The past few years are evidence enough that laws against discrimination are in some part ineffective. Many attacks have been carried out on innocent people purely because of prejudice. Cases like that of Anthony Walker have almost become the norms in our society now, in fact last year there were 9, 528 victims of hate crime. So maybe it truly is time to take a different look at the way things are handled. Prejudice can be initiated by many means; jealousy, need of someone to blame, upbringing, and even fear. If these causes of prejudice are still present in our society with no attempts to disperse of them or the prejudice they cause, then is the enforcement of law not in actuality futile? If the very thing that caused a crime still exists within the offender, then is a repeat of the crime almost inevitable?
Also, we’ve all been in the position of doing something wrong for the simple fact we were told not to do it. We often view it as a test, or a challenge. The limitations a law provides could possibly be the final push over the edge for someone who is already prejudiced into discrimination. But the most important point of all; laws cannot stop prejudice, the root of discrimination. You may punish in the hope of getting the message across but usually all that leads to is an increase in resentment and hatred. This sometimes leads to an even deeper determination to offend again. If laws are supposedly successful in their aim, why are there cases like those of Anthony Walker still happening today?
On the other hand, the number of racial attacks in 1995 fell from 535 000 to 378 000 in 1999 and to 9 528 in 2004 in the UK. This shows that to some extent laws must be having an effect on racial crime statistics. And, if we were to take on the idea of changing people’s minds to prevent prejudice, firstly what would be the likelihood of us being able to change a view that as been firmly imprinted in a person’s life sometimes right from birth? And secondly, what would happen to the unavoidable few who chose to continue their discrimination? Would we allow them to walk away because ‘laws are no good’?
Just as we are sometimes tempted to play up because of the presence of laws, we are even more likely to do so in the absence of law. If we know there is to be no sanction for our misdemeanours then what is to prevent us from freely discriminating?
Personally, I believe both that laws are good and that people’s minds must be changed to stop prejudice. Laws can not solely eradicate the existence of discrimination neither can an attempt to change people’s minds. Both methods must be used effectively together to change people’s outlook. They must also be consistent if there is to be any hope of convincing generations full of prejudice that neither prejudice nor discrimination is the way forward.