“Race” is the idea that humans can be differentiated into groups that have distinct inherited physical and behavioral differences. Racism is the belief that certain groups are inherently inferior. It is a way to justify prejudice and discrimination against those groups. But science has shown that human beings are more similar than we are different. Biologically, we are fundamentally the same. We all bleed red. We all have the same needs and drives. Yet, our ideas about one another continue to be shaped by racism. I (Marlene) read a remarkableNew York Times opinion piece by Brent Staples on October 12, 2019, entitled, “How Italians Became White.” It described how darker-skinned southern Italians had long been viewed as savages by lighter-skinned northern Italians. When southern Italians emigrated to the United States, they were persecuted as people of color—criminalized, discriminated against, and even lynched by angry White people. Today, we don’t consider an Italian person of European descent as a person of color, but there was a time in history when they were calledWhite nigger andnigger wop.
Race is one of the most pernicious lies humanity has ever propagated, and it is also one of the most disastrous for all of us. Think about how much better your life would have been if all human beings, regardless of their “race,” had been allowed to realize their potential and contribute their genius to the world. We might have already solved the world’s problems. More of us could be able to experience well-being and security. So why do we believe so strongly in racial differences? Some historians suggest that early humans developed xenophobia, the fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners, as a survival mechanism. Until you knew for certain that a stranger wasn’t going to murder you or your loved ones, you kept up your guard. Strangers were people who weren’t in your group. The most obvious way you knew this was because they didn’t look like you. That seems like a credible argument, but it has been challenged by others who point to boatloads of evidence of cooperation among groups of strangers. If your group cooperated through trade, intermarriage, and mutual aid, everyone’s chances of survival were enhanced. My point is that none of us should give ourselves a pass and say our fear of the “other” is natural, normal, or somehow baked into our DNA. It’s a learned phenomenon we can challenge and transform.
When you step back from the human-made story of race, you realize how ridiculous it is that we differentiate ourselves based on theleast important aspects of who we are. The color of our skin, the texture or color of our hair, the size and shape of our nose, or the color of our eyes—they have absolutely nothing to do with our amazing human potential. Our intelligence, morality, compassion, abilities, and wisdom are not in any way linked to our appearance, yet we are sorted and judged, included or excluded, and allowed or not allowed based on this false idea of “race.” The institutions of American society were founded on the false assumption
