I do not understand racism. And most of the time, I do not accept it.
I may be with someone who expresses racist opinions/thoughts, and just go along with it, because sometimes, arguing and trying to reason with someone is so hard.
I cannot grasp how a person can hate someone merely on their skin colour, on something they did not choose, something completely natural.
Racism, by its simplest definition, is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. People with racist beliefs might hate certain groups of people according to their racial groups
My brother is racist. He doesn't like black people ( which he refers to as niggers and/or monkeys) and he doesn't like asian people.
I don't understand why he feels this way. I've tried talking to him, explaining that they are human beings, like him and I. Sometimes he does end up being hypocritical; for example, a black actor whom he likes, but he tries to find an excuse like "he doesn't look black".
People like him, racists, who hate others just because they look different. It doesn't make sense to me. To me, people are people. We all have the same things (body wise). We all have skin, organs, hair, voices etc.. so how can pigmentation, something natural, cause such boundaries?!
It's not as if black people or asian people were somehow less capable or more capable or whatnot. We all have different languages and ways of thinking, but it doesn't make us better or worse, more important or less important than others. They are just differences.
Here at uni, on my course, we do anthropology, and in the practicals we examine skeletons. Last year we had to examine the skull in order to identify which race/ethnicity the person was.
It was extremely difficulty to distinguish between one or the other, because they are so similar, the differences are so minimal.
On a purely anatomical level, humans are the same with only slight variations when it comes to gender and ethnicity, which aren't always distinguishable.
On a genetic level, our differences are caused by single gene differences, sometimes bigger differences, and mutations.
On a physical level (as in the parts we can see), humans are pretty much the same, with again, slight variations, like height, weight, hair colour, hair texture etc.
We are all just bones, organs, tendons, muscles in a bag of skin. The fact that the skin varies in colour ( such a trivial thing in my mind ) causes hatred and segregation, astounds me. In a very, very bad way.
Most people (I think?) know (scientists say, being a science student, I believe this) that human life originated in Africa, and in such the first humans were Black. The black pigmentation is caused be melanin, the more you have of it, the darker your skin is. It protects from the sun. Which is why black people don't get as easily sunburned, whereas for example, fair skinned people from Scandinavia, who do not have much sun, get sunburned easily.
This is also why when you go on holiday, spend your time in the sun, you tan, and get darker.
And yet most people seem to enjoy tanning, looking darker. So, the natural born tanned people if you want, are hated?
How does that make any sense?
People are just people. Like you and I.
We are all part of the human race, we're all people, we differ on the outside, due mostly to things we do not control.
So, if we are all so similar, why do some people hate others because of :
- a) something they cannot control, and
- b) something which is natural?
I don't understand it. I can't.
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