"Organiza-Social" Phobias

“Race hate isn't human nature; race hate is the abandonment of human nature."

                                                                    - Orson Wells (1915-1985)

In recent months the term Xenophobia has been on the everybody’s lips.  The set of several events, such as the reinvigoration of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States after Trump`s election, the latest jihadist attacks in Europe, marches against LGBTI rights, the rise of a Neo Nazi political party in Germany, or the persecution of other immigrant minorities in different countries in Latin American, makes us realize that the world still has a long road to peace and world coexistence.

But come on, let's start by defining the theme. Google defines a phobia as: "an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something." [1]

Sometimes these fears are not so irrational ... for example, if you go through a spider bigger than normal, anyone would understand a potential "arachnophobia", or if you are in a football stadium and there is an avalanche of people, the trauma may bring out an “agoraphobia”.

There are some other phobias that may be more understandable to a certain group of people. For a child it may be normal to be afraid of the dark (Nictophobia), or a person who just had an automobile accident may be afraid to drive again (Amaxophobia).

However, and it is a great HOWEVER, it is often difficult to understand how we can fear (not to say offend) a person whose race is different from ours. And generally, this applies to everything that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states in its Article 2 : race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status [2]

  

Work of the artist Chat Maigre in Toulouse, France

Humans have an ability to block from their system anything that goes against the "normal." We limit ourselves to accepting those social structures and paradigms, which society and the media impose as correctly pre-established.

But what is the "normal" today? Can we say that there is a new definition of normal that we are not aware of?

Just less than 150 years ago, the “normal” was to have Afro-descendant slaves in the courtyards of every house; it was the "fashion" in the European and Latin American high-class families. It was also customary to agree to marriages as soon as the daughters turn 14 years old. It was unthinkable for a colored woman to marry a white man. Society was not ready for that...But what about now?

How different is it to insult a person for not having enough resources? How often "the management reserves the right of admission"? In how many job interviews does a person have a better chance of being hired if they went to a private school? Or if they look "socially attractive"? How many jobs pay higher salaries to a man than to a woman? How does a gay man feel when he is not allowed into a hospital to see his partner?

Society, and I include myself, many times looks sideways. We say that we do not discriminate and we share related news in our social networks. We are a virtual example of what is politically correct, but we often come up with a 'phobic' thought or comment, and we get away with it.

And that's not right.

Every day we have to work for a more just society. We can do this in many ways (by assisting foundations, supporting human rights campaigns, donating, etc.), but the simplest one is to raise awareness.

Awareness that phobias are among us, and that it is upon us not to continue spreading discrimination. Each one should aim to break with intolerant prejudices and attitudes.

It is not necessary to start with great demonstrations, but small actions such as not turning a person's back on their skin color, offering a fair promotion policy, not screaming pejorative epithets, or just sitting down to listen to what elders and teenagers have to say to contribute to society.

There are several examples of campaigns on which we can build and continue the way forward. Among them the UN has launched several projects:

     

        #FightRacism against racism - http://www.un.org/es/letsfightracism/

        #Free&Equal for equal rights of the LGBTI community https://www.unfe.org

        #womenshould against sexism http://womenwatch.unwomen. org

        #1minute supporting refugee families http://www.acnur.org

But we can also find other private initiatives that have taken force in recent years:

     

       #GotYourBack by GLAAD supporting the LGBTI community https://www.glaad.org

  #Coexist seeking social cohesion https://www.coexist.org/

  #HelpAge supporting the elder http://www.helpagela.org

  #ItStopsWithMe Australian campaign against racism http://itstopswithme.humanrights.gov.au/

  #Prideforeveryone by Google 

Companies, as community actors, have the moral obligation to support business diversity, and prevent these social phobias from becoming “organiza-social phobias” That is, for the irrational fear to permeate the organizational culture. Companies must be places where people can grow both personally and professionally, without fear of being attacked by their race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or nationality.

As managers in charge of these companies, the raise of awareness must begin with our own example, and make every member of our organization replicate that in all areas. It is not simply an obligation of the department of HR, but must be a natural feature of our entire structure.

We are still in time to achieve a world that can live in peace, without prejudice and without mental barriers that limit human integration.

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[1] https://www.google.es/search?q=phobia+meaning&spell

[2] http://www.un.org/es/universal-declaration-human-rights