The Truth About Racism!
********************
There are two major truths about Racism.
One: Racism will always be with us.
Two: We are ALL racists!
The plain truth is… as long as there is more than one race on this planet there will be racism. Human beings come hard-wired that way. We simply do not trust other human beings who do not look like us, speak like us, or live like us. It is a defensive device and it dates all the way back the era of the cave man and, possibly, even earlier.
Oh, we can make pretty speeches and we can formulate laws to make racism illegal, but all the time we are doing these socially acceptable things we understand, deep down inside, it is hypocritical... and... that nothing will change man’s distrust for those not of his race.
So what’s to be done? Not much we can do, really. Civilization demands that we learn to live together. For the most part, we have done that. However, it is not easy... and we have strife amongst us. That strife, between some races, will always be with us. There will be times when genocide will be the result. But for those of us who have decided to make an attempt at living in a civilized world it is incumbent to make a bone fide effort to get along with other human beings of races other than our own.
In the context of racism, there is no such thing as a “color-blind” individual. Only a fool will claim that title. Unless one is physically blind, it is impossible not to notice the color of a fellow human being’s skin. To force oneself to look beyond that… to the individual’s worth as a human being… is laudable and is necessary in our small world today.
No geographical area of the globe, nor single country on the globe, has the corner on racism. We are ALL racists. The sooner we come to understand that, and drop the phony politically correct pronouncements about a color-blind society, and come to terms with what, and who, we are, in the real world, then, and only then, will we be ready to embrace those of a different race. We must be honest with ourselves … FIRST!
"Oh", you say, "But...we are integrated here in America". Yes, we are! We are forced to be so by federal and state law. Take those laws away and America will instantly re-segregate. It’s not a pleasant thing to suddenly be slapped in the face with a fact like that… is it? But there it is!
Can we live together in respect, and even love? Yes, we can. But it will, as we have learned (well… many of us have learned) take hard work and honesty on the part of all of us… of all races. It is not going to happen in a century or two. A millennia, or two, is more like it.
Now, I know a lot of you are going to take issue with this... and that is fine. As I said, honesty must come first. But understand… as long as we continue to lie to ourselves that we are beyond such distasteful things as racism, then no progress will be made toward actually accomplishing that goal. In fact, I’m not totally sold on the idea that ending racism is even a sought after goal in the first place. I’m not even sure that we really want to! Many among us today, of all races, have vested interests in keeping the friction between the various races at a level of intensity suitable to guarantee it as an exploitable source of income. This they do exceedingly well.
I broach the subject in this article only to offer another perspective, one that we have, perhaps, overlooked. That is… we have allowed ourselves to buy into the feel-good propaganda of a "raceless society". The plain truth is… that is not going to happen on this planet. For whatever reason, the creator thought it necessary to create a multitude of races to populate this world. As a result, we are ALL here now. And we are all different. Plus, none of us is going anywhere. Seems to me the only option we have is to live together at a level of harmony necessary to ensure our continued survival, and the survival of our world.
So, I close as I began by saying… we are all racists. That is the persistent fact we cannot get around. We have managed to create a politically correct façade to mask our racism, to one degree or another, but worldwide harmony among the races is simply non-existent. If you doubt it, observe the body counts in the so-called “War on Terror”. If we were honest we would call this a war between the Middle Easterner and Westerners. But we won’t do that. We’ll continue to lie to ourselves… and… even continue refusing to "profile" for our Eastern enemies among us, to protect that lie... even if it costs us our lives… as it has surely done.
No, we have not learned to live side by side, with harmony, and it is my firm belief that we never shall. The least we can do is stop lying about it to ourselves, and to each other, acknowledge our differences, and move on.
And… no… I don’t expect that to happen, either!
Longstreet
There are two major truths about Racism.
One: Racism will always be with us.
Two: We are ALL racists!
The plain truth is… as long as there is more than one race on this planet there will be racism. Human beings come hard-wired that way. We simply do not trust other human beings who do not look like us, speak like us, or live like us. It is a defensive device and it dates all the way back the era of the cave man and, possibly, even earlier.
Oh, we can make pretty speeches and we can formulate laws to make racism illegal, but all the time we are doing these socially acceptable things we understand, deep down inside, it is hypocritical... and... that nothing will change man’s distrust for those not of his race.
So what’s to be done? Not much we can do, really. Civilization demands that we learn to live together. For the most part, we have done that. However, it is not easy... and we have strife amongst us. That strife, between some races, will always be with us. There will be times when genocide will be the result. But for those of us who have decided to make an attempt at living in a civilized world it is incumbent to make a bone fide effort to get along with other human beings of races other than our own.
In the context of racism, there is no such thing as a “color-blind” individual. Only a fool will claim that title. Unless one is physically blind, it is impossible not to notice the color of a fellow human being’s skin. To force oneself to look beyond that… to the individual’s worth as a human being… is laudable and is necessary in our small world today.
No geographical area of the globe, nor single country on the globe, has the corner on racism. We are ALL racists. The sooner we come to understand that, and drop the phony politically correct pronouncements about a color-blind society, and come to terms with what, and who, we are, in the real world, then, and only then, will we be ready to embrace those of a different race. We must be honest with ourselves … FIRST!
"Oh", you say, "But...we are integrated here in America". Yes, we are! We are forced to be so by federal and state law. Take those laws away and America will instantly re-segregate. It’s not a pleasant thing to suddenly be slapped in the face with a fact like that… is it? But there it is!
Can we live together in respect, and even love? Yes, we can. But it will, as we have learned (well… many of us have learned) take hard work and honesty on the part of all of us… of all races. It is not going to happen in a century or two. A millennia, or two, is more like it.
Now, I know a lot of you are going to take issue with this... and that is fine. As I said, honesty must come first. But understand… as long as we continue to lie to ourselves that we are beyond such distasteful things as racism, then no progress will be made toward actually accomplishing that goal. In fact, I’m not totally sold on the idea that ending racism is even a sought after goal in the first place. I’m not even sure that we really want to! Many among us today, of all races, have vested interests in keeping the friction between the various races at a level of intensity suitable to guarantee it as an exploitable source of income. This they do exceedingly well.
I broach the subject in this article only to offer another perspective, one that we have, perhaps, overlooked. That is… we have allowed ourselves to buy into the feel-good propaganda of a "raceless society". The plain truth is… that is not going to happen on this planet. For whatever reason, the creator thought it necessary to create a multitude of races to populate this world. As a result, we are ALL here now. And we are all different. Plus, none of us is going anywhere. Seems to me the only option we have is to live together at a level of harmony necessary to ensure our continued survival, and the survival of our world.
So, I close as I began by saying… we are all racists. That is the persistent fact we cannot get around. We have managed to create a politically correct façade to mask our racism, to one degree or another, but worldwide harmony among the races is simply non-existent. If you doubt it, observe the body counts in the so-called “War on Terror”. If we were honest we would call this a war between the Middle Easterner and Westerners. But we won’t do that. We’ll continue to lie to ourselves… and… even continue refusing to "profile" for our Eastern enemies among us, to protect that lie... even if it costs us our lives… as it has surely done.
No, we have not learned to live side by side, with harmony, and it is my firm belief that we never shall. The least we can do is stop lying about it to ourselves, and to each other, acknowledge our differences, and move on.
And… no… I don’t expect that to happen, either!
Longstreet
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“There are two major truths about Racism.
ReplyDeleteOne: Racism will always be with us.
Two: We are ALL racists!”
Well said. On the negative side saying this out loud will result in the EU thought police paying me a visit.