Will we ever eliminate racism 100%?
Why or why not?Kaykalee
Will we ever eliminate racism? That's a hard question and in all honesty, I doubt it.
It's not that I'm racist or that I think the majority of people are, but racism is just a form of bigotry and there are lots of bigots in the world. Everyone out there has preferences. Racism, sexism, (if we ever meet any aliens... specieism) they're all part and parcel of a learned bias and that's not something we can remove. For instance, one of my friends recently blogged about how she is discriminated against as an engineer because she is a woman. People have an unconscious bias when it comes to men and women, and many of them will defer to a man, assuming he is more knowledgeable than the woman in the same position. How is that fair? They're not purposefully avoiding her, but they just prefer a male engineer.
People do the same thing with different "races." Asian? Good at math. Irish? Must drink lots. Mexican? Lazy. Black? Likes fried chicken. How true are any of these beliefs? They seem pretty ignorant to me, but I've heard at least one person express these thoughts... sometimes on national tv. Even if we managed to discredit every single ignorant belief in the world, people would just come up with new ones because if there's one thing the human race is good at, it's making assumptions.
In the end, it doesn't matter how similar we are to one another. Genetically, the difference between you and me, whether you're male or female, black, white, yellow, or red, is really very small, but it is the small differences that people get hung up on. It's the little things that make people hesitate, inventing huge gaps between thee and me, us and them. Do you know that some cultures once thought red haired people were evil? Blue eyes meant you had the evil eye and could curse anything you looked at without even intending it.
If somehow we were all rendered blind or genetic manipulation became so rampant that every child born looked exactly the same, we would still find something about each other to pick at. So long as we continue to itemize and define things by their qualities, there will be racism. Unfortunately, it's a lot easier to assign things a value based on their differences than their similarities.
March 5th
When winter storms lose their force, a ship is dedicated to Isis as a new season of sailing begins. This is the ancient Egyptian festival of Isidis Navigum (the ship of Isis) or the Ploiaphesia which honored Isis' invention of the sail and her patronage of sailing-craft and navigation.
As part of the festivities, a parade was performed in honor of Isis. Following in a procession of mummers, the priests carry emblems of Isis. The Chief Priest carries a lamp, a golden boat-shaped light with a tall tongue of flame from a hole in the center. The second priest holds an auxiliaria (ritual pot) in each of his hands, and the third carries a miniature palm-tree. The fourth priest carries a model of the left hand with the fingers stretched out, the emblem of justice as well as a golden vessel in the shape of a woman's breast. From the nipple falls a thin stream of milk. The fifth cleric carries a winnowing-fan woven with golden rods, not osiers. The final man, not a priest, carries a wine-jar.
Next in the procession comes Anubis with a face black on one side and golden on the other and a man carrying a statue of a cow, representing the Goddess as the fruitful Mother of us all. After them walks a priest with a box containing the secret implements of Isis' cult, and another priest carries a secret vessel in his robes. It is a small container of burnished gold with thickly crowded Egyptian hieroglyphics and a rounded bottom, a long spout, and a generously curving handle. Along the handle is an asp raising its head and displaying its throat.
Waiting at the seashore is a beautifully built ship covered with Egyptian hieroglyphics. The sail is fashioned of white linen inscribed with large letters with a prayer for the Goddess's protection of the shipping lanes during the new sailing season, and the long mast is made of fir. The prow is shaped like the neck of Isis's holy goose, and the long keel is cut from a solid trunk of citrus-wood.
The ship is purified with a lighted torch, an egg, and sulfur, and then hallowed and dedicated to the Goddess. All present place winnowing-fans heaped with aromatics and other votive offerings on board while pouring milk into the sea as a libation. When the ship is loaded with gifts and prayers for good fortune, the anchor cables are cut, setting the ship free.
Today is a Japanese Kite festival.
Comments (9)
Things will not get better unless we change our worldviews based on our similarities rather than differences. People have a tendency to resist changes and worldview is hard to change. I am looking forwards to the new age of Aquarius (2012??).
We do practice specism to a certain extent, don't you think? Giant squids do not get the respect and rights they deserve!
Anyway, sadly, I agree; even if everyone looked the same, there would still be "racism" becauce it has more to do with culture than how people look. For some reason human really like the us-vs.-them mindset.
@Wes_Gumbo - I agree completely. Not that I'm vain enough to want everyone to be more like me, but I value people for their differences. Diversity is important in nature and culture. Besides, if everyone was the same, the world would be an extremely boring place.
@heidenkind - We should start a lobby for giant squid, the poor things. There are some scientists who think the sea monsters of the early seafaring days were in fact giant squid... until we came up with engines that hurt their ears and metal ships that couldn't be dragged down so easily.
I'm afraid racism will only get worse, not better. I really do think that's why the aliens haven't made contact with us yet, because I do think they're out there and are aware of us. They're scared witless. The aliens are probably well aware of our screwed up psychology and know that if we get out into the stars, it won't be ourselves we'll be targeting with our insular hatred any more. It'll be them.
@harmony0stars - I should say, we are but different parts of the whole. We are different in our own ways but ONE and the same.
We are hard wired to differentiate and group things by their attributes. Sorting blocks of different shapes or different colors, little children do this all the time. It only becomes unfortunate when we turn to people and too much significance is placed on physical differences like gender or race.
@harmony0stars - I know! I was watching a show about giant squids once, and this one scientist captured a giant squid and killed it just so he could study it! Like I'm sure your pointless research into something nobody but you cares about was totally worth that innocent squid's life, a-hole. Grrr! It makes me so angry.
As far as the human race uniting against aliens, that is an idea, isn't it? It would be annoying for the aliens, sure, but potentially good for us in that it would temporarily stop us from warring with each other. But we wouldn't need aliens--we could create humanesque droids to unite and descriminate against!
And you are so right. While I am frequently surprised at how wide spread racism still is, I don't think the world will ever eliminate it, either.
Yes, it is unfortunate, but I think in order to eradicate racism, you'd have to eradicate Ignorance first. *shrug* That would be a mighty task...
@heidenkind - Hmmm humanesque droids? Star Wars: Yes! Battlestar: NO!
@ImKatWoman - LOL Oh, it would sooo turn into Battlestar.
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