https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/22/business/siemens-ceo-joe-kaeser-trump/index.html
America Is Racist!
When Americans talked about issues of race back in the Sixties, they often excused their racism by arguing that they were not racialist, which is to say: believers that race really does set us apart. But, racialist beliefs are impossible to prove, and as long as there are men like Thurgood Marshall and Barack Obama in this world, they will continue to be. Very few would subscribe to being racialists, now or then.
But to be a “racist” is different. It is to practice racism, which is to use race as a basis for decision making and agenda setting; whether personal, social, or governmental. Often, racism is either flatly illegal, or is used as a justification for criminality. Racialism excludes, but racism segregates. Racialism is a personal decision. Racism is political. Racialism serves no practical purpose. Racism, in the hands of a demagogue, can control the fates of nations and the lives of millions.
We elected an African American President because we are not racialist. We rendered him powerless because we are racist. Why then, do we as Americans want race to be the central issue of our public life (Unless you are non-white)?
What does this all boil down to? We aren’t racial, and we’re sick to death of racism. We’ve had it with politicians and their fabrications about race, and racism. In short: we aren’t racist, but they are – these politicians who use racism to get power and money, but don’t have a moral or ethical bone in their bodies. The don’t care about race. They use race when they can work it to their advantage. They don’t care about women’s rights (yes, even if they are women), or health. They have proven that.
Governments are contractual agreements. We have certain rights and responsibilities, so does our elected government. If we fail in our responsibilities, we are punished. If they fail, they fire their press agent and try again – with a slightly different spin. Or retire to the U.S. Virgin Islands on a private island. And, if they got caught with both hands in the cookie jar, they find a friendly judge, of course from a “good” family, and they skate.
We have learned one thing over the last four years – where we stand.
Racialism and racism. An interesting comparison. As I appreciate it, racialism is an attempt to justify racism by making the case that scientifically or genetically, people of different skin tones and cultures are of a different race other than the human race or homo sapiens, or within the human race. In essence the terms are synonymous.
“Non-white” people don’t want race to be the central issue of our public life. THAT is actually a racist statement/belief. “Non-white” people don’t choose for race to be a central issue in our lives, white people actually FORCE that on us. If white people treat “non-white” people like they treat each other or like they want to be treated themselves, there would be no reason to even consider “race”. Do “non-white” people ask to be treated differently? If YOU were treated differently than others, would that be an issue for YOU?
This has been one of the biggest frustrations of my life. As someone who was brought up by parents who didn’t teach us to be prejudiced, and my having adopted beliefs based on faith and fact that mankind is but one family with a myriad of colors and shapes, why race is still a factor in our lives, with evermore terrible instances where it hurts and kills people, is a dreadful disappointment.
Science shows us that we all have 99.9% the same DNA. That means we’re all at the very least 50th cousins, most of us much closer relatives than that. Religions all teach that the human race was created by one God who “made of one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth.” How can a country that has so many claiming it to be a “Christian nation” have treated so many groups of people so hideously during our checkered past, with the latest outrage the situation at the border?
BTW, it hasn’t always been this way. In the past, people got along and interacted and traded with each other. Europeans considered Africans as different, not inferior. This bigotry all really started about 500 years ago when Europeans had to justify their enslavement of Africans by using a propaganda campaign to convince everyone that black people were inferior and, therefore, subject to being used like animals. But this was a long time ago now. It’s time we got over it. It’s time to recognize that when the astronauts took a picture of our planet, it was just one thing. None of those lines delineating national boundaries show from space. When will humankind learn? As I said, it’s endlessly frustrating to me.
The primary basis for racism is ignorance. Ignorance in turn, often influences humans to do evil things. Therefore, ignorance and evil are often intertwined.