Does difference gives us a reason to be prejudiced?

People are born of parents they didn’t choose and in places they didn’t have a say over. Regardless of one’s race, ethnicity, nationality etc, human-beings never have a say over most of these vital descriptors that they will adopt later in life. If the parents are black then the children will most definitely be black. If both the parents are of a certain ethnic community then the child will adopt the language used by such a community, and be a member of the same community. If both the parents live in a particular country and are a citizen of that nation then the progeny will be nationals of the same state. If both the parents are tall then the offspring will most probably be tall, and so on and forth.

Consequently, human-beings come from different races, ethnicities, nationalities, sexes, etc. Ideally, therefore, different shouldn’t mean worse than or better than. I think the only thing these identifiers serve to do is to differentiate between people, rather than give an avenue for some bigots to mistreat others. These are the elements that make life colourful. Try to imagine a world where everybody was the same; same colour, same height, same beliefs, same language and accent. There won’t be anything exciting living in such a world. Such a life would in essence be very boring.

Thus, I think, it is to avoid such a dreary eventuality that The Creator, in His Wisdom, made us different. We, therefore, have many places to visit, and see the people living in such regions. We enjoy the exotic cuisines and cultures of many a people. We learn foreign languages, sometimes just for the thrill of it, without the need to use it anywhere. We take pleasure in the world’s flora and fauna. All these bring excitement to us - human-beings - and not because the ‘others’ are like ‘us’ but, because, they are different from ‘us’. It is for this reason that tourism is one of the biggest revenue earners for many a country.

Therefore, it is disheartening to see some people adopting some holier than thou attitude towards ‘others’, and for reason neither had a say over. If, for example, one is black and encounters a person of a different colour then it doesn’t mean the black person is better than the white person. If you meet a national of a country different from yours then it shouldn’t mean that you are a better person than the other. All these only lead to diverse forms of prejudices. And prejudices results in bigotry, which is a reprehensible thing for a human-being to do. Racism, sexism, casteism, classism, ageism, etc, are all different forms of bigotry whose object to discriminate against a perceived ‘other’. And, indeed, almost all isms are abhorrent vices.

Thus, we need to strive to do away with these social ills and create a society that treats all as equals. We should abide by the maxim that all human-beings are born equal and that no one by virtue of their skin colour, place of birth, mother tongue, parental occupation etc, has the right to even taunt the ‘otherness’ of fellow human-beings. We need to appreciate the colourfulness of life and treat these ‘others’ they way we would love to be treated. As they say what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

A good case in point is the way we, as Somalis, refrain from interacting with members of certain clans. The only ‘faults’ people from such communities seem to have made is to be born of parents who engaged in occupations deemed as inferior by the majority. Among the Somalis in Kenya, we have a clan that is well known for its ironmongers. Ironically, though the Somalis in Kenya are legendary for their traditional swords produced predominantly by members from this particular clan, and that the girls from the same clan are renowned for their beauty, most ‘sane’ Somalis would still shy from associating with this group. What a shame! I know the situation in Somalia and other Somali inhabited regions is the same if not worse.

It’s a pity that our forefathers had reverence for just one or two occupations only, and most notably animal rearing. Wealth among the Somali was seen, and still is in some places, as the number of domestic animals one had, especially camels. Any other Somali regardless of what they made from occupations other the ones considered noble was treated as of an inferior stock. Paradoxically, though we still harbour such delusional thoughts of being superior to some other members of the Somali community, we go on and earn salaries from similar occupations elsewhere.

The Somali Bantus and other minority groups continue to be mistreated by the mainstream clans. What I will never understand and support is the double standards that we adopt in dealing with these groups. A Somali citizen of any other country in the world would wish to be granted the rights of the particular country they reside in but would not allow the same for the minority groups in our midst. It’s shameful for an ethnic Somali from a region other the Somali Republic to be honoured with positions of power in Somalia whilst the same will never happen for the Somali Bantus and other similar groups.

Somalis and all other human-beings living in the midst of Somalis also need to be treated as equals, regardless of the language they speak in and with what accent. A southern accent should not be seen as better than a northern one, and vice versa. In spite of the origin of the Somali considered as ‘Standard Somali’, speakers of other dialects/accents should also not be seen as inferior. We should only be preoccupied with what unites us rather than divides us. Have a less prejudiced life.