Forum on Discrimination
The Forum on Discrimination (FonD) is a project of the Scottish Civic Forum. It aims to promote equality and a culture of participation in all communities in Scotland. For example by holding regional events throughout the country to identify the main concerns of real people.
We want everyone to have their say and to be listened to. People need to take responsibility for their own behaviour, but teachers, the media and the government play an important role in influencing people.
Millicent Scott, FonD Development Worker
FonD poses the question of whether unfair discrimination is natural, or a result of learning or conditioning. The juxtaposition between nature and nurture begs the question: Do we naturally fear people who are different from ourselves, or do we learn to think that 'different is worse'? This question was addressed at the FonD national conference in Dundee at the end of 2005 and will be considered at regional meetings throughout Scotland in 2006.
If it is natural to fear the unknown then the classroom must play a significant role in introducing the unknown in order to make it familiar. Conversely, if we learn that different is worse then it is essential that this trend in learning should be stemmed. Either way teaching can make a significant difference not only to the lives of the people learning, but also to the lives of those they later interact with.
We have to discriminate every time we make a decision: against one thing and in favour of another. It is unfair discrimination that FonD works against. This is when one thing is chosen above another for an arbitrary reason such as skin colour or sexual orientation.
We have to learn about the difference between Islam and Christianity; Catholicism and Protestantism. Do we also learn about the difference between skin colours and sexual orientations? Who teaches us that Catholicism is better than Protestantism or vice versa and who can teach us to respect difference and value diversity?
Millicent Scott, FonD Development Worker
The classroom is just one area where people learn. We also learn from the media, from our families, at football matches, etc. Many discriminations and attitudes such as sectarianism will be learned in the home or through the media. These are endemic societal discriminations that can be difficult to influence.
Common problems include being bullied at school for ‘being different'; being misrepresented in the press and being verbally or physically attacked on the street. This is unacceptable in our 'civilised' twenty-first century society, but often difficult for the victim to deal with.
Tackling such problems is made easier if they are seen as problems in our society, rather than individual's problems. FonD has provided media training sessions around the country to help equality organisations in Scotland access the media and promote themselves in a positive light. Advice was given on how to contact journalists, which journalists to target, how to write press releases and a host of other issues.
Participants in regional events have gone away with action plans. For example a mental health organisation and an ethnic minority organisation agreed to work together to campaign for bus drivers in their area to be taught to deal with abusive behaviour on their busses. A person with Down's syndrome and a person with brown skin had both been spat at on board local busses. The participants in this regional event agreed that if this behaviour were challenged by the bus driver – the person in authority – then it could be effectively discouraged.
The Forum on Discrimination considers discrimination to be the problem. Whether people treat others as inferior on grounds of their skin colour or on grounds of their religion, their gender, or their social class is irrelevant. The issue is that they treat others unfairly. It is the discriminator, not the discriminated that is the problem and it is this issue that the Forum on Discrimination tackles.
There are already organisations that assist people with individual issues. The Forum on Discrimination brings these groups together and provides a ‘safe space’ where different single-issue equality groups can discuss the challenges they face and learn from each other. Individuals are encouraged to participate, as are policy-makers, students, teachers and journalists. By discussing common barriers to participation, common solutions can be found. Through facilitating meetings between diverse people, FonD hopes to boost confidence and skills in the most under-represented groups.
The Forum on Discrimination started in 2003 and is funded by the Big Lottery Fund. It is a members organisation with a steering group of about 30 active members. The two paid staff are Millicent Scott, Development Worker and Preeti Prasad, Administrator.
For more information please visit www.forumondiscrimination.org.uk