Racism is a problem that has never escaped human history. With our differences comes our preferences, and due to these differences, we feel that we "prefer" things over others and demote others. It's really unbelievable to see people actually "justify" their inherent racism towards others, whether it be by action or by definition. That being said, it is advisable for people to refrain from comments that show the slightest hints of racism.
However, this does not mean that free speech should be abandoned as a whole (see "The Imbalance between Social Equity and Free Speech" for more info).
What I'm trying to get at in this post is that racism, even in subjective morality, is an evil that should be preached against and hopefully stamped out. It just happens that people tend to be bigoted in their views that they soon start labelling a group with a certain action given their limited experiences in viewing certain media outlets. I can cite many examples, but before I cite a few (face it: there are many racists out there), let's define what a "race" is:
1. A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race
Well, even though these definitions are rudimentary, we can define racism as being prejudice towards a group that falls under this category... even people of the same faith, but that itself is a prejudice in its own. In that sense, Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism are regarded as different forms of racism... one way or another. Racism results from many things, among them a history with the said group that was not full of happy memories, or a delusional mindset that oversimplifies too much and tends to clump things in one group. Gross generalizations are dangerous, and must be avoided. For example, the MSM often shows you Palestinians, Iraqis and other Arabs rioting or committing violent acts. Prejudice and ignorance in the mindset of some westerners has led to associating violence with Arab culture and thus race. Such associations are dangerous, as they lead to fear, hate and finally provocations against people of the said race, and thus an intolerance for that group.
Personally, things like this disgust me. How can people go so far as to justify this racism? I mean, people have walked long yards to bring up articles, stories (even made-up ones) and other pieces from the media in order to "prove" that the said group is (insert certain characteristic here, whether it be violent, sadist, perverted, etc.).
There is also the farce of "positive" racism, which really does not exist as racism is by definition a negative feeling. Thus, "positive racism" is an oxymoron.
However, there is also "ethnocentricism": nationalistic feeling of one's own race in that it is superior to all others, and thus, all other races are inferior to the race in question. Like nationalism, ethnocentricism should be avoided. This stems from the idea that nationalism can be a source of racism. People who exhibited such racism were Adolf Hitler (Aryan), Pierre Gemayyel (Lebanese Maronites, or "Phoenicians"), and many Zionist extremists (Jews, "God's Chosen People").
But we are avoiding the question at hand:
Are we immune from racism?
Obviously, the answer is a resounding NO. Even the most noble minds conceive prejudiced notions once in a while. Then, there is also the dehumanizing of enemies in battle, and this is dangerous when they are part of the same race. Such racism could lead to disregard for human life, and the killings of even civilians of that same race. For example, there is the killing of many innocent civilians in Iraq and Pakistan as part of this ongoing war on Iraq, and too many times have they disregarded the attacks as "collateral damage" and that they "don't do body counts". Then, of course, there is the fear of further bloodshed in Iraq on a possible withdrawal of American troops (never thought of that one, did ya?). Well, let's focus on this last example: on what basis do you think that the Arabs in Iraq are going to kill each other? Is it because of the tensions? Is it because they will "attack each other" because of "their differences"? One could cite the disastrous withdrawals of the American Army from Cambodia, Korea, and Vietnam, but is this a reasonable conclusion? But aren't the Iraqi people human beings as well? Will they tire of bloodshed and come forth to govern themselves?
Why not?
It is also obvious that racism creates fear, and from that fear, racism develops to "counter" the racism that initially brought about this "fear". For example, it is well-known that prior to the Arab-Israeli conflicts, Palestinians and other Arabs were far from anti-Semitic. What followed was Zionist ethnocentricism that prejudiced the rights of the Palestinian people: the subsequent terrorist and racist operations conducted by the Stern Gang and other groups incited fear amongst the Palestinians, and this led to mass expulsions during 1947-1949. This fear created anti-Semitism on part of some Arabs, especially those who have been affected most by this invasion of Palestinian territory.
Does that make their racism justified? Absolutely not. However, this in turn brought about a racist argument that tends towards the pro-Zionist side: the Arabs want "to push the Jews into the sea". These, amongst many other myths, will be dispelled by myself much later.
Xenophobia also creates racism. Usually, what people see as "new" is something they have no knowledge about, they are ignorant of, and thus what they are ignorant of, they fear. What they fear, they hate, and this creates racism. True enough, one could argue that the Palestinians were xenophobic at the time of the mass Zionist immigrations into Palestine, but whether this produced the anti-Semitism that was inherent in some Arabs today or not is a matter of debate, and I'm not going to delve into this matter right now. Then, of course, there's the Holocaust, the most racist crime against humanity history has ever witnessed, as well as Stalin's Show Trials. Millions of people died as a result of these two tragedies, just because of who they were or what they believed in.
There is also racism in that you deal with foreigners in a way that you would not treat the common man or woman. Usually, one condescends with newcomers to a certain country, and goes to the level of speaking in a certain manner. For example, if a Chinese person were to visit you, you might think that he doesn't know English or the language you speak of "just because he's different". Also, people tend to be racist towards children, especially infants, of a different ethnicity, and certain people prefer wives from a certain ethnicity or religion. Well, sure, if you can find what you're looking for, I don't see why not, but when a woman who doesn't suit you comes along, don't drop her because she isn't from the same race or religion as you are. Then of course, there's school. People from the same background tend to stick to each other and refrain from contact with people from other backgrounds; in other cases, people tend to stick close to people from the same background more often than people from other backgrounds. There's also the workplace: employers, at times, tend to hire people of a certain race or religion over others.
Now that we know that we are certainly not immune from racism, can we prevent it? By simply doing the opposite of what was presented to you here, and by accepting the fact that individuals are held accountable by their actions, not by their beliefs or their race.
I like you all to read this comical saying from a friend of mine:
Is it fair to blame all New Yorkers for Madonna? All Jews for Barbara Streisand? All Muslims for Osama Bin Laden? All fat, white, ignorant rich men for Michael Moore? With individual rights comes individual accountability.
Remember that whenever violence erupts, or hate crimes occur, or other race-related issues arise, stick to the politics of the situation and try not to oversimplify the real issue at hand. Try to avoid racism and prejudice, and try not to expect something to happen because of what a certain group of people have done before. Isolated incidents happen, and people learn from their mistakes. That is to say that if another Muhammad cartoon is published, do you seriously think that Muslims will riot?
With that, I bid you farewell with this advice: Racism is a plague of humanity. Only until we understand the differences that make our world a beautiful place can we stamp it out.
Salaam, from
Saracen
However, this does not mean that free speech should be abandoned as a whole (see "The Imbalance between Social Equity and Free Speech" for more info).
What I'm trying to get at in this post is that racism, even in subjective morality, is an evil that should be preached against and hopefully stamped out. It just happens that people tend to be bigoted in their views that they soon start labelling a group with a certain action given their limited experiences in viewing certain media outlets. I can cite many examples, but before I cite a few (face it: there are many racists out there), let's define what a "race" is:
1. A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race
Well, even though these definitions are rudimentary, we can define racism as being prejudice towards a group that falls under this category... even people of the same faith, but that itself is a prejudice in its own. In that sense, Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism are regarded as different forms of racism... one way or another. Racism results from many things, among them a history with the said group that was not full of happy memories, or a delusional mindset that oversimplifies too much and tends to clump things in one group. Gross generalizations are dangerous, and must be avoided. For example, the MSM often shows you Palestinians, Iraqis and other Arabs rioting or committing violent acts. Prejudice and ignorance in the mindset of some westerners has led to associating violence with Arab culture and thus race. Such associations are dangerous, as they lead to fear, hate and finally provocations against people of the said race, and thus an intolerance for that group.
Personally, things like this disgust me. How can people go so far as to justify this racism? I mean, people have walked long yards to bring up articles, stories (even made-up ones) and other pieces from the media in order to "prove" that the said group is (insert certain characteristic here, whether it be violent, sadist, perverted, etc.).
There is also the farce of "positive" racism, which really does not exist as racism is by definition a negative feeling. Thus, "positive racism" is an oxymoron.
However, there is also "ethnocentricism": nationalistic feeling of one's own race in that it is superior to all others, and thus, all other races are inferior to the race in question. Like nationalism, ethnocentricism should be avoided. This stems from the idea that nationalism can be a source of racism. People who exhibited such racism were Adolf Hitler (Aryan), Pierre Gemayyel (Lebanese Maronites, or "Phoenicians"), and many Zionist extremists (Jews, "God's Chosen People").
But we are avoiding the question at hand:
Are we immune from racism?
Obviously, the answer is a resounding NO. Even the most noble minds conceive prejudiced notions once in a while. Then, there is also the dehumanizing of enemies in battle, and this is dangerous when they are part of the same race. Such racism could lead to disregard for human life, and the killings of even civilians of that same race. For example, there is the killing of many innocent civilians in Iraq and Pakistan as part of this ongoing war on Iraq, and too many times have they disregarded the attacks as "collateral damage" and that they "don't do body counts". Then, of course, there is the fear of further bloodshed in Iraq on a possible withdrawal of American troops (never thought of that one, did ya?). Well, let's focus on this last example: on what basis do you think that the Arabs in Iraq are going to kill each other? Is it because of the tensions? Is it because they will "attack each other" because of "their differences"? One could cite the disastrous withdrawals of the American Army from Cambodia, Korea, and Vietnam, but is this a reasonable conclusion? But aren't the Iraqi people human beings as well? Will they tire of bloodshed and come forth to govern themselves?
Why not?
It is also obvious that racism creates fear, and from that fear, racism develops to "counter" the racism that initially brought about this "fear". For example, it is well-known that prior to the Arab-Israeli conflicts, Palestinians and other Arabs were far from anti-Semitic. What followed was Zionist ethnocentricism that prejudiced the rights of the Palestinian people: the subsequent terrorist and racist operations conducted by the Stern Gang and other groups incited fear amongst the Palestinians, and this led to mass expulsions during 1947-1949. This fear created anti-Semitism on part of some Arabs, especially those who have been affected most by this invasion of Palestinian territory.
Does that make their racism justified? Absolutely not. However, this in turn brought about a racist argument that tends towards the pro-Zionist side: the Arabs want "to push the Jews into the sea". These, amongst many other myths, will be dispelled by myself much later.
Xenophobia also creates racism. Usually, what people see as "new" is something they have no knowledge about, they are ignorant of, and thus what they are ignorant of, they fear. What they fear, they hate, and this creates racism. True enough, one could argue that the Palestinians were xenophobic at the time of the mass Zionist immigrations into Palestine, but whether this produced the anti-Semitism that was inherent in some Arabs today or not is a matter of debate, and I'm not going to delve into this matter right now. Then, of course, there's the Holocaust, the most racist crime against humanity history has ever witnessed, as well as Stalin's Show Trials. Millions of people died as a result of these two tragedies, just because of who they were or what they believed in.
There is also racism in that you deal with foreigners in a way that you would not treat the common man or woman. Usually, one condescends with newcomers to a certain country, and goes to the level of speaking in a certain manner. For example, if a Chinese person were to visit you, you might think that he doesn't know English or the language you speak of "just because he's different". Also, people tend to be racist towards children, especially infants, of a different ethnicity, and certain people prefer wives from a certain ethnicity or religion. Well, sure, if you can find what you're looking for, I don't see why not, but when a woman who doesn't suit you comes along, don't drop her because she isn't from the same race or religion as you are. Then of course, there's school. People from the same background tend to stick to each other and refrain from contact with people from other backgrounds; in other cases, people tend to stick close to people from the same background more often than people from other backgrounds. There's also the workplace: employers, at times, tend to hire people of a certain race or religion over others.
Now that we know that we are certainly not immune from racism, can we prevent it? By simply doing the opposite of what was presented to you here, and by accepting the fact that individuals are held accountable by their actions, not by their beliefs or their race.
I like you all to read this comical saying from a friend of mine:
Is it fair to blame all New Yorkers for Madonna? All Jews for Barbara Streisand? All Muslims for Osama Bin Laden? All fat, white, ignorant rich men for Michael Moore? With individual rights comes individual accountability.
Remember that whenever violence erupts, or hate crimes occur, or other race-related issues arise, stick to the politics of the situation and try not to oversimplify the real issue at hand. Try to avoid racism and prejudice, and try not to expect something to happen because of what a certain group of people have done before. Isolated incidents happen, and people learn from their mistakes. That is to say that if another Muhammad cartoon is published, do you seriously think that Muslims will riot?
With that, I bid you farewell with this advice: Racism is a plague of humanity. Only until we understand the differences that make our world a beautiful place can we stamp it out.
Salaam, from
Saracen
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