the case of Northern Ireland.
This region of the UK has been for many years the site of a violent and bitter ethno political conflict.
Its population is divided into two major sects of Christianity:
53 per cent are Protestants. They were represented by Unionists who wanted to remain with the UK, which is predominantly protestant.
44 per cent are Roman Catholics. They were represented by Nationalist parties who demanded that Northern Ireland be unified with the Republic of Ireland, a predominantly Catholic country.
Hundreds of civilians, militants and security forces were killed in the fight between Unionists and Nationalists and between the security forces of the UK and the Nationalists.
It was only in 1998, that the UK government and the Nationalists reached a peace treaty after which the latter suspended their armed struggle.
Political competition along religious ending ethnic lines led to the disintegration of Yugoslavia into six independent countries.
“Every expression of social divisions in politics does not lead to disasters.”
Social divisions of one kind or another exist in most countries of the world.
In a democracy it is only natural that political parties would talk about these divisions, make different promises to different communities, look after due representation of various communities and make policies to redress the grievances of the disadvantaged communities.
Social divisions affect voting in most countries.
People from one community tend to prefer some party more than others.
In many countries there are parties that focus only on one community.
Yet all this does not lead to disintegration of the country.
Three determinants:
Three factors are crucial in deciding the outcome of politics of social divisions.
The outcome depends on how people perceive their identities.
If people see their identities in singular and exclusive terms, it becomes very difficult to accommodate.
As long as people in Northern Ireland saw themselves as only Catholic or Protestant, their differences were difficult to reconcile.
It is much easier if the people see that their identities are multiple and are complementary with the national identity.
A majority 1 of Belgians now feel that they are as much Belgian as they are Dutch or German-speaking.
This helps them to stay together.
How political leaders raise the demands of any community.
It is easier to accommodate demands that are within the constitutional framework and are not at the cost of another community.
In Yugoslavia, the leaders of different ethnic communities presented their demands in such a way that these could not be accommodated within a single country.
How the government reacts to demands of different groups.
If the rulers are willing to share power and accommodate the reasonable demands of minority community, social divisions become less threatening for the country.
But if they try to suppress such a demand in the name of national unity, the end result is often quite the opposite.
Such attempts at forced integration often sow the seeds of disintegration.
“In a democracy, political expression of social divisions is very normal and can be healthy.”
This allows various disadvantaged and marginal social groups to express their grievances and get the government to attend to these.
Expression of various kinds of social divisions in politics often results in their cancelling one another out and thus reducing their intensity.
This leads to strengthening of a democracy.
“Willingness to accommodate diversity is not that easy.”
People who feel marginalised, deprived and discriminated have to fight against the injustices.
Such a fight often takes the democratic path, voicing their demands in a peaceful and constitutional manner and seeking a fair position through elections.
The struggle against such inequalities sometimes takes the path of violence and defiance of state power.
However history shows that democracy is the best way to fight for recognition and also to accommodate diversity.
Homogenous society – A society with similar kinds of people especially where there are no significant ethnic groups
Migrant – Anybody who shifts from one region or country to another region within a country or to another country, usually for work or other economic opportunities.
Civil rights movement (1954-1968) – It was a non-violent movement initiated by Martin Luther King Jr to fight against racial discrimination practiced in the US against African-Americans who were Blacks.
African–American – An African-American is a person in the United States whose ancestors, fathers and forefathers, were born in Africa, who was brought to America as slave between 17th -19th century.
Black power – The Black Power Movement came into existence in 1966 and lasted till 1975. It was a militant and anti racist movement advocating even violence was necessary to end racism in the US,
Overlapping differences – When some social differences overlap other differences.
Cross– cutting differences – When some social differences cross-cut one another.
