If birds of the same feather flock together, are they racist towards other birds of different feathers?
Now a days the word racist has been thrown around like it was another cuss word. Vaguely defined by the user and greatly feared to whom it is directed to. Quite frankly i don’t know what it means now a days.
Back when slavery and colonization was a common practice, racism was clearly defined. The atrocities done by one race to another were horrendous. Whites to blacks, Germans to Jews, Spaniards to Filipinos. May it be by verbal or physical abuse or simply a broad discrimination of the whole race, you can clearly see who was abusing who.
But now a days, a simple preference towards a race is already being called racism.
Don’t we naturally gravitate to our own kind?
This pattern of behavior and be observed from the smallest insect to the biggest mammals. So are they racist? One could argue that we hold a higher standard for humans, but aren’t we all just another form of earthly creature?
We all have different taste in food, so why is it any different if we prefer a certain race? As long as we are not abusing or depriving a certain race of opportunities and benefits while allowing all to have a shot to earn and work.
Another word that has been associated with racism is stereotyping. Quite often when the word racism is thrown around by the normal person on the street, stereotyping is what they actually mean.
If you observe a pattern of numbers, 1 2 3. 1 2 3. 1 2 3. 1 2 ?
What would you assume the next number would be?
Does that mean you were biased or prejudiced to the number 3 because it follows 2, at least according to the pattern?
If a person observes that 9 out of then Asians eat rice, would it not be logical to conclude that Asians eat rice? Same thing with Latinos and beans and Blacks with chicken. A certain group of people prefers certain foods, may it be because of their history or the accessibility to that certain ingredient. Is it considered racism to express such an observation? Isn’t that simply statistics?
Very thin lines separate racism, prejudice, stereotyping and profiling. The words themselves are just words, but the judgement that people associate with them is what’s troubling.
A species survival depends on these “pre-judgements.” Bright colors in insects and animals tend to mean that they are poisonous. The colors are there to ward off potential predators to keep their distance. It serves as a warning to the hunter and a survival tool for the prey. Yes, the hunter discriminated that brightly colored specie from becoming it’s food. Was that so bad? The prey lived and the hunter did not get poisoned. Did the hunter profile it’s prey? Heck yeah! But both went on to live their lives and survive another day.
Let’s say you were lost driving in the middle of the night on a lonely road and got lost. You reached a fork in the road, where one lead to a small town where you can see at distance some glimmer of light coming from what you think maybe a house or a gas station, while the other road was so dark that you can barely see anything that’s beyond your headlights, which road would you choose? Well, however you got to your choice, you basically profiled the road. Should the other road be offended?
Of course no one wants to be singled out by authorities, harassed and abused just because of race but as individuals who just wants to go by our own lives and be decent citizens, profiling is a natural instinct that has gotten us out of trouble more times than we would admit.
As humans, we use logic and instinct to survive. We naturally gravitate towards people who are of kindred mind and spirit, heck even of color, yes even of race. Sure we can work and play with others who have different interests, but no one can deny that there is that comforting feeling of finding your own tribe.
We all have preconceived notions about everything but especially about people. It may either have come from our parents, society, neighborhood or country we grew up in, school or from the media we consume. The only way to actually know a person is to actually make an effort to get to KNOW them. This could either confirm or shatter our notions. Every individual can rise from the stereotype and there is always the exception to the pattern.
But if we call a person racists, just because they expressed an opinion or an observation without knowing that person’s history or where their opinion was based from, people who have done no harm or abuse to others of a different race then aren’t we as prejudiced to that person as well?
Aren’t we being racists as well?
This Week's Rehash 