CAMPAIGN INFORMATION

CONTENTS

21 MARCH

LOOK DEEPER

Racism in the 21 Century: Expose hidden racism!

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 centers around 21 March, thousands of people actively engage themselves for tolerance and equal rights. This year once again hundreds of activities will take place all around Europe, organised by a wide variety of organisations. Activities range from special TV
programs to cleaning the walls of racist slogans.

LOOK DEEPER

Colour of skin - cultural background - religion - ethnicity - enough information to judge human beings? Everyday we are confronted with and reproduce stereotypes about how
blacks, Rroma, Muslims or asylum seekers are supposed to be. Attitudes towards minorities often refer to their marginalised positions in society, fears and xenophobia. We struggle against these attitudes because they enable discrimination and racism.
Look deeper inside yourself - question your own prejudice! The mind of human beings can not work completely without ideas that are not proven right. Being aware of your prejudices is the first step to overcome them.
Look deeper into the others - try to see how people really are! What are our neighbours' problems, what is their position in society, what are their rights? Dialogue and understanding are the first steps towards a better co-existence. Fundamentally we are all the same.
Make others look deeper - challenge the views of society! How do people at your school, at your work, in the streets, in politics and in the media speak about foreigners, Jews or coloured people? Make your opinion known and the voices of discriminated people heard. Stereotypes - prejudice - discrimination - racism - break this chain! Make the people think about the importance of dialogue and the value of diversity in our society.


Racism in the 21 Century: Expose hidden racism!

At the UNITED conference in Bucuresti (RO) in 2002, the participants discussed the European-wide Action Week Against Racism, 15-23 March 2003 and expressed their concerns about recent developments in Europe regarding discrimination issues.
Racism is not only based on the ideology of inferior and superior races. There are racist groups who still believe in ideas of racism similar to those of Hitler's "Third Reich", but it would be too easy to dismiss racism as a problem of fringe groups such as neo-fascists. Racism has become more subtle and is based on multiple prejudice. Rroma are brought into connection with criminality. Asylum seekers are supposed to abuse our welfare state. Muslims are often associated with fundamentalists. Fear and xenophobia are growing and support a 'hidden', but not less problematic, form of racism. Populist parties, anti-immigration parties and the new-right abuse and support fear and xenophobic attitudes by for example speaking about the 'threat of migration', the 'flood of illegals' and 'dangers of the multicultural society'. 'Easy solutions' are offered to the public: shutting Europe's borders, locking refugees up in camps, ensuring 'security' by reducing citizen rights and enlarging police controls or rediscovering the 'nation'. Over the last years, even many right and left wing established parties have allowed racism to set their agendas, resulting in measures that may not be outright racist, but that have contributed to the racist discourse. By allowing discrimination into different policy areas, established parties unwillingly support the new-right, anti-immigration parties and populists. If we want to fight against this more subtle, 'hidden racism' we must expose it.
It is important to criticise the racist discourse and offer an alternative. At this moment, inclusive policies with regards to minorities are not very popular but they have sustainable effects concerning social cohesion and the stability of democracy. Diversity is a valuable and at the same time self-evident element of open society. The social cohesion and even the economical prosperity of society depends on the level of equality regarding rights and chances.
Peaceful co-existence requires dialogue. Minorities should be able to play an active role in society and get opportunities for political and social participation.


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 "look deeper" such as "Think! Free Your Mind from Prejudice" in 2002, 'Equal Rights: Access for All' in 2001, 'See the Person, Not the Colour' in 2000, 'Raise Your Voice Against Racism' in 1999, 'One Race - Human Race' in 1998 or 'Open Borders - Open Minds' in 1995. 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