This may seem like a ridiculous claim. But hear me out.
We all know that any argument used to try and label one race as better than another is completely illogical. There is never any real rational basis for it, only wild, not-very-thought-out claims that contradict each other and generally don't make sense.
Which makes me think: is anyone actually stupid enough to believe in racial inequality? I don't think so. With the exception of someone who was genuinely mentally handicapped, no adult human would be able to look at the facts and interpret them so wildly from reality.
To that extent, I don't think racism is ever fuelled by a genuine belief that people of another ethnic background are inferior.
It is only ever fuelled by something I've touched on a number of times, and summed up in my "Don't Blame Religion" blog: "the desire to belong to an 'us' at the expense of a 'them'." Also consider the pedestal analogy in my "Porn Wikileaks/Stop Obsessing Over Celebrity Scandals" post.
There are many people in life who can only feel good about themselves if they feel "better" than certain other people, whether it's one person or a demographic group. And so they convince themselves that a certain group of people is inferior to them and can be looked down upon. It's also an easy means for a scapegoat; if you can siphon the blame for everything that goes wrong in your life onto blacks, Jews or Arabs, it avoids frustrating things like "self analysis" and "proactivity".
Those with a different skin colour or cultural background are an obvious choice- just because they're obviously different. In the eyes of those who need an inferior group of people, this marks them out, and allows them to be isolated, oppressed, and discriminated against. The vague logical justification comes later.
This doesn't make prejudice any more acceptable, not by a long shot. It's just interesting. Also, if we highlight the root cause of prejudice, we can work more effectively towards fighting against it.
We all know that any argument used to try and label one race as better than another is completely illogical. There is never any real rational basis for it, only wild, not-very-thought-out claims that contradict each other and generally don't make sense.
Which makes me think: is anyone actually stupid enough to believe in racial inequality? I don't think so. With the exception of someone who was genuinely mentally handicapped, no adult human would be able to look at the facts and interpret them so wildly from reality.
To that extent, I don't think racism is ever fuelled by a genuine belief that people of another ethnic background are inferior.
It is only ever fuelled by something I've touched on a number of times, and summed up in my "Don't Blame Religion" blog: "the desire to belong to an 'us' at the expense of a 'them'." Also consider the pedestal analogy in my "Porn Wikileaks/Stop Obsessing Over Celebrity Scandals" post.
There are many people in life who can only feel good about themselves if they feel "better" than certain other people, whether it's one person or a demographic group. And so they convince themselves that a certain group of people is inferior to them and can be looked down upon. It's also an easy means for a scapegoat; if you can siphon the blame for everything that goes wrong in your life onto blacks, Jews or Arabs, it avoids frustrating things like "self analysis" and "proactivity".
Those with a different skin colour or cultural background are an obvious choice- just because they're obviously different. In the eyes of those who need an inferior group of people, this marks them out, and allows them to be isolated, oppressed, and discriminated against. The vague logical justification comes later.
This doesn't make prejudice any more acceptable, not by a long shot. It's just interesting. Also, if we highlight the root cause of prejudice, we can work more effectively towards fighting against it.
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