Superiority and inferiority. Class. castes. Race. Religion. Colour. All these can section society into different categories and are the seeds which could plant marginalisation and discrimination.
Colour has sparked huge riots in the past, especially in the USA. The black-white divide has been one of the most widely debated issue over the years. It was so intense that people could no longer separate humane from inhumane, as long as colours were involved. It was only with time and development of a certain sense of tolerance and maturity that this issue became partly resolved. I say partly because inevitably there will still be some people who think they are superior because of the colour of their skin. People dared not speak up and those who did suffered the consequences when they were hushed either via assassination as in the case of Martin Luther King Jr. (who shared his "I have a dream" speech) or simply forced to seal their lips. But does colour mark the superiority status of Mankind? If so, who said so? These gross misconceptions are partly the reason why marginalisation and discrimination developed. This reminds me of a novel which really touched my heart and shone light on the divide based on colour - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor and some of her other books such as Let the Circle be Unbroken. This particular book is one of my favourites and an utterly thought-provoking one at that.
Another major divide which can be noticed in mostly developing countries would be the rich-poor divide. This divide was evident on the streets of Cambodia, when I went over last December. It would be a common sight to come across an elaborately decorated mansion sandwiched between two huts for instance on the streets of Cambodia or aluminium-lined rooftops and barely sheltered homes in front of condominium flats in India. However, we should never treat a fellow human being in a certain manner based on how much cash they horde. This would be unjust as we came to this planet with nothing and we are leaving without anything and what matters the most is who we are as a person.
The past as seen several other cases of such discrimination; one of which is the caste system of India. This was a system which divided the general populace in different sections of superiority based on their occupation. I.e. merchants would be ranked lower than warriors and kings and these would be ranked lower than priests. While much of this structure has been abolished, snippets of these can still be seen in society. Labelling people as 'pariahs' or untouchables is not uncommon in India for example. This is the sad truth; people labelling themselves as worthy of the upper echelons of society and looking down on those 'below' them.
This brings me to my thoughts of how there are inevitably superiority issues whether in the workplace or any other organisation. Divisions are bound to be established be it for training purposes or management. I would call it climbing the rungs of a ladder. When you start off, you are like the bottom rung, stepped on by almost everyone, especially so that they can move farther at your expense. Slowly but surely when one rises in ranking and moves to the next rung and beyond, they are less stepped on and when at the topmost rung, people only reach out to you and barely step onto you. Such are office politics, university politics and so forth and such is life. But no matter which rung you are, no matter which stage in life you are at, never forget that at the end of the day we are all human beings who came with nothing and leave with nothing and it is what we have done rather than what we have that truly matters.
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