By Lemuricien
I would like to start off by asking the following question : shouldn't combating racism and ethnic discrimination be part of the Truth and Justice that we are searching for in our society today ? I ask this question because I have personally experienced ethnic discrimination at school. I am also aware that others are still victims of such discrimination. Our society is said to be a democratic one but how can this be the case, when ethnic discrimination is still deeply rooted ?Studies done by Dr Gill, Professor Bunwaree and some undergraduates have highlighted this problem but it seems that there is very little done to effectively address it. Can we therefore speak of Truth, Justice and Reconciliation if some people continue to be discriminated against ?
There is no doubt that the problem is not as pronounced and as intense as during the colonial period but this does not justify its persistence. For justice to take place, the playing field should be levelled but discriminations of the kind that I refer to, can make the playing field very unequal right from the start. When students become the victims of certain stereotypes, when they are 'labelled' and marginalised, there is very little possibility for them to be empowered. They are scarred for life. But is there anything being done to heal them ?
Mauritius boasts itself to be a society which treats its citizens as equal. A question that I would like to raise is whether teacher trainees are exposed to issues of racism and ethnic discrimination in a multicultural society such as Mauritius. And what about the trainers themselves, are they equipped with the right tools and knowledge to deliver such training ? Perhaps this is where we should start.
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