Racism Is Not the Solution to Your Problems

The rise of fascism, represented by the anti-immigration political party and the lack of critical thinking in our society, is making people adopt racists positions. In many cases, it coincides with the destruction of the middle class and global impoverishment, which is usually accompanied by feelings of loneliness and hopelessness. In this context of degradation, anti-immigration organisations successfully deliver false promises of rescuing citizens from their existing poverty, to take back what belongs to them. For that to happen, they attribute high unemployment, criminality and terrorism with immigration.

Many times anti–immigration organisations count on the inestimable help of the mainstream media, which, without even realising, serves as a medium to spread their message. Donald Trump is the personification of anti-immigration sentiment that the media excessively focuses on, which helps them achieve their goals. In this case, the media informed negative things related to his past misconduct, but the excessive coverage made people think that they were being manipulated.

Let’s now scrutinise some of the anti-immigration claims to better understand whether their arguments are valid or not:

1. Immigration and crimes:

Anti-immigration organisations are regularly linking crimes to immigration. However, the available reports depict that in western countries, immigrants are less likely to be criminals than natural citizens.

In Germany, where the arrival of refugees has been massive, the German Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) announced in 2016 that crimes committed in 2015 by refugees stood at the same level as those committed by native Germans.

Government report Police Crime Statistics 2015.

https://www.bka.de/EN/CurrentInformation/PoliceCrimeStatistics/2015/pcs2015.html?nn=39580

(The statistics of 2016 have not been published yet. However, different sources suggest that the next reporting could be manipulated by the government to justify the expulsion of refugees, the same year that Germany will hold presidential elections, and because Merkel is losing popularity. I will inform you about the real report and any case of evidence of manipulation by increasing the immigration criminality, I will show it here)

“The majority (of refugees) do not come here with the intention of committing crimes. They come to Germany to find protection and peace.”

“Immigrants have always been a convenient scapegoat,” – Walter A. Ewing, a senior researcher at the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit group in Washington.

As we can see, the anti-immigration theories are unsubstantiated by government reports.Although I am focusing on Germany because it has experienced the mass arrival of immigration, this tendency is similar in the rest of western countries.

2. Immigration and jobs:

Despite the general opinion that immigrants steal our jobs, immigration has a positive impact on a country’s  economy. It happens because of several factors:

• 1. In many European countries, the education and health systems are semi-free, as the population is getting older, the cost of maintenance of the systems is increasing while the tax collection to maintain it is decreasing. In such a scenario,  immigration helps to replace the ageing working population and this increases the needed contribution to maintaining this “free system.”
• Note: In the U.S. there is no a free educational or health system, the government allege that it would supposedly lead to an increase in taxes. However, the reduction of the annual military investment would allow the government to implement a free educational and health system to enable people to have equal opportunities.
• 2. Immigrants are always willing to do those important jobs related to the cleaning, construction, agriculture etc. sectors that locals are not. It is clear then that without immigration there would be a lack of services that in the end would provoke the collapse of the system.

3. Immigration and rape reports:

There is a general concern that the entrance of refugees into western countries will increase the raping cases.However, so far there is no clear evidence that that may happen. It is mainly caused by the mainstream media that sometimes misleads citizens by distorting the reality. For example, the mass-raping case during the New Year’s Eve 2015:

The mainstream media reported without verifying it that the German government announced that hundreds of immigrants (refugees) mass-raped women in Colonia. For that to happen, supposedly, hundreds of refugees would have gathered in the downtown of Colonia to mass-rape women. However, later it was found that the immigrants were mostly from North Africa (not refugees) and that anti-immigration organisations organised it to spread fear into society.

4. Terrorism:

Anti-immigration organisations are trying to criminalise all refugees and immigrants by  suggesting that all of them are terrorists. Unfortunately, there are millions of citizens who believe these falsehoods.

No one neglects the fact that from all the refugees waiting to enter into western countries, there are some hidden terrorists, but they are just a few, and the majority of refugees, who have already been living under hard conditions for years, cannot wait to receive international aid anymore.

International terrorism is a threat to our society, and the international community should find the way to eliminate it. Nevertheless, it is important to note that most of the terrorists who committed terrorist attacks in western countries were locals.

By supporting racist positions, our society is losing its common sense. The existing financial, security, employment and political problems do not come from the immigration. These problems are usually originated by governments, anti-immigration, and financial institutions, which for years have been undermining the confidence that citizens once had on them.

Anti-immigration organisations are benefiting from the existing chaos due to a lack of critical thinking in our society.And unless the mainstream media stops boosting them, racism will increase to levels never seen before in history. 

Immigration is necessary and positive in many aspects of our lives. Without it, as mentioned earlier, the system would collapse, and the citizens would suffer. It is important to remember that immigrants are human beings like you and me. Life brings many changes, and anyone may become an immigrant overnight. Even racist and intolerant people, if forced to migrate, would expect respect from others.

There is a lot of work to needed to be done with all those who support anti-immigration positions. The arguments on anti-immigration are baseless, and there is no clear evidence to support what they say. However, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and if our society can teach them to think critically, then there will be some hope to halt the global rise of fascism.

Understanding, compassion, tolerance, and critical thinking are the solutions to many problems.

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