The death of George Floyd in the hands of a white police sparked protests all around the world. People are starting to realize that there is a big problem in society, racism. Racism is not something new in the 21st century. This ideology of differentiation has taken many forms in the advent of human civilization. But most importantly, racism marginalize humanity. It differentiates ethnic groups, religion, and skin color. Some of us might be wondering. How could humans eradicate deadly viruses, but not eradicate racism from society? In my opinion, an underlying factor of racism is the corrupt system. In our liberal system, there lies a structural oppression to certain social classes. Therefore, the key to fighting racism is breaking this system through education and globalism.

Structural Oppression

In the early 19th century, there were three main systems that governments run; fascism, communism, and liberalism. After the second World War, liberalism came on top and wiping out the other systems. Both winners and losers of the war adopt liberalism, which gave birth to capitalism. The free market reigns and produces great amounts of money. Everyone is happy and liberalism is thought to be the best system humanity has ever created. However, what we have not realized is that within this system, a structural oppression of classes exists.

One example of this structural oppression is the Declaration of Independence. The people who signed the Declaration were slaveholders. They did not release their slaves upon signing the Declaration, nor did they consider themselves hypocrites. It was not until 1863 that slaves are finally freed in the United States. However, power did not transfer overnight. In fact, it never did. So, it is no surprise that the elites continue to oppress the low and middle class to this very day in the United States. Social biases and privileges can be seen very clearly in diverse societies. Whites have certain privilege in America while other races have certain social biases. Furthermore, this has started long before modern times.

Despite its proclamation of the equality of all men, the imagined order established by the Americans in 1776 also established a hierarchy … It created a hierarchy between whites, who enjoyed liberty, and blacks and American Indians, who were considered humans of a lesser type and therefore did not share in the equal rights of men.

Harari, 2015

Half a century ago, racism grow whilst Europeans practice imperialism. When the colonization of America began, exploitation and violence were done to the American Indians. Not just America, other countries also experience the same fate. Local tribes are considered as animals while the white Europeans were gods. White supremist hold power over the African Negroes, American Indians, Indonesian Pribumi, and many more. Most finance and prestigious work were done by Europeans while dirty works were done by “smaller” races. Imperialism did not end until countries start to realize the importance of independence. After the second World War, almost all the countries in the world declare their independence. Most of them adopt liberalism that war winners, America and Europe, had been practicing giving a chance for capitalism to reign in the free market. People were given a brief hope of human equality and a promise for a better future. What they did not know was an oppression system still exists behind the curtains of liberalism and capitalism.

Liberal capitalism reinforces racism. In fact, in my opinion, racism is the byproduct of liberal capitalism. In a society of various social classes, racism always has a special place. For example, the seats of America’s elites are mostly occupied by whites, while black people are being tossed around in the streets of poverty. A research made a clear connection between race and wealth of Americans. To no surprise, fewer whites live in poverty rather than any other race. Social gaps continue to develop in the presence of liberalism. Oppression to “lower” classes ensues, creating social stigmas and biases in society. While capitalists get richer in this system, the powerless stay poor.

To mitigate the oppression of low and middle classes, mere words have no power. Action must be done.

Education Equality

First of all, education equity must be reached. There is a difference between equity and equality. In education equality, everyone receives the same amount of education. However, the notion of equality would not work out well in society. Some people would definitely have a greater edge than others. People who study in cities would have received better prior education in their early years. If everyone receives the same education, there would still be an education gap in society. Hence, reinforcing social walls built by racism. This is where education equity takes place. Education equity focuses on the needs of the people. Social or personal circumstances like skin color, gender, and ethnic origin should not be an obstacle for education. In other words, education equity standardizes the potential of students, not their treatment in schools. An illustration below clearly depicts the difference of education equality and equity.

All these years, every country is trying their best to reach education equality. Take Indonesia as an example. In this blooming country, there is a big gap of education difference. Java Island, the heart of Indonesia’s economy, has a better education than other schools in remote cities like Jayapura and Sumba. Although the government has been trying to standardize education throughout the nation, there is still a big gap of education in society. To exemplify, Indonesia hosts national exams every year, and every year, the top 50 school’s average are crowded by schools in Jakarta. In my opinion, the government does not realize the different needs of the people (or they do not care). People in rural areas mainly suffice as farmers. Therefore, children spend more time in the paddy fields. Hence, what they really need is more attention to school habits. Children in rural areas need to adopt studying habits since early ages in order to strengthen their foundations of education. Consequently, education equity is more beneficial than education equality.

Not just improving education of the poor and remote, education equity provides equal access in society. Recall the illustration of the baseball game above. Through education equity, everyone would have equal potential to “watch the game”. There would be no more racial discrimination in schools, which would help everyone prosper in their studies. An educated society with proper morals will create a harmonious society. So, how can we achieve this utopia?

One way to achieve education equity is to drastically change the education aim. What I have noticed from social excursions in villages of West Java, students in urban cities tend to be very smart but lack social empathy. On the other hand, students in rural areas display a bigger social empathy than urban students but deprive formal education. I believe that this holds the same in every other country. Therefore, governments should focus on leveling the playing fields. Urban schools should focus more on social work or classes, while rural schools should focus on improving the quality of formal education. Hence, the world would not be full of emotionless geniuses and sympathetic illiterates.

Globalism Over Nationalism

In the course of history, nationalism grew as an ideology to unite the people in the same nation. After the World War II ended, the belief that every country has the rights for their independence spread like wildfire. Hence, imperialists started to let go of their control of foreign countries, and started the growth of more nations. Formation of nations were not a simple matter. There are still many conflicts inside the country itself. Therefore, political philosophers started to adopt nationalism. Since every citizen of the same country experience the same history as the others, people of the same nations should work together to maintain the sovereignty over their homeland. This ideology pushes technological, biological, and ethical advancements in each and every country. In fact, some nations even compete to become the best.

When it first started, nationalism maintains peace in countries. However, as we enter the age of globalization, nationalism starts to lose its context. In this new era, people start to find new ways to accumulate wealth. In 2019, 28% of America’s population are immigrants who come to America to get a better living. However, with the existence of nationalism, these immigrants are facing a threat of discrimination. Since, they are not the people of America, nationalism would seclude them from the society. Furthermore, the increase of racism in America further pushes them away from taking part in society. For example, the ongoing pandemic causes racial discrimination to Asians living in America. If we take a closer look, nationalism plays a big role in this discrimination.

Through nationalism, nations grow and so does racism. The Asian discrimination in America shows how nationalism can backfire. In the case of Asian discrimination in America, people believe that Chinese immigrants brought the virus to America. As a proper American nationalist, it makes sense to blame the Asians. They are considered a threat to their beloved nation. Therefore, discrimination to all Asian ethnic groups happen. In this process of thinking, nationalism marginalizes people. It is true that nationalism helps unite people and maintain peace. However, in this era of globalization, everyone is from everywhere. In other words, nationalism is about to reach its expiration date. Therefore, a better ideology that could fit the need of diversity in this century will soon take its place, globalism.

Globalism is much bigger than nationalism. In nationalism, people are divided into nations. On the other hand, globalism includes everyone in this world. Hence, there will be no place for marginalization in society. Recall the illustration of education equity and equality. Education equality gives all students the same support while education equity accommodates each student differently. However, what if we could break down the walls. In society, these walls are called systemic barriers. These barriers, which includes social biases and class privileges cause people to not have equal access in society. Nationalism builds up these walls. On the other hand, imagine if globalism takes its place. Since everyone is from the same nation, these barriers would not have to be met. Hence, globalism will eradicate racism. After all, we are all the same species living under the same sky.

All in all, racism and marginalization of our corrupt system could only be conquered if two conditions are met; education equity and people adopt globalism. Through education equity, everyone will have equal potentials in society. Ethnic biases would not create education barriers. Consequently, creating equal access to everyone in society. Furthermore, globalism will create a world without marginalization. Since people are all of the same nation, racism would cease to exist, creating a better world. As a final remark, I believe that a change will soon happen. Society will adopt a new system that can fulfill the job our current society could not, finding beauty in diversity.