Chapter 629 Combating Racism
The inherent racism Adhanian people had towards outsiders was almost ingrained into their bones.
They were almost conditioned from birth to see themselves as the center of the civilized world.
thinking their culture as the most glorious of all.
Of course, they were not the lone candidate to be affected by this kind of thinking, as Thesians were too, who saw their practice of democracy and being ruled by the will of the people as the best kind of governance, thus thinking they were the most advanced civilization.
And as one moved to other countries, many of them had their own interpretation of the word 'best country in the world' meaning ethnic divide and racism were almost part and parcel of life.
Slurs and slang describing people different from them in looks, color, and beliefs were abound, and due to the common nature of it all, Alexander was cautious of issuing sweeping legislation that punished people for this overnight.
Something that some of the council members seemed fluxed and even frustrated about.
"My lord, why should be wait? Our people are being oppressed! They need to be rescued right now." The usual energetic Grahtos was the one to express his anger on behalf of his fellow men, urging Alexander to take swift and decisive action.
And going by how all the other Thesian council members nodded their heads, it was apparent they were all in agreement.
"Let us not be hasty. Exercise patience, everyone." But Alexander did not seem to share their enthusiasm.
And as his calm voice echoed across the room, the others turned to him seemingly asking for an explanation.
So he gave them one.
"In the eyes of most Adhanians, there is not anything wrong with their actions. It is simply their way of living."
"So if I were to make these laws out of the blue in a single day, many would not be able to understand this and see me as a tyrant."
"Remember, many view me as an outsider, as a Thesian first, a lord later."
"So instituting these reforms suddenly today or tomorrow will cause many to think that I am only favoring my own people and discriminating against them."
"This will surely alienate a large majority of Adhanians, and might even cause the enmity to deepen," Alexander revealed this reasoning, and then discussed,
"So, instead of jumping to conclusions and making sudden draconian laws, I want to be prudent over this."
"Let us learn the extent of the hostilities, about the different ways the Adhanians are doing this, why they are doing so, and lastly if the Thesians are simply innocent victims or if they too have any hidden skeletons in the closet."
"There might be more to the story than meets the eye. We should try and look for that."
"And only once we know this, can we effectively stop this ill practice."
"Both by raising awareness at a social level. and by instituting laws that punish anyone caught."
Alexander proposed, finishing with this philosophical quote,
"Remember my lords, one should not pass sweeping laws from just sitting behind the desk and listening to one report."
And as Alexander finished, a poignant few seconds of silence echoed across the table.
They had not thought about it so deeply and so could not help but praise Alexander's foresight on it.
Though in the case of Alexander, it was really a case of him learning from history, especially the period of segregation in American history which had lasting consequences that one could argue last to this day.
Racial biases were not so easy to remove, and Alexander wanted to plan thoughtfully so that he could remove them within a short time, possibly a few generations.
Yes, to dispel such ingrained nature, Alexander thought a few generations would be quick.
Because one just needed to take a look at modern history, with all its education programs and awareness-raising activities that still was unable to erase racism entirely after all this time, only succeeding in making it mostly very low-key.
So what hope did Alexander have in this backward world?
He could only bank on time, combined with his own efforts to slowly wash away this toxic muk.
"So how should we do this?" With Alexander having mentioned learning more about the discriminations, Cambyses posed the next obvious question, how to go about it.
And Alexander had already thought of a preliminary plan and revealed his intended course of action.
"First, we should make the people realize this is wrong."
"I will ask the temple to give sermons on this. That will work to raise people's consciousness about the matter."
"If both Theocles and Azura Azira, representing the Temple of Gaia and Temple of Ramuh are to say such an act is a sin and people must refrain from it, I'm confident many believers will change."
"We will also send criers into the markets."
"They will work to tell the people of the upcoming laws and that all shops should stop discrimination between anyone or they are to soon face fines or even prison."
"That will give the shopkeepers some time to change their practices."
"Those are the social ways."
Here Alexander paused a bit, gathering his thoughts a bit and then continuing.
"As for the legal matters, I will give the police force three months to investigate all the kinds of biases and discriminations the Thesians have faced."
"They are to record all of it and then submit a report."
"I will review it and then pass laws on each infraction depending on the severity of it."
As Alexander proposed this, he then turned to Cambyses, saying, "I will leave the investigation to Batholomew. Be sure to let him know."
Being his immediate boss, Alexander felt it would be more appropriate if the order came directly from Cambyses.
"Ummm…but how should the guards ask the questions? And where will they find them? The market?"
But Cambyses seemed to be a bit confused about the general specifics of how the guards should collect this information, as she asked Alexander for further details.
And this made Alexander suddenly remember that the people of this time had no concept of surveys.
That thought had subconsciously skipped his mind.
And why would they?
99% of the people could even barely write their names.
So how would they be able to fill out a survey?
And this put Alexander in a dilemma.
There was no point in trying to educate Cambyses on what a survey was anyway because all the city guards who would be carrying out this survey were of course illiterate too.
So expectingly them to write out a full report was asking them to do something way above their pay grade.
So for a while, Alexander tapped his cheeks with his index finger, trying to think of a simplified process.
He could order the guards to go door to door and ask the residents if they had faced any such problems.
But Alexander suspected seeing a contingent of heavily armored guards knocking on your doors would do wonders in making one shut up, saying everything was fine and wishing they would go away as soon as possible.
After all, people of this time had an inherent fear of law enforcement, and with good reasons given they would just be a much more dangerous version of a thug, one with legal immunity from the ruling noble.
Never mind there was also a very real chance of these policemen exhorting the people they were sent to help out of a few coins saying it was in the name of their services.
Corruption was always an ever-present danger in such organizations.
Because of all this Alexander trashed that idea.
And a few more afterward, such as asking Thesians to come to the police station to recount their experiences, or going around the streets asking random people about their experiences.
All these did not seem convenient.
"Does anyone wish to chip in?" And lastly, struggling to easily find a solution, Alexander turned to others.
And Hemicus was the first to quickly chime in,
"We could ask the Thesian shopkeepers for help! Since they have shops there and are present from dawn to dusk, surely they must have seen a lot."
"The patrol will easily be able to get information out of them."
Alexander for once was a bit speechless at the man's quick wittness.
While Melodias additionally said,
"I could also ask my men. They and their wives must surely have some stories to share."
"Mmmm. And we can also increase patrol around the markets and tell them to keep an eye out for these kinds of things. Then they can catch the shops in the act and record it." Menes lastly added.
All of which very much impressed Alexander.
He for a moment and boxed all his thinking to only the city guards and the Thesians, and forgot about all other approaches.
So seeing his council members step up greatly pleased him.
"Well, you heard them Cam. Do it like they said." Alexander thus turned to Cambyses with a smile, then added, "Melodias, I will leave it to you to gather the information regarding your men. Be sure to give it to Cambyses before August."
"Yes, my lord," Melodias quickly replied with a straight face, though internally he groaned at the increased load.
'Why couldn't I have kept my mouth shut,' He seemed to cry.
But Alexander did not notice this, nor did he care.
While Cambyses only breezily hummed at Alexander's order, her heart happy at being able to pass this very tedious and labor-intensive process to her colleagues and subordinates.
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