Tolerance today is an ethical doctrine of this time which occupies a central place in the system of values of civilized states. Today, more than ever, society needs the ideology of an open, tolerant, and understanding community. The growing number of acts of open intolerance around the world, which humanity has been experiencing since the end of the 20th century, makes the issue of tolerance one of the priorities the world community faces. This essay will examine the importance of tolerance for people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and American Muslims.
Tolerance is when a person recognizes the right of another to their own, different from others, point of view, personality characteristics, the behavior of another, treats it calmly and uncritically (Class Discussion, September 17). It is an understanding that all people are different, each with their own life experience, mentality, upbringing, different views, and beliefs. Since the disabled live in a society, they interact with other people one way or another. Unfortunately, in modern society, people do not always show due respect to those who need it.
For example, many people treat disabled people with disdain or hostility, not recognizing them as equals. Many disabled people face humiliation or even hatred, as they do not fit into the framework of “normality” existing in society (Weeber 237). I feel great admiration and respect for the disabled people who overcame the humiliating attitude and anger from other people. Even being more limited in their abilities, disabled people enjoy life and accept themselves as they are.
The idea of tolerance for people with disabilities is of great relevance because support and assistance are vital for these people. This topic is relevant as people with disabilities live near us and have physical and psychological problems that make their lives difficult. Modern society should make special efforts to change the situation and to adopt ethically proper and competent terminology in dealing with people with disabilities.
Ethnic and cultural minorities also often face misunderstanding and unfair treatment. It is especially true for America, whose inhabitants are distinguished by racial diversity. Each new nationality that once settled on the territory of America brought something new to the culture and traditions of the United States (Takaki 435). Thousands of people have come to America searching for a better life, and new freedoms to gradually, year after year, form a unique, unlike anything else state.
Unfortunately, different ethnic groups have been racially discriminated against due to differences in culture and appearance. People were intolerant of Indians, and representatives of other nationalities were considered second-class residents, despised, and even hated (Takaki 437). In general, it seems strange to me since the first Europeans who came to America were precisely identical strangers and immigrants to the Indians (Class Discussion, September 11). America has a dark and gloomy past because thousands of indigenous people were displaced from their lands, and their culture was mercilessly destroyed.
The idea of equality of ethnic groups is interesting and essential because it is necessary to preserve the cultural characteristics of different peoples, which are unique and inimitable. Unfortunately, cultural differences often lead people, or even entire countries, to misunderstand each other, hostility, bias, violence, and wars (Sue and Sue 195). Nowadays, ethnic tolerance is brought to life by necessity in any polyethnic community. Therefore, it is pleasant to realize that now America is changing for the better, educating citizens to be tolerant of representatives of other cultures and nationalities. Of course, many problems still need to be solved, but the beginning has been laid.
Another hot topic affecting the tolerant attitude is American Muslims, who became victims of aggression after the tragic events of September 11. Because of the terrible terrorist attack that day, Muslims in the United States were viewed as a potentially dangerous category (Bayoumi 218). American intelligence agencies explained in their reports that any Muslim living in the United States could become an object of recruitment by radical Islamist groups.
The political, social, and legal pressure on Muslim communities was explained by the objective need to ensure national security, making it possible to create a system of legal exclusivity. Nevertheless, many innocent Muslims have suffered due to the tightening of laws relating to Muslims and the rapid deterioration of attitudes towards them (Bayoumi 220). After these tragic events, Muslims became a hated minority, violating all civil rights (Class Discussion, September 12). All Muslims were branded as “terrorists” by white Americans, intimidated, ridiculed, and insulted, forcing them to leave America and return to their homeland. This negative attitude has caused many Muslims to change their traditions and customs and abandon their roots to avoid hatred and malice.
The topic of a tolerant and tolerant attitude towards American Muslims is relevant and exciting since an entire ethnic group has suffered due to the actions of several of its representatives. Muslims reacted to the attacks like other US citizens because they lived here and raised their children here (Lecture, September 13). American society needs to overcome the fear of Islam and provide conditions for safe and conflict-free entry of Muslim immigrants into its environment.
Thus, it can be concluded that tolerance is one of the critical elements of the normal functioning of modern society. Under the influence of a culture of tolerance, the world is becoming more and more integral. Now global communication, financial, and migration flows have made considerable gaps in the existing barriers, compressing different cultures and lifestyles in a single space of world society. The development of a culture of tolerance is necessary for the context of global globalization.
Works Cited
Bayoumi, Moustafa. How Does it Feel to be a Problem?. Penguin Books, 2009.
Sue, Derald, and David Sue. Counselling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice. 7th ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2016.
Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Revised Edition. Little, Brown and Company, 2008.
Weeber, Joy E. “What could I know of racism?.” Journal of Counseling and Development: JCD 77.1 (1999): 20.