MID EXAM

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN GLOBAL POLITICS

 AZELIA YINKA WULANDARI

2301939506
LB66

I chose topic A. Theoretical Perspectives of Contemporary Global Issues

Introduction

In my opinion, a global issue that is arguably an important thing that has existed since time
immemorial and should be stopped, from a social and cultural perspective in all countries,
ironically this is still happening today is a case of racism. In essence, all human beings have
the same dignity and are equal in position, no one can distinguish from any aspect. Humans
have the right to get the same social freedom, without feeling discriminated against because
of what they have, even if they have been born with it attached to themselves. And here,
racism does not reflect that in the slightest. Racism is an unsettling act that afflicts innocent
people, especially if they accept violence because of it. There is no single country that is free
from cases of racism, because of the various differences that each country has. Racism itself
arises because of the lack of tolerance among humans towards others who have differences,
including ethnicity, race, religion, culture, and what often happens is discrimination against a
person's skin color. The roots of racism can be seen from how the construction of ideas is
formed for certain reasons and purposes. Racism has been going on for a very long time, one
result of psychological research on racism in South Africa shows that the formation of the
idea that white people have a special position has led to political hegemony since the post
colonialism era in the 1900s in that country. This can be called a belief which has the
potential to cause a person to form prejudice which in turn leads to negative behavior towards
certain groups of people. Simply put, wrong ideas and beliefs form bad prejudice, which then
results in negative behavior, namely discrimination.

And most people who cannot accept the differences that exist and continue to do things
that are not praiseworthy resulting in a case of racism, are people who think that what is in
themselves has become the most true thing, so when they see the differences, they ridicule
and vilify what is in the other person. Racism is a different case in different countries. For
example, I start from my own country, Indonesia, where racism cases that I see often occur
are discrimination against ethnicity and race. After I examined it, a case of racism that is very
concerning is the case in Papua. The differences in ethnicity and race in Papua, which are
considered by the people of big cities like Jakarta, are due to the feeling that the Papuan
people are an underdeveloped society, and many people also ridicule the physical appearance
of the Papuan people. Racism may arise not only from differences in skin color but also from
cultural differences that lead to certain boundaries of cultural marginalization and superiority.
A person can be racist because it is influenced by the pattern of character formation from
birth, social norms in society and the political, economic and cultural system of a country that
tends to be racist. However, the state has a big influence to perpetuate or otherwise eliminate
racism.

Discussion

In the case study here, I will raise the case of racism in America, more precisely the case of
injustice and social discrimination of black people in America who have taken the lives of
George Floyd. This case of racism that had shocked people throughout the country was the
BLM or Black Lives Matter case, a resistance movement demanding social justice when a
cruelty occurred and ended up killing the lives of the police perpetrated against black people
in America. In fact, there have been many cases of injustice like this for a long time, but
because incidents like this are repeated over and over, people started to feel they have to put
up a massive fight to stop racism. in this action resulted in chaos in several parts of the
United States. damage to public facilities, mass looting, and assaults indiscriminately without
knowing whether the person was participating in the demonstration took place. the ferocity of
the American police is increasingly seen here, because they are arrogant and attack innocent
people. The death of George Floyd, this black American citizen who worked as a guard at
entertainment venues in Minneapolis, Minnesota, died of suffocation in an officer's knees
around his neck on Monday, May 25, 2020. Floyd allegedly used counterfeit money to make
transactions at a grocery store. The shopkeeper then dialed 911 to arrest Floyd. When the
officers arrived, Floyd was handcuffed and he was knocked down. One of the white officers
then pressed his knee against Floyd's neck. Residents crowding near the crime scene
witnessed Floyd begging to be released because he could not breathe.

However, the officer who was holding his neck didn't want to let go of his knee. For eight
minutes and 46 seconds1 Floyd was in that position. At the urging of the residents, the officer
then checked Floyd's pulse. Upon examination, Floyd showed no signs of life. When finally
the officer who was holding Floyd's neck lowered his knee, Floyd was taken to Hennepin
Medical Center by ambulance. An hour later Floyd was pronounced dead. The day after the
incident, the Police Department fired the four officers involved in the incident and the officer
who held Floyd's neck, Derek Chauvin, was charged with murder. Two days after the news of
Floyd's death, demonstrations broke out in a number of major cities in the United States.
Demonstrations that took place in Denver, New York, and Oakland demanded that justice for
Floyd's death be served. The demonstrators also demanded that Chauvin 's case of racism
against Floyd be the last. Not only took to the field, protests against the incident were also
filed by millions of Twitter social media users. Protests were staged by including the hashtag
#BlackLivesMatter in the hope that racism incidents like the one that happened to Floyd
would not be repeated. Floyd's death was not the first incident of racism to occur in the
United States. This incident has been counted for the third time in 2020. Previously, the
shooting of Ahamud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, who were black citizens of the United
States, were shot by white people in February and March 2020. This racism-laden event in
America shows that racism continues to exist and develop in line with the times.

I. Conclusion

Humans are created with many differences that make individuals unique, many ethnic
groups and cultures are widespread throughout the world, and the example I have raised
above is the case of racism in an ethnically diverse American country caused by foreign
immigrants who enter America. And here I will explain the relationship between Realism
Theory and Racism in the world. The theory of realism says that this flow of theory has
characteristics that describe real society and contemporary situations that are unique to the
environment of their daily circumstances, here the link that occurs is that racism is indeed a
contemporary situation, and it still occurs in our daily lives. For the connection with the main
idea of realism theory, namely the first is that there are no actors above the state that are able
to regulate their interactions, the state must establish its own relations with other countries,
from here, what I can relate is that cases of racism that occur must be resolved firmly by that
state. itself and created strict laws regulating human behavior so that it is not sustainable to
commit racism. This can only be done by the government of the country itself, because in
essence humans will be afraid to do this if the state has established it, and if it violates it will
get heavy sanctions. Of course this also makes the country and the people in it feel safe from
feeling discrimination if they visit a foreign country that has different cultural standards.
Second, the theory of realism also assumes that the main problem for every country is
survival, and the State becomes mutually reinforcing and building up each other's military to
survive, so that it can create a security dilemma.

From the cases of racism in America that I raised, the problems stem from the security
and resilience of the country. American police officers themselves have killed George Floyd,
which is where the police should be able to provide a sense of security and security for
everyone in the community in America. This happens, because it has long been applied to a
belief that white people in America cannot accept the differences that other immigrant
societies provide, the increasing number of immigrants who enter America makes it a
pressure on whites who feel superior or many people call them "rednecks" or white workers
who are intolerant of differences, then the stereotype about immigrants is that people have
mushroomed all over America so that a lot of immigrants are immigrants. get racist treatment
in his environment. All these stereotypes occur because there (America) white people enslave
black people and separate existing facilities that are not equal or fair. So that the emergence
of an extreme racist group in America, this group believes that whites have a higher position
than blacks and intend to eradicate black people in America even they eradicate people. white
skin protecting black people. This makes American military is wrong in making a view that
has always been passed on to government and military resilience. So it is like the realism
theory which states that the problem of the state is survival, in this case the American people
who experience discrimination cannot survive and get their right to life in peace. I often see
how ironic the black people in America cannot live in peace, if they do something suspicious
even though it is a good thing, in the eyes of the American apparatus and police do not
hesitate and without guilt to commit violence against these innocent people.

References :

Demby, G. 2014, NPR Article “The Ugly, Fascinating History Of The Word
'Racism'”. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/01/05/260006815/the-ugly-
fascinating-history-of-the-word-racism (access on Nov 5th, 2020).

Anonymous, 2020. The New York Times Article “What We Know About the Death of
George Floyd in Minneapolis”. https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd.html (access
on Nov 5th, 2020).

Staff, 2020. Washington Post Article “Resources to understand America’s long

history of injustice and inequality”.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/08/understanding-racism-inequality-
america/?arc404=true (access on Nov 5th, 2020).