The former and respected President of the States – Barack Obama once said in his speech, “there is no black America, there is no white America; there is only one America that is the United States of America.” Well, his thought about the need to say this in the contemporary Eire pretty much describes the existence of racism in one of the superpower nations of the world. If The most politically powerful person of one of the most developed countries is throwing some light on this issue- then today’s influencers, bloggers etc. negligence on this bigotry is totally repugnant.

Well, to start with, what do you mean by Racism! According to the Oxford dictionary, “The inability or refusal to recognize the rights, needs, dignity, or value of people of particular races or geographical origins. More widely, the devaluation of various traits of character or intelligence as ‘typical’ of particular peoples.”

Basis of the diversification of countries on a global scale

Generally, a person or a project’s growth is measured in the understanding of technology and the goals set for the better future of that person or project concerned. Similarly, a country is no different. A country is labelled as – developed, developing and underdeveloped based on GDP per capita, Human Development Index etc. as compared to other countries.

Well, to be more precise- let’s provide our dear readers with definitions of these three categories in Layman’s language.

1 Underdeveloped Country

The counties which grab the lowermost rankings of the world official reports related to growth such as Human development index, world hunger index etc., a country having a low GDP may also fall in this category. Less developed countries often take programmes and interventions introduced by the government or world helping platforms such as the United Nations et cetera.

There is no rigid definition for the underdeveloped countries, but there are some symptoms and easily followed practices observed by some in the previous period. One of such practises borrowing large sums of money from world aid institutions. E.g., World Bank. In such countries, the lifestyle and standard of living of the majority of the population are worth worrying and global concern.

Committee of development review such countries every three years and there are a total of 47 countries mentioned in the list of underdeveloped countries by the United Nations – some examples to this category are Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Bhutan etc.

racism black lives matter

2 Developed Countries

The countries that have an above medium standard of living and have reached a certain degree of industrialization. A high or medium tank in the Human development index Would land countries in this category. A country whose military is strong, industries a technologically developed and flourishing, GDP is one of the tops in the world and is still growing what is even stagnant.

Still, at a good percentage, where people have above-average salaries, where there is almost negligible umm employment, people are healthy, follow the good lifestyle, education is well taken care of, healthcare facilities are not neglected and all the factors that an underdeveloped country might just dream of – is ready to be called a developed country. According to the UN development report, the top three developed countries in the world are Norway, Switzerland and Ireland, respectively. 

To become a superpower in the world, a country has to be developed first. E.g., United States of America. According to the world bank, there are 81 high-income countries, but there are only 37 petals of the developed country’s flower.

3. Developing Countries

The countries that are not underdeveloped and are growing but have not reached a level to be called a developed country is known as a developing country. Here, the lifestyle and standard of living is average for the majority of the population. This country has all sorts of population ranging from people who might not have footwear to wear to buying decent footwear to buying red soles (World’s favourite red soles- Louis Vuitton).

India, itself is a developing country. Here, Industrialisation has taken place but not all things have industrialized yet. 

Fact: Donald Trump once called India a developed country, but it is still mentioned in the developing countries list by the world forums.

Factors responsible for slow or no development 

There might be N number of factors responsible for countries to be in the underdeveloped category, but the two prominent factors are racism and the corrupt system. 

Corrupt System

This means that the government is not ready to give up the advantages that a country gets to listen in an underdeveloped country. There are funds, donations, big budgets the World Bank gives et cetera, United Nations, developed countries, various other social, charitable platforms et cetera for the upliftment and better functioning of the money-making sectors in these countries. It is a possibility that the government might be using such funds to fill their own pockets and leave a balanced life without thinking progressively about of that nation.

It is a known fact that once a country shifted under the category of developing country-The funds would decrease, forcing the government actual progress and development, which would require a study plan and rigorous effort. It is not very hard to believe that room wasn’t built in a day and therefore, what needs regular and consistent effort for one’s upliftment. How is it possible that people do not come to know about it, and even if they are known to such practices, there are no revolts? Well, they are poor to be educated and therefore divided by societal bigotry- Racism.

Racism

Here, we hit the bull’s eye by mentioning racism as the most important aspect of the country’s development. Divide and Rule were proposed by the British when they colonized India to keep the public busy in trivial issues and divide the basic structure so that they wouldn’t ever unite to stand up against the oppression. 

Well, similar and not the same thing is observed how a country is busy fighting racism that the technological advancements in the world are almost French to the African people. 

Does the colour of the skin matter? Does the colour of the hair or other languages one speaks matter? Well, you must be thinking about what and why are even these questions asked because you are educated enough to know that these are all superficial aspects. 

Does your education matter? Does the level of technological advancements in the industries of a country, health facilities available for the elderly and infants, the mortality rate, basic facilities such as clean drinking water, edible food, clean clothes and a well-built home to live matter?

YES, they do matter, and they matter the most. 

How are such things ignored? Why does one not bother about it? How are underdeveloped countries not bothered about the comparison with the developed countries?

Well, to my knowledge, there is one answer- Racism. People who have been affected by racism have understood and grasped one thing in their grey matter that is they are inferior to other people who have lighter skin, speaks a foreign language, where is branded clothes and eat fancy dishes. They are so bothered about the trivial and pity things that they consider these things to be very superficial to experience them in real life.

“I hate racial discrimination most intensely and all its manifestations. I have fought all my life; I fight now and will do so until the end of my days. Even although I now happen to be tried by one, whose opinion I hold in high esteem, I detest most.”

NELSON MANDELA

What can we do on our part?

Well, there are many things one can do to stop this. On a personal level, one can organize polls, quizzes, seminars, petitions, rallies, et cetera to provide information about this important topic two other people around. I am very sure that not all countries are underdeveloped because of racism, but 80% would be because of it. 

Racism is not just one tire platform it has many levels of basement, and it also has a Piney structure above it. As we discussed earlier, the corrupt government may not be able to be the only reason. Still, other reasons can be lack of education, lack of knowledge, oppressing the oppressed, not standing against the wrong, lack of courage and financial dependency of the centre on various other agencies. 

In the end, I would like us all to take a pledge, “I name pledge never to be a part of any sort of racism or prejudice in this world at any level. I will always work towards making my country a good place for my future generations.”

I hope this article helped you to know more about the different classifications of the country based on development and the prime factor for the low-level development of underdeveloped countries. Let us all give our effort for the better functioning of this non-biased human society and healthy world. 

Till then signing off with a quote by the father of the nation for all of you to ponder on, “Be the change you want to see.”

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About the Author

Avneet Kaur

Hey! Im Avneet Kaur. I am a confident and outgoing person and love to read and write. For me, writing about something is reaching out to masses which is a small step to outstand the crowd and be the change which I have wished to pre-exist. :)

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