RACISM: SPOT IT AND STOP IT!


		CAMPAIGN INFORMATION


Racism: Spot It and Stop It 20-28 March 2004 European-wide Action Week Against Racism CONTENTS 21 March Racism: Spot It and Stop It! Racism in the 21 Century: Stop It! What does the term racism mean? What can you do? Join the campaign! Planning a campaign activity Why cooperate in European campaigns? How UNITED can help Do you need more information? Internet How you can help UNITED What is UNITED? 21 March March 21st was declared International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by the General Assembly of the United Nations as a reaction to the murder of 69 demonstrators in Sharpeville, South-Africa, in 1960. During the annual European-wide Action Week, which centres around 21 March, thousands of people actively engage themselves for tolerance, equal rights and celebrate the diversity of Europe. This year once again hundreds of activities will take place all around Europe, organised by a wide variety of organisations. Activities range from intercultural festivals to cleaning the walls of racist slogans. Racism: Spot It and Stop It! Rostock, Germany 1992: arson attack on a hostel for asylum-seekers, carried out by Neo-Nazi-Skinheads, acclaimed by "ordinary" citizens. El Ejido, Spain 2000: racist pogrom against Moroccan guest-workers. "Ordinary" citizens attack their migrant neighbours and destroy their homes and goods. Krasnodar Territory, Russia 2003: racist teenagers attack people with Caucasian background in a nightclub. Not only neo-Nazi-Skinheads or fascist hooligans turn their racist ideas into action. Racism often hides behind "respectable" facades. While right-wing politicians seek to attract their supporters with speeches about "the foreigners", migrants and minorities encounter racism in their everyday life. Racist bouncers, xenophobic teachers, fascist policemen, they all make life even harder. It does not always have to be as obviously violent as in Rostock or El Ejido. Silent, "accepted" racism in public transport, in the football-stadium or in the classroom is violence too. Maybe it is not violence in the eyes of the perpetrator, but certainly in those of the victim. Too often, "ordinary" people just let such racist violence happen. Fear and intolerance lead to this vicious alliance between open violence and blind ignorance. Let's not look away when racism occurs, let's not tolerate intolerance, let's spot racism! This year's campaign for the European-wide Action Week Against Racism aims to raise awareness among people towards racism in everyday- life. In addition, anti-racist education is necessary to empower people to resist racist propaganda. The campaign aims to make racism visible in order to erase. This includes our own prejudice towards others. Racism in the 21 Century: Stop It! At the UNITED conference in Krakow (PL) in November 2003, the participants discussed the European-wide Action Week Against Racism, 20-28 March 2004. Activists from 75 NGO' s from 33 countries expressed their concerns about recent developments in Europe regarding discrimination and the ongoing process of closing the borders of the enlarged European Union to migrants and refugees. For the UNITED-network, the fight against racism not only means to criticise racist policies on a local and European level, it also means to counter racism and racist stereotypes in our own surroundings and in our own mind. The borders of the European Union are becoming more and more dangerous zones for migrants and refugees. Within Fortress Europe, life is getting harder because of growing racism. Racism has become more subtle and is based on multiple prejudice. Rroma are supposed to be connected with crime. Asylum seekers are supposed to abuse our welfare state and to deal in drugs. Muslims are often associated with fundamentalists and terror. Jews are, again, afraid to openly show the symbols of their faith in the streets of many European cities. In almost every group within Europe's population, fear and xenophobia are growing. Right-wing politicians, anti-immigration parties and one-sided media coverage support fear and xenophobic attitudes by speaking about the 'threat of migration', the 'flood of illegals' and 'dangers of the multicultural society'. If we want to fight against this silent and 'hidden' racism, we have to spot it and stop the passive acceptance of prejudice and stereotypes. Racism is not an opinion but a crime. Therefore we have to stop it, the first step is to spot it wherever and whenever we encounter it. What does the term racism mean? Racism is the belief that some people are superior because they belong to a particular 'race'. Racists define a 'race' as a group of people with common ancestry. They distinguish different races from one another by physical characteristics, such as skin colour and hair texture. In fact, there are no clear differences, and especially no significant differences that matter. Recent research shows that 'race' is an imagined entity. 'Race' has no biological basis. The word 'racism' is used to describe abusive or aggressive behaviour towards members of a so-called 'inferior race'. Racism takes different forms in different countries, according to history, culture and other social factors. A relatively new form of racism sometimes called 'ethnic or cultural differentiation' says that all races or cultures are equal but they should not mix together to keep their originality. There is no scientific proof of the existence of different races. Biology has only determined one race: the human race. What can you do? All organisations, large and small, can contribute in their own way to the Action Week. The European campaign aims to raise awareness in all relevant areas of society. Two main targets are the media and the general public. Student organisations and teacher-unions frequently take up the occasion of this week to organise special lessons, campus meetings, petitions, etc. Media may be inclined to work with you to produce special issues, TV-programs and radio shows. Especially community media often get in contact with local organisations to produce special programs. Public debates, round tables and conferences provide places for reflection and brainstorming. By organising them during the Action Week you give both the week and the activity more weight and more publicity. You can take up the occasion of the 21 March International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to write petitions to politicians or publish media releases. Many organisations publish their annual report during the Action Week. We can take this week to show our anger. Removing graffiti and other visible actions can alert the public to the existence of the Action Week. Activists will organise activities as for example "Sport Against Racism" and street theatre. Join the campaign! Do you believe in the necessity to actively struggle against racism? Join the campaign and order more of this poster for free! Send/fax/e-mail UNITED your planned activities (title, date, theme, place) and the name, address and contact person of your organisation. Maximum 100 posters for free. If you need more for special purposes, contact us. Planning a campaign activity Keep in mind: - That the aim should always include protection and empowerment of victims of racism. - That there is no such thing as 'neutrality' and no such thing as non-political action against racism. - That getting the issue of racism in your school or in your business out in the open is not ruining the atmosphere. If there was racism, it was already messed up. Consider the following points: - What does the campaign aim to achieve? What does your activity aim to achieve? - What change do you want (short AND long term)? - Do you really want this activity or would another activity serve just as well? - Who is the target of the action? Who needs to change, and how? - What do you need? Who do you need on your side? What partnerships will help you? - What publicity do you need? - Try to have a planning group that includes the people most targeted by racism, the people living in the area you work in, the group you want to involve. - Choose the most appropriate method: Direct action (non-violent protest actions), political lobbying, public demonstrations, festivals, manifestations, education projects, press action, media. - Delegate responsibilities. - Make a time table for the campaign and check it regularly. Why cooperate in European campaigns? Think globally, act locally! Racism is not a local issue. European campaigns can help set the agenda on all levels. We have to campaign on local, regional and European level to get our point across. By linking local and national actions, we can generate European-wide publicity. We can show that there is an enormous amount of people that believe in an intercultural open society. It gives all participants a new energy to go on with their everyday struggle against racism and intolerance. You will get motivated and inspired by the ideas and enthusiasm of other people, learn from each others experience and views, generate more publicity because of the scope and size of the activity, mobilise more people as you reach a combined audience, etc. If you would like to take part in this campaign, keep in mind that it is the variety and creativity of many different simultaneous activities all over Europe that make the UNITED campaigns unique. There is a common date, and every year a theme emerges that gets special attention. We share the slogan "Spot Racism and Stop It" such as "Look Deeper - Fundamentally We're all the Same" in 2003, "Think! Free Your Mind from Prejudice" in 2002, "Equal Rights: Access for All'' in 2001, "See the Person, Not the Colour" in 2000 or "Raise Your Voice Against Racism" in 1999. So: get organised! Find like-minded groups and start planning now! How UNITED can help You can order copies of this poster, up to 100 are for free. If you need more for special purposes, discuss it with the UNITED office. We will produce a special list of activities taking place all around Europe, which can help you to make contacts and exchange speakers with other groups. You could even link activities through the internet, or by sending faxes of solidarity to other organisations active in the Action Week. It will be updated several times and will be published on our website www.unitedagainstracism.org. Call UNITED if you cannot find a partner for your activities. We might know of other NGOs in your country who are planning something. A media release will be sent out to all important European press agencies, newspapers, etc. If you feel that we should include a specific media contact from your country in our list, let us know. Journalists who want to know about specific activities will be informed about events in their country and are referred to the organisations involved. UNITED will produce a European report after the Action Week, including as many of the activities that took place as possible. The report is spread throughout Europe to support NGOs in reporting to their sponsors and to inspire action for next year. You can order copies of last year's report for inspiration and motivation. Just let us know what you need. We can only do this with your help! Do you need more information? UNITED can provide you with a wealth of information. You can order a copy of the European Address Book Against Racism to find like-minded organisations in other countries, or in your own country. You can phone or e-mail the secretariat to find out who else is organising something. You can check the UNITED website to order the campaign poster, or other campaign material to use in your own way. A full list of anti-racism magazines can also be found in the European Address Book Against Racism and on the UNITED website. Internet If you need to find information, internet is a wonderful medium. Good places to start your search for anti-racism news are the following websites: www.unitedagainstracism.org - UNITED's home in cyberspace www.magenta.nl/crosspoint - The largest collection of anti-racism links on Internet www.icare.to - The Internet Centre Anti-Racism Europe How you can help UNITED Help us make the media release exciting! Announce your activities to us! Send us your announcements, invitations, leaflets and posters before the activities take place. Help us make the report complete. Make sure your activity is included! Send us reports, newspaper articles, photographs, etc. after the event for the European report. The material does not have to be in English. What is UNITED? UNITED for Intercultural Action is the European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees. Racism, nationalism, fascism, discrimination, restrictive asylum policies These issues have a European dimension. It is important to fight intolerance on all levels. Linked through UNITED, more than 550 organisations from a wide variety of backgrounds, from all European countries, work together on a voluntary basis. They base their cooperation on common actions and shared activities on a mutual respect. UNITED is and will remain independent from all political parties, organisations and states, but seeks an active co-operation with other anti-racist initiatives in Europe. Through the UNITED network organisations meet each other, work on common actions and share information. European-wide action weeks, campaigns and such are planned and discussed on UNITED conferences. Like-minded organisations find each other on such conferences and work together on specific projects and on specific topics. The workers in the secretariat are in constant contact with the network organisations, ensuring that information and proposals for action are transmitted rapidly. Information is received from more than 2000 organisations and mailings go out to about 2000 groups in Europe. If you want to get involved Discuss the ideas and aims of the UNITED network within your organisation. Let us know that your organisation would like to join or receive information. And add us to your mailing list! UP UNITED for Intercultural Action European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees Postbus 413, NL-1000 AK Amsterdam, Netherlands phone +31-20-6834778, fax +31-20-6834582 info@unitedagainstracism.org, www.unitedagainstracism.org