Four Points To Consider Regarding Racism...
Point One
The idea of dividing humans into different, distinct races has no basis in Science. We are all members of the same species, Homo Sapiens. We are all the same in terms of physiology and psychology. Division of the species into sub-categories based on skin color is a culturally-contrived concept. Before the 17th Century, membership in a racial group was defined by language or nation of birth.
Point Two
The real issue lurking behind the label, “racism”, is prejudice. Now here’s the headline: Everyone has some level of prejudice.
Everyone.
It is human nature. It is a basic survival tool. When it comes to those we perceive as new, different, strange, it is engrained in us to be leery, careful, cautious, distrustful, dubious, skeptical, uncertain, unsure, wary, chary, doubting, shy, on one’s guard.
A new employee at work? The new kid at school? The new neighbors? The new member in the group? There’s always a “warm-up period.”
Always.
Regardless.
It is neither right nor wrong. It just is.
By nature.
We must learn to accept and embrace this fact of our shared human nature. What we do with it – how we act up on it – that’s when the issues of “right and wrong” come into play. That’s where our personal responsibility and accountability begin.
To put it simply:
• Having prejudice is not right or wrong.
• How we act out our instinctual prejudice is what can be judged right or wrong.
Point Three
What is defined by culture can be re-defined by culture. Our cultural discomfort with prejudice stems from two factors;
• Our lack of acknowledgment as to what it truly is (Instinctual)
• Our lack of culturally-accepted ways to deal with it with effective, positive behaviors.
In the absence of a path to positive expression, the undirected, unguided emotions stirred by prejudice devolve and amplify their natures.
Being leery, careful, cautious, distrustful, dubious, skeptical, uncertain, unsure, wary, chary, doubting, shy, on one’s guard becomes the accepted, default response to anything new, different, strange. The result is negative, emotional chaos devoid of understanding.
Point four
Only when our culture decides enough is enough and takes the necessary steps to create a channel into which the reticent, negatively-charged emotional energy stirred by prejudice can be re-directed into positively-charged emotional energy will we tame this scourge, heal our wounds and grow stronger as a society...together.
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2020 wrytre
