Why do we allow discrimination based on culture?

This extract from Anne Marie Waters was published by the National Secular Society.

Note (August 2017): Anne Marie Waters (AMW) is currently a candidate for UKIP leader, having stood as a candidate for them in both local and general elections. AMW addressed Bedfordshire Humanists, prior to her association with UKIP, as a spokesperson for One Law For All, an organisation campaigning against the introduction of alternative legal frameworks within religious groups e.g. Islamic Sharia Courts. Her presentation was very impressive, her position very moderate and it was received enthusiastically. Since that time, AMW has parted from One Law For All, which has now sought to distance itself from her and the views she is now promoting. This piece was written when she was speaking for One Law For All and the sentiments expressed still seem as appropriate as they did when they were written.

We need to get this clear – race is not culture. Race is a skin colour
or national or ethnic grouping and it gives no indication whatsoever of
who a person is or what they stand for. Culture, on the other hand, is a
series of actions which are routinely carried out within any defined
community and are usually based on tradition or religion or both. If we
define culture as a set of actions, and some of those actions amount to
the forced enslavement and rape of young girls, then that can and should
be condemned – culture or not. Cultural practices have always been
condemned, fought against, and changed. It has happened all across
history; it is called progress. More