[quote]Cunnivore wrote:
There have been a lot of great posts so far exploring the reasons that racism is so firmly rooted in the collective conscience of the world today. I also believe that upbringing plays a major role in the problem.
But I wonder, what about the “nature” side of the argument? Does anyone believe it’s possible that humans are inherently more likely to be trustiing of and/or attracted to other humans who are like them? From the evolutionary standpoint, this might point toward a biological basis for this type of behavior. It’s like different breeds of large cats don’t generally live together in spite of the fact that they might share the same habitat.
I’m not looking for rationalization, but I wonder if anyone has studied that side of the equation?[/quote]
I think you’re right. There’s a “natural” element in racism.
Ok, the example you gave of the “big cats” is not accurate, because big cats are actually different biological races, while all humans are homo sapiens and are the same race biologically.
But still People tend to trust their family. They share genes with them. They look similar (trying not to use the word “familiar” here). To an outsider Japanese and Chinese might look very similar, but Japanese people are rarely mistaken, they’ll spot the “odd Chinese out”.
When someone has never seen Asian, Black or Scandinavian people: “they all look alike”. That’s not really racism. That’s how they look in the eye of the beholder.
So naturally when one purple family enters the town, they’ll have a hard time “blending in”.
There’s an evolutionary advantage there also. People had an advantage when they trusted tribe members and shied away from unfamiliar faces. And what face is more unfamiliar than a face that doesn’t even have the same color as your own?
But returning to the psychology of Racism. The “us vs them” thinking is the basis of all racism imo.
This is pretty obvious in certain situations, but can be uncomfortable close to home in others. We all practice this us-vs-them thinking. Perhaps related to women? Muslims perhaps? Or people with a different nationality (I guess you call them aliens, which is saying a lot). Mexicans? French? Handicapped? Unemployed people. Elderly. Children.
Once we start thinking in us-vs-them, discrimination raises it’s ugly head.
About that plance crash in Iran: did any of you even, for a slight moment, think “ha, now it’s their turn to feel the pain”? I know I did. That my friends, is racism.
Of course the people dying in that crash are just innocent civilians, with a family, a wife and children. But for one split second there, I thought “us vs them”, I let down my guard, and racism swept in. And I had to push it back.
I think it’s important that we’re aware of this latent racism in all of us. Once we know it’s there, we can fight it. If we ignore it’s there, it will take us by surprise.
How many people have we heard making discriminatory remarks? About any group of people? “All are lazy”. “Ok, not that one family that lives down the street, they’re decent enough, but the ones we don’t personally know, they’re all lazy fucks right?”
