I’ll cut to the chase–I don’t think racism HAS a future. But first, I want to define it–for the purposes of this post, racism is “the belief, speech, or actions based on the idea that certain racial or ethnic groups are inherently and irremediably inferior in some moral or intellectual way to some other groups.” In brief, this idea has no future because it is outmoded; confined to small non-mainstream groups; and morally and intellectually bankrupt.
By outmoded, I mean antique–an artifact of earlier and less evolved days. Some apologists for racism like to cite Thomas Jefferson (a slave-owner who fathered children by one of his chattels) and Abraham Lincoln (who believed that blacks were indeed inferior and should be segregated from whites). These men were products of their times; in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, few people — other than the victims themselves — were fully cognizant of the evils inherent in slavery. (Granted, slavery–particularly sexual slavery–continues to this day, but in the world at large it is largely underground.) In those less enlightened times, to be racist–and sexist, for that matter–was be part of the mainstream majority, and such beliefs were held not only acceptable but respectable, to a degree which many educated people of today find ludicrous.
At that time, both the science and religions of the time supported racism. Today, reading historical scientific and religious arguments for racism is like stepping into a sort of time machine, going back to a time when physicians thought that bloodletting was effective therapy, washing hands was silly, and the use of anesthesia was either totally unknown or a faddish luxury.
So, why does racism even exist today? Well, old ideas die hard–there are still people who believe that every word of the Biblical myths are literally true; still people who believe that the center of the earth is hollow. Another thing–racism is fear-based, and there is no lack of fear-mongering going on. The so-called Low Right does a good job of this, as do some Conservative Christian leaders (who tell their flocks to hate and fear gay people), as do politicians who tell us to hate and fear Muslims. The recession is another factor–people who have lost their jobs often look for convenient scapegoats.
Many racists are simply pathetic white people who need someone to look down on in order to feel good about themselves, as they are incapable of any productive, positive or loving accomplishments of their own. (Of course, racism is not confined to whites–many Chinese are racists regarding the Japanese and vice versa–and Chris Rock once observed that the most racist people on earth are old black men. However, the most spectacular manifestations of racism–the thousands of lynchings in the Southern US and the Holocaust–were largely the work of whites.) Much anti-black racism seems based on the perceived fear of black males supposed sexual prowess and/or imagined propensity for violence. But there is also an economic aspect.
The ideas of Marx (Karl, not Groucho) have largely been discredited by history, but one remains valid–the economic basis for racial discrimination. Take the Old South–the rich plantation owners had no doubt that their slaves were their inferiors, but some genuine affection DID exist. This is in strong contrast to the poor white people in competition with blacks for jobs after the abolition of slavery, whose virulent and fear-based hatred for blacks manifested itself as violence.
This said, why are there now 946 recognized organized hate groups in the United States, more than ever before? I think this is largely a collective result of years of fear-mongering, both on the part of politicians pandering to the masses in order to exploit them, and irresponsible media like Fox “News” looking for ratings.
Another factor, but one which would be enormously difficult to document , is the ending og the Age of Pisces and the beginning of the Age of Aquarius.
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