Race, ethnicity, and cultural diversity
The issue of diversity is universal, but can have big consequences in cities in the developing world. People of a different origin, religion, or culture become the "other," leading to marginalization, discrimination, and violence. The following examples show different ways in which differences can be overcome and even come to be seen as a resource. Read on for solutions for integrating Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians in Mumbai, indigenous and afro-descendant students in São Paulo, sub-Saharan immigrants in Cairo, and Somali women in Nairobi.
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How ordinary citizens brought peace to Mumbai
Carlin Carr, Mumbai Community Manager
Mumbai's largest slum, Dharavi, draws attention for many reasons, and not just its size. The half-million residents of this one-kilometer-square area come from all over the country, bringing not just a diversity of languages and customs but also religious beliefs. A microcosm of Mumbai, Dharavi's Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians live respectfully among each other — but the current harmony has not always existed. After the 1992-1993 riots depicted in the movie Slumdog Millionaire, when tensions between minority Muslims and majority Hindus resulted in hundreds dead and thousands more who fled the city, a grassroots solution called Mohalla committees helped to heal the afflicted areas.
In 1992, Hindu mobs destroyed the Babri Masjid (mosque) in Ayodhya, Northern India, claiming that the site was one of the most sacred for Hindus: the birthplace of the God-king Rama. Muslims across the country were outraged over the demolition and riots quickly spread. Mumbai saw unprecedented communal violence. Once the violence receded in 1993, rampant distrust between communities as well as for the police plagued the city. An Economics and Politics Weekly article describes the need for a peaceful coming together: "Disturbed at the horrendous devastation, some concerned citizens and members of the police force in the city, decided to quench the fire of hatred and the destruction caused by it. Their steps, small but firm, ultimately resulted in mohalla committees. The importance of such action at local level cannot be neglected in the building of the civil society."
The committees were made up of every day citizens who met regularly with local police to discuss social issues in the areas, including how to respectfully continue religious processions that often marched during festivals. A 2010 article quotes a former Mumbai police commissioner Satish Sahney, who explains what was particularly unique about Mumbai's Mohalla committees: "Though such peace committees are not new, the unique thing about the mohalla committees set up in Mumbai was that they comprised of ordinary people who wanted to live peacefully. It was also a way of maintaining a constant dialogue between the police and the people by sitting together and exchanging views in solving problems." In fact, a few years ago, when the verdict in the Ayodhya trials was being announced and the city feared violent reactions to the decision, police turned to the still-active Mohalla committees to discuss how to maintain peace in the communities.
Today, Mohalla committees continue in Mumbai and have expanded discussion points to include civic issues, water and sanitation needs, grievances with police in the area, facilities for youth and festival celebrations. Also, with more violence against women in Indian's cities, Mumbai has turned to the Mohalla committees to discuss recommendations for making the city safer. The success of the committees is likely due to their flexible nature--each one is set up differently, according to the needs of the area and the community leaders involved. All, however, have one essential component: ordinary citizens are provided a powerful platform to come together with State representatives to work toward the betterment of their communities. In today's pluralistic urban environments all over the world, Mohalla committees set an example for active local participation in bettering communities and bringing to life democratic participation in addressing the needs of cities.
Education and integration of Somali women in Eastleigh
The problem can be attributed to the fact that women who escaped from Somalia at the peak of the war no longer had their customary extended support networks and coping mechanisms to rely on. In addition to this sense of displacement, one must also take into consideration the fact that many of them may not have been educated by western standards, leaving them illiterate and with few means with which to challenge the male-dominated world that they were now forced to rely on.
Rajo school was launched little over a year ago and currently has 75 women between the ages of 13 and 75 enrolled. Beyond running awareness-raising campaigns in the wider community, the school also organizes Friday workshops in which guest speakers are invited to engage in dialogue with the students about various topics such as female circumcision, health, micro-financing, etc. The foundation relies mainly on donations to keep afloat and has so far secured the support of such high-level sponsors as Hillary Clinton.
Inclusão e igualdade racial em São Paulo: Construção de um sistema efetivo de cotas nas universidades estaduais
Em São Paulo, existem vários casos que evidenciam a referida exclusão social; por exemplo, no ano passado, o 70 por cento dos matriculados na Universidade de São Paulo foram alunos brancos formados em colégios particulares. O 30 por cento restante foram alunos que fizeram ensino regular em escolas estaduais ou municipais públicas. E só um grupo muito pequeno de estudantes pardos, negros e indígenas foi aceito.
Living together in Cairo
In order to address the tensions created as a result of development practices, Inklusion teamed up with Free Dimensional and the Tadamon Multicultural Council to run the Living Together – Cairo program from 2007 to 2010. The program endeavored to bring together the personnel of the 25 civil society organizations that are members of Tadamon in order to address the issue of racism in Egyptian society. The program provided training sessions, workshops, film screenings, and speaker sessions. These workshops targeted second- and third-tier employees rather than the directors in hopes that this would change the attitudes of the service providers from within rather than through a top-down approach. Moreover, the program pushed for coordinated efforts amongst these member organizations to promote coexistence by emphasizing the need for poverty alleviation for all communities.
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Comments
Other experiences of religious tension?
Although we've only presented examples from a few cities here, these are issues that likely resonate--on some level--with all urban environments. Cities by their very nature bring together people from many different backgrounds, and with that, tensions among the "other" often follow. I'm wondering if any other cities here have experienced religious tensions as in Mumbai. I find this quite a unique aspect of the city: on the one hand, there is a great deal of communal harmony among so many different religions, yet these situations have arisen to spark underlying tensions. Still, Indian cities strike me as unique for their variety of religions more than different ethnicities.
Government standpoints
I find great similarity and integration between this week’s discussion on “race, ethnicity and cultural diversity” with the “services to the new urban poor” discussion, which took place a month ago at URB.IM. Both discussions touch how different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds (most cases related to migrants) can be determinants of poverty and exclusion in many cities throughout the world.
Given the importance of addressing the rights of all citizens to be accepted by society regardless of their ethnic, religious and racial background, I think it is important to learn what are the various government standpoints regarding social equality and diversity. Are there national laws and regulations that explicitly touch these issues? I know this isn’t the solution to all the problems, but if a country doesn’t start by having a clear and robust institutional standpoint on these issues, I think it is difficult to aim for real equality in the long term.
Specifically, I wonder about the positions of Egypt and Kenya, regarding the great number of international migrants they receive. Katy mentions the existence of a Kenyan Refugee Consortium, but actually it is the UNHCR and other NGOs the ones assuming the responsability of protecting the Somali refugees. So what is exactly the national government doing to protect migrants? Are there at least some discussions taking place at the national level to address the issue?
Somalis in Kenya
Catalina your question goes to the heart of what is indeed a very complicated matter.
In brief, between 2006 and today Kenya has received over a million refugees from Somalia. These were originally hosted in the large refugee camps at Dadaab and Kakuma which were run by the UN and other humanitarian organisations because the Kenyan government did hot have the logistical ability not the funds to do so itself. Over time inhabitants of these camps began to move towards the cities to escape their harsh conditions.
Since the beginning of the war against Al Shabaab in 2011 more migrants have entered the country but there has also been a rise in violence (Al Shabaab inspired bombings in Garissa and Nairobi mainly) which were must frequent in the run up to the elections earlier this year. When large riots which targeted people who looked Somali explode following a bomb on a bus in November last year, it was largely the Kenyan police that came in people's defence.
That I know of the Kenyan government is trying to devise policies aimed to protect Somalis but I'm not sure to what extent these are being enacted yet. Given the scale of the problem however, the ongoing involvement of the UN should come as no surprise, I believe if there was such a huge number of humanitarian refugees pouring into any other country the UN would also play a prominent role in their livelihoods.
If you wish to find out more there is an interesting article on the matter by Ann Lindley entitled: Policy Responses to Somali Refugees in Kenya.
Egyptian experience
Thanks Catalina for bringing up such an excellent point.
Indeed there is limited response by the government in order to incorporate foreign migrants as actual members of the city. The government's standpoint is pretty much that the migrants in the country are temporary. They shall either be granted refugee status by the UNHCR and move to other European countries, or that they will return to their home countries once the violence has ceased. What is interesting to note is that many migrant communities, even those that have been in Cairo for years, echo the similar sentiments. The government does not have a legal status for African migrants that would allow them to have access to public services such as health care and education. This is one of the reasons that these communities have set up their own schools and local service centers that will cater to them seeing as no one else will.
With the tremendous economic pressures the country is facing post-revolution, the government has cut even on its public services towards its own citizens. There has been a significant amount of out-migration from the refugee populations that have lived in Cairo for a while because of the lack of safety in the city. The new migrants to Cairo since the Arab spring have been Libyan and Syrian. While they still face the same treatment by the government they are more likely to assimilate culturally because they speak Arabic and have a similar complexion.
Lorena Medina replied on Permalink
Sports & Cultural Activities Integrate
Sports and cultural activities, such as football games(or any other sport) or cultural activities (concerts, museum expos, etc. ) contribute and foster social inclusion, sharing of experiences, and tolerance.
Country contexts!
Katy and Howaida, thanks for providing these clear overviews regarding the complex conditions of refugees in Kenya and Egypt. Each country faces a great challenge in solving the situation, especially as the numbers are quite big already! The initiatives you describe in this week's discussions bring some temporary solutions to refugees and in many ways raise awareness of their struggles and vulnerabilities. Hopefully these initiatives can grow in scale and somehow can ensure their sustainability to continue protecting and assisting these vulnerable populations!
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