Discrimination has a long history throughout the world. Most societies, especially the larger ones, have practiced some form and degree of discrimination. In fact, a notable trend (although by no means necessarily an always true law) is that larger societies have had a greater propensity to discriminate. Why? For your achievements. The largest societies, to reach the size they had, had to comply. They built extensive and complicated networks. Their engineering was on a scale and level sufficient to support a large society. His art was complex. They had a formal language and a writing system. All of these things were, and are, wonderful achievements. But coupled with the fact that for most of human history, people lived only within their societies and had almost no contact with people from different societies, and it becomes easy to see why discrimination occurred. They saw others as foreigners and “backward”, not having achieved as much as they had.
From a list of all the societies that ever existed, it is easy to select societies that discriminated. Spain used to heavily discriminate against Jews, who were forced to convert to Catholicism or leave Spain. The Spanish also created a body, called the Inquisition, to persecute those who were not like them. So, people were persecuted for being Jewish. If someone was thought to be a witch, he too was persecuted. Probably homosexuals were also persecuted.
In South Africa, Australia, and the United States, black and indigenous populations have faced heavy persecution. Jim Crow laws in the United States, intentionally imitated by South Africa and Australia, persecuted blacks. Segregation prevailed in these three countries. Blacks were illegally prevented from voting. Violence against blacks was common. In the United States, the Native American population faced strong discrimination. Their families were separated, children were forced to go to schools that would eradicate their culture, and families were forced to abandon their original ways of life and live on reservations.
Fortunately, the world as a whole is less tolerant of discrimination today than it was in the past. Most nations have laws that prohibit most, if not all, forms of discrimination (however, discrimination based on sexual orientation is an exception and still faces a lot of discrimination around the world).
A specific prohibition of discrimination in the US involves employment practices. The law prevents employers from discriminating against employees or prospective employees (during interviews). If you believe you have been the victim of any type of workplace discrimination, contact Perry Smith Orange County Employment Discrimination Lawyers by visiting their website or calling 888-356-2529.
