There is no question! Racism is one of the most prominent issues of our modern time. It is an issue that has seriously perplexed me and has made me shake my head more than a few times. This may sound completely naïve but I really had no experience with racism until I was about 14 years old. I was not brought up hearing any racial slurs or stereotypes about people of different colour. I am a Canadian and live in one of the most culturally diverse cities in the country. I have many friends of different ethnic backgrounds, but we are all Canadian. The question of colour had never entered my mind because it is just a fact that people originating from different countries have a different skin tone. Nor did any of my friends ever bring up this topic or make any comments that would cause me to think. My first real eye-opener was precipitated by a boy in my grade 9 class. This boy had immigrated from Jamaica and apparently had a thing for me. I was extremely shy and his forward behaviour ("Hey baby ... I want you to meet me behind the portables after school so I can do some things to you"), well ... it made me feel very uncomfortable. I honestly had nothing against him except his persistence in trying to date me. I began avoiding him as much as possible because I didn't have the nerve to tell him exactly how he made me feel. I didn't want to hurt his feelings. One day, after I had successfully avoided him for a few weeks, he surprisingly showed up at my locker, put his arms around me, looked me right in the eyes and said, "I know why you don't like me, baby! You don't like me because I'm black".
It was a shock. How could he think that? What did I do, besides avoid him, that would make him think I wouldn't like him just because of the colour of his skin? Hurting his feelings didn't seem so bad now. I told him the truth about how I was feeling and although I still never dated him, we became good friends. But this was the end of my naivety when it comes to racism. I now had to face it in all it's gruesome glory.
There is a theory that mankind, from the beginning, has always been racist. Racism is inbred in all humans and is just a fact of life. Believing in this theory means believing that we are all born racist and that it cannot be changed. Based on my life experience, I cannot give this theory any real credence. I believe that if a white child was brought up in a completely white society and then came across a person of another skin colour they may ask, "Mommy, why is their skin brown?" but that's not because they're racist. Children are inquisitive and notice all changes and differences around them. It's the same as when a child asks, "Why is it light in daytime and dark at night?" What would actually make them racist is the answer Mommy gives to that question.
People who believe in this theory claim that all ancient civilizations showed signs of racism, but the fact is the term "race" didn't become commonplace until the 1800's. Until the later part of the 1600's Europeans identified people based on religion and language, not by the colour of their skin. In 1684, Francois Bernier, a French physician and traveller, made the first reference in regards to race stating that, "Native Americans, North Africans and South Asians have few physical dissimilarities from Europeans other than skin colour." This was further expanded on in 1735 by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus who subdivided the human species into four varieties based on continent and skin colour. Then in 1779, German physiologist and anthropologist, Johann Blumenbach divided the human species into five races:
- Caucasian or white race
- Mongolian or yellow race including all East Asians and some Central Asians
- Malayan or brown race including Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders
- Ethiopian or black race including Sub-Saharan Africans
- American or red race including American Indians
He held the theory of "degenerative hypothesis" in which he believed that Caucasians came first (Adam and Eve were Caucasian) and other races came about from degeneration based on environmental factors such as the sun and poor diet. He believed if all people co-inhabited one area in Europe, they would eventually turn back to Caucasian. Blumenbach did not believe himself to be a racist, and fought against other racist views of his time, however his theories and beliefs were basically ignored and only his classification into "races" was held in high esteem.
To further debunk the theory that we are all born racist we must look back at some of the ancient civilizations and understand that "racism" is a modern term and "skin colour" was not a factor in the wars they raged against other civilizations.
In Ancient Rome & Greece their dislike of others were not viewed in racial terms, they only saw people as either "civilized" or "barbaric". The ancient Romans built a multi-ethnic empire in which there were many white slaves and interracial marriages. Although the ancient Greeks failed to build a multicultural empire, and their discriminations against others is well documented, they based their opinions on behaviour not skin colour. They even allowed the Macedonians, who they considered barbaric, to compete in the Olympian Games. The Aztecs had many other ethnic groups incorporated into their Empire and their laws on slavery were quite unique. Aztecs could become slaves themselves due to debt or criminal punishment. They could own possessions and even their own slaves. Aztec slaves could buy their freedom, or be set free after the death of their master. Native American Indian clans fought against each other causing complete annihilation for some, but this was not of racial intention. The main reason was based on the "survival of the fittist" theory whereby when resources became scarce it was required they take over another's land to survive.
So where did it all start?
For that we must go back to the beginning of colonization in Colonial times and African enslavement in the New World. When the Portuguese sailors first explored Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries they came upon empires and cities as advanced as their own. Africans were originally considered rivals of the Europeans, not inferior. However, as history dictates, the African civilizations failed at matching the technological advances of the Europeans and Europeans began to see them as "savages" and less than human. The theories created by Linnaeus and Blumenbach gave them the justification they needed to enslave the African people for cheap labour, and so it began.
And even though genetic evidence has proven these theories of racial division to be untrue, and rendered the term "race" obsolete as a biological system of classification, we still suffer today. "Racism" having been invented and taught by man, cannot seem to be unlearned. The answer to it seems so simple, if we are brought up understanding that skin colour only means we originated from a different part of the world, that we are all one race, the issue would be solved.
I doubt I will see this in my lifetime, but my sincere hope is that in generations to come, "racism" will only be a term found in history books, and something no one will fully understand. Just like our kids today can't understand a world without cell phones, computers or Facebook! But that's a whole other story ....
It was a shock. How could he think that? What did I do, besides avoid him, that would make him think I wouldn't like him just because of the colour of his skin? Hurting his feelings didn't seem so bad now. I told him the truth about how I was feeling and although I still never dated him, we became good friends. But this was the end of my naivety when it comes to racism. I now had to face it in all it's gruesome glory.
There is a theory that mankind, from the beginning, has always been racist. Racism is inbred in all humans and is just a fact of life. Believing in this theory means believing that we are all born racist and that it cannot be changed. Based on my life experience, I cannot give this theory any real credence. I believe that if a white child was brought up in a completely white society and then came across a person of another skin colour they may ask, "Mommy, why is their skin brown?" but that's not because they're racist. Children are inquisitive and notice all changes and differences around them. It's the same as when a child asks, "Why is it light in daytime and dark at night?" What would actually make them racist is the answer Mommy gives to that question.
People who believe in this theory claim that all ancient civilizations showed signs of racism, but the fact is the term "race" didn't become commonplace until the 1800's. Until the later part of the 1600's Europeans identified people based on religion and language, not by the colour of their skin. In 1684, Francois Bernier, a French physician and traveller, made the first reference in regards to race stating that, "Native Americans, North Africans and South Asians have few physical dissimilarities from Europeans other than skin colour." This was further expanded on in 1735 by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus who subdivided the human species into four varieties based on continent and skin colour. Then in 1779, German physiologist and anthropologist, Johann Blumenbach divided the human species into five races:
- Caucasian or white race
- Mongolian or yellow race including all East Asians and some Central Asians
- Malayan or brown race including Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders
- Ethiopian or black race including Sub-Saharan Africans
- American or red race including American Indians
He held the theory of "degenerative hypothesis" in which he believed that Caucasians came first (Adam and Eve were Caucasian) and other races came about from degeneration based on environmental factors such as the sun and poor diet. He believed if all people co-inhabited one area in Europe, they would eventually turn back to Caucasian. Blumenbach did not believe himself to be a racist, and fought against other racist views of his time, however his theories and beliefs were basically ignored and only his classification into "races" was held in high esteem.
To further debunk the theory that we are all born racist we must look back at some of the ancient civilizations and understand that "racism" is a modern term and "skin colour" was not a factor in the wars they raged against other civilizations.
In Ancient Rome & Greece their dislike of others were not viewed in racial terms, they only saw people as either "civilized" or "barbaric". The ancient Romans built a multi-ethnic empire in which there were many white slaves and interracial marriages. Although the ancient Greeks failed to build a multicultural empire, and their discriminations against others is well documented, they based their opinions on behaviour not skin colour. They even allowed the Macedonians, who they considered barbaric, to compete in the Olympian Games. The Aztecs had many other ethnic groups incorporated into their Empire and their laws on slavery were quite unique. Aztecs could become slaves themselves due to debt or criminal punishment. They could own possessions and even their own slaves. Aztec slaves could buy their freedom, or be set free after the death of their master. Native American Indian clans fought against each other causing complete annihilation for some, but this was not of racial intention. The main reason was based on the "survival of the fittist" theory whereby when resources became scarce it was required they take over another's land to survive.
So where did it all start?
For that we must go back to the beginning of colonization in Colonial times and African enslavement in the New World. When the Portuguese sailors first explored Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries they came upon empires and cities as advanced as their own. Africans were originally considered rivals of the Europeans, not inferior. However, as history dictates, the African civilizations failed at matching the technological advances of the Europeans and Europeans began to see them as "savages" and less than human. The theories created by Linnaeus and Blumenbach gave them the justification they needed to enslave the African people for cheap labour, and so it began.
And even though genetic evidence has proven these theories of racial division to be untrue, and rendered the term "race" obsolete as a biological system of classification, we still suffer today. "Racism" having been invented and taught by man, cannot seem to be unlearned. The answer to it seems so simple, if we are brought up understanding that skin colour only means we originated from a different part of the world, that we are all one race, the issue would be solved.
I doubt I will see this in my lifetime, but my sincere hope is that in generations to come, "racism" will only be a term found in history books, and something no one will fully understand. Just like our kids today can't understand a world without cell phones, computers or Facebook! But that's a whole other story ....