On Racism and Discrmination

I recently heard someone spout racist remarks about people of another ethnicity. Their ire was neither directed at me nor blacks nor gays nor any other group to which I consider myself and yet still it bothered me. There are characteristics that I hold in very, very high esteem and among these are how do we treat our fellow human, do we respect others, and are we nice and caring. To me racism and discrimination directly indicates the exact opposite to an entire group of people based solely on the circumstances of their birth.

Truth be told, there are two kinds of racism out there. There's the overt racism in which the person understands that they have a preference for some over others. Then there's the more insidious racism of those that tell ourselves that we are not racists, but our actions still hurt or disadvantage others along arbitrary lines.

So how is it that some of are so sure that this insidious form of racism is so wide-spread whereas others are equally sure that it is not? How can these points of view be so far apart? The answer is hard to accept and lies deep within the nature of our species. We humans naturally define concentric circles of "us versus them" in which we almost always favor the inner circle when compared to an outer circle. We tend to lookout for our own interest before another; our own family before strangers; and our village before the world.

This very natural act that has been fruitful in binding communities together for millenia is also the root of racism and other forms discrimination. It defines "us" and skews our mind's perception of what is good so to benefit the "us". It is why we'll fight for our friends, family, village, tribe or country even if something deep inside of us knows that we are in the wrong. Want and example of this? Think of any movie in which the main character is obviously in the wrong and yet by the director showing us the movie from this character's perspective we are drawn into sympathizing and even routing for him to win. The director has succeeded in making the bad guy one of "us". It is part of our survival and self-preservation instinct.

What does this mean? That we're all racists to some extent. Understanding and accepting this is critical to overcoming the problems of racism and discrimination. It is only when we understand our natural tendencies to choose others like us over those that are different that we can free ourselves from its ill-effects.

So the next question is "why"? Why should we even fight these natural tendencies if they have served us so well throughout time? The answer is because our world has changed. No longer do we live in villages where everyone looks like us and acts like us. No longer are the actions of one village divorced from ramifications on the other side of the planet. Today, our village is multi-racial, multi-ethnic and diverse and therefore even this low-grade, insidious racism destroys the fabric of our community.