Yes, anyone who says, “I’m not racist.” Is really just saying “I refuse to look at my own racism.” Because to an extent, every human born is born with ingroup preferences. There is BS going around that says racism has to be taught and that is not quite right. It is a BIGGER problem than just what is taught. We are born with instincts that make us prefer our own kind. It is fear of out groups. And when we lived in little tribes the instinct served us well. But our tribe has become multiracial/multicultural. This instinct can be bad as when it becomes xenophobia. Blacks have this same instinctive preference and can be just as guilty of preferring blacks over any other race. This has to be *unlearned* in the best of us, especially those with the most power. But as an intelligent species, we can learn to override instinct. And we need to in our modern culture where “us” is all Americans. There is no evidence that any one race is better anyway, and the American ideal is equality for all. All of us. And “us” is a pretty big group. In order to get to equality for all, we have to unlearn this inborn preference for our own group, and expand our definition of “us” to all humans.Hagoth wrote: ↑Sat Feb 12, 2022 6:11 pmYikes. Just suggesting a non-white apostle is heresy.moksha wrote: ↑Sat Feb 12, 2022 9:46 amHere is a historic look at how the discussion of racism in Mormonism has changed over the years:
https://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/74 ... -of-color/
I love it when people say "I don't have a racist bone in my body," amidst racists statements. The problem is not the bones, it's the wet, squishy parts. Like the guy in that post, I am married into a non-white family. That doesn't inoculate me from racism or accusations of racism when the shoe fits. As a matter of fact, I suspect that two of my phalanges, one rib, and a metacarpal are leaning toward racist.
Most of us never get there. I know I am not, although I try. Can I say I would be fine if my daughter brought home a black boy? Well, I would have to swallow hard and get to know the young man, just as when my daughter brought home a girl, or when my daughter brought home a part Native American, and when my daughter brought home a guy who grew up in the street gangs of New York. (Although, I must admit the the “street gangs of NY” was the worst. Maybe I shouldn’t have watched “West Side Story”) so, am I racist? You bet your sweet bippy that I am *and* that I am trying to get over my fear of “different than us.”
So, to a certain extent, everyone needs to be taught that all races are good and not to automatically assume that “like me” is best. If this was all there was, it would be a small problem.
But there is also that learned part. It is very easy for humans to take what is instinctive and enlarge it. We want to see “our group,” “our race,” “our culture,” as best, so in our own insecurity we magnify the feeling to keep us feeling good about ourselves when compared to others. Insecure people are usually worse, because they have a bigger need to bolster their own superiority. Then there is the history of slavery. In order to keep their conscience from eating them alive, white slave owners had to think of blacks as slightly less than human. Otherwise they were horrible people for treating other humans that way. So to lessen their guilt, they exaggerated this “us” and “them” instinct. They became very racist. They had to in order to live in their society. So, then they teach others of their group they they are better and because it is the group in power, then we have white superiority, white supremacy. Or we have misogyny, or we have antiSemitism. This white/male superiority is taught in American culture. This is bad enough when taught to whites males but turns into self hatred when taught to others. It is taught to blacks in America, and we have sort of a racial hierarchy with the races arranged by skin tone. Whites are “better” than Asians, who are “better” than Mexicans, who are “better” than blacks…sort of like India’s caste system. And in America blacks show “preference for white” by preferring lighter skinned blacks, parents are happy to see a lighter skinned baby, and little black girls want the white blue eyed baby doll because they have been taught, against their own instincts, that white is best.
Yeah, so we all have a *lot* to unlearn. I’m working on it, how ‘bout you?
