The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

A large part of Cambodia's current development and the people's sense of being has been molded by Pol Pot's regime and the Khmer Rouge. Cambodia's citizens were forced into slave labour in the "killing fields" where many died from overwork, malnutrition and disease. Pol Pot's purge eradicated certain people that were discriminated against because of Pol Pot's own personal bias. These people included Buddhist monks, police, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and ex-soldiers together with their wives and children. The amount of power that Pol Pot was able to achieve combined with his prejudice against the educated and the wealthy allowed for great oppression and societal inconsistencies to occur. His acts created an equality among the remaining individuals alive but created destruction that excluded qualities of justness, fairness, and impartiality, thus diminishing the people's equity (Kranich, 2005).

When visiting Cambodia, the history of its people caused great internal perturb. However, despite the years of oppression and death, both old and young individuals were seemingly content and unfazed. As Cambodia can be seen as a developing country, many cultural and diversity issues are heightened with poverty, corruption, and lack of proper education. Certain actions can be done in order to limit the inequity within areas of Cambodia. For example, by eliminating corruption, the wealthy will not have a more dominating role and control compared to those less fortunate. However, this is a task that is difficult to pursue. Individually, one is able to narrow difference gaps in various groups by, for example, providing unbiased education with programs that does not exclude children of various backgrounds or household incomes.

Resources:
Kranich, N. (2005). Equality and equity of access : What's the difference? American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/offices/oif/iftoolkits/toolkitrelatedlinks/equalityequity