Derogatory Harm

Real and profound issues exist with use of the word ‘racism’ not least because the word serves to perpetuate a myth. We, you and I and everyone are all of one biological genetic race, the human race, homo sapiens. Therefore, humanity cannot be divided up into groupings based upon different genetic configurations because there is only one basic genetic configuration. Hence ‘racism’ as defined in my dictionary and where it is used to establish or refer to different human races and to suggest there is a superior race, in practice a claim dependent upon of all things skin colour or maybe a cultural difference, is wrong, wholly misleading and a misnomer to say the least. By using the word' we do not arrive at the real issues of prejudice and discrimination as the term tends to be a catch-all, is non-specific and used differently in different cultural contexts. Using the word racism perpetuates a harmful, divisive and derogatory myth. 

Of course there are differences among human populations around the world, but they are based upon social, linguistic, economic, political, religious and environmental variations and contexts. There is a very good article in Encyclopaedia Britannica (Race, human) covering this subject in much greater detail than I will do here. Rather, my intention is to discourage the use of the word and zero in on some of the real reasons for prejudice, discrimination and harm done to others.

If we (humanity) are all one race, which we are, then it is not ‘racism’ experienced by so many, but some other conceptual and real discrimination. Topping my list of contemptible reasons for discriminating against others is the drive to gain or profit from some circumstance. Gain comes in many forms and has a very broad reach in societies, capitalist or others. My list then broadens to include a number of other prominent reasons for discrimination, including: ignorant opinion leading to believed myth; the unfamiliarity and misunderstanding of the ‘other’; the excessive almost hysterical need to feel secure and to protect property, oneself, ones family and friends; a phobia, group think or maybe mass hysteria developed from some belief, opinion or experience; circumstances involving denied choice, opportunity, education, housing, health, work, leading to exclusion based upon recognition of difference; choice of words in creating a false narrative about someone or some group; and the need to have a sense of power or control over others. Below, each of these reasons is discussed at greater length.

Gain ultimately is about substantive improvement. This could include any or all of increased wealth, improved advantage, betterment relative to ones past and others, creating or lobbying for the right conditions to achieve something, increased status in society, growth, increased power and control (discussed below), sometimes even respect. What gain being sought is important as a driver, but how the gain is achieved, the methods used, has more direct implications for any degree of discrimination. Historically the slave trade was a reprehensible business proposition that morphed into full blown anti-black discrimination and subjugation around which various mythologies grew. The residential school system was wholly misguided, demeaning, disruptive and represented church and state bigotry while condoning abuse perpetrated upon young children, their families and communities. Such patterns and methods associated with gain have been and continue to be repeated in different forms around the world. Outsourcing is another process or system often designed to cut labour and therefore product costs and commensurately to increase profits with very little concern for the workers. Bringing migrant workers in to do a job (often a skilled job) at low pay with substandard accommodation is another form of outsourcing. Producers and societies reap the benefits to a significant degree on the backs and minds of those migrant workers. While gain is about improvement its corollary, diminishment, is a common consequence. We are definitely a competitive species and pursuing gain is a significant occupation. Unfortunately the drive to gain occurs without much thought given to impacts on the environment and others. Indeed history shows we have a penchant for despoiling and discriminating in order to gain our goals. One horrific practice involves human trafficking with the perpetrators taking home the profits and the victims suffering. The same situation exists in the drug trade. Or consider the mess left behind by the oil and gas industry with all the abandoned wells. Gains were achieved, let society do the clean-up as we (industry) are out of here. The list of examples just goes on and on, a sad testament to much human carelessness.

Opinion can be and often is with forceful delivery a powerful persuasion. Stated opinion has purpose, otherwise why state an opinion at all. Some opinion has more influence based upon where it is stated (pulpit, lectern, in the media, online, among friends/family), who said it and under what circumstance it was stated. Effectiveness of persuading opinion will also depend upon the audience, their familiarity with the speaker and their willingness to accept or conversely reject based in part upon their own information. There are also different qualities associated with opinion. At one extreme opinion can be nothing more than empty belief while at the other extreme it is based upon rigorous analysis and reasoned argument. Unfortunately mythologies can arise from anywhere along the continuum, but they are more likely with opinion based upon untested belief. Discrimination is also more likely to occur when a low quality opinion establishes mythological belief suggesting differences without foundation. There are many examples historically, once again, where humanity has failed to be discerning enough in the acceptance of opinions stated about others. Persecution, abandonment and outright slaughter have been repeated throughout human history by dominant people upon the vulnerable. Opinion, the word, is a very strong weapon in the hands of those who have a purpose and agenda to persecute and discriminate against others. Around the world today some continue to debase others in their stupor of blind ignorance.

We cannot and indeed, do not know everything. Unless proven by irrefutable fact, our knowledge of the familiar is tempered by our relative viewpoint containing different certainties influenced by our grab-bag of memories, experiences and knowledge influenced strongly by our agendas, values, attitudes and beliefs. Knowing the familiar for certain is one thing while the unfamiliar is something else, a puzzle, an enigma, requiring quality interpretation for reliable information. Life generally is wary of the unfamiliar, a defensive reaction to protect. If we are not familiar with something then caution, at the least, is our reaction until we become more familiar with the concern and are then able to dismiss what might have been considered some degree of threat. A threat is not necessarily what is always identified. Simply our response may just be a reaction to something, some situation, some unfamiliarity, maybe some people we dislike for a variety of reasons. The reasons may not be clear in our minds, more of a gut feeling or right or wrong, common (folk) knowledge, hearsay, rumour adopted into our beliefs. The key here is learning about the concern, learning to be familiar with what we did not know to eliminate uncertainty and the concerns emanating from the unfamiliar. Unfortunately the ‘other’ can be and often is caught up in the frenzy of uncertainty and the reflex to disparage.

We all want to feel safe and to know our families, friends and possessions are secure. In many ways societies have been fashioned upon this premiss in words, laws, rulings, organization and with the systems designed to deliver including food production, health care, policing, first responders and social support within the political and economic backbone. Unfortunately our societies and their systems are not perfect. When crises occur our sense of security is put into jeopardy and to the test. Crises can be small, still quite real, or large, personal or community wide, can happen suddenly or incrementally over time. The quality of our responses immediately and over time vary with the circumstances and it seems with who is involved. Sometimes we choose to blame and disparage others to protect our reputations and beliefs, to remove a perceived threat to eliminate some or all of the problem. But, we have also learned to our dismay, sometimes locking away a problem makes it ultimately worse. A community of caring, sharing and respect is ultimately more secure. By shunning the ‘other’ we exclude and ultimately create inevitable problems, greater because of remoteness and neglect, than if we had welcomed them, shown compassion, respect and inclusion. Again there are so many examples in our history when and where we have misjudged, acted in error and continue to deal with the aftermath. If ones sense of security is dependent upon how fat the wallet is or how far removed the perceived problem, then there is no security, but rather hope or faith in the systems devised to keep the problem at bay. Before the dam breaks or the climate rages or the people speak on mass, security can only be reinstated with concerted efforts to correct.

I am sure if one scanned through a complete list of phobias at least one of them would resonate. For those who harbour a phobia it is no laughing matter as heightened fear and aversion is serious stuff, can be quite debilitating and may have consequences for others. On the other hand reading too much into the phobia phenomena impact on social norms would be reckless and incomplete. Two other related identified phenomena, group think and mass hysteria also play a part in societal thinking and in response to situations of broad consequence. For all three conditions the cause/response relationship is critical to understanding what is going on. Is it a reaction to an event? Is it age related? Is it gender related? Is it fuelled by some leaders personal agenda and messaging? Again instances of these three phenomena can be identified in historical events including: the influence of environmental disasters; social, economic and political malfunctions; and in response to charismatic leaders with messages justifying particular thinking and action. Unfortunately and inevitably people will be caught up in the process as with Japanese internment camps and with the residential school system just to name two instances of discrimination.What a boring and unmanageable world if we were all clones of one person. Thankfully we are diversified, but unfortunately our world of diversity is inequitable and that condition leads to other problems including: poverty; denied choice and opportunity; a sense of hopelessness and poor health; exclusion of people considered to be different involving prejudice and discrimination; societal underperformance; and creation of the potential for a backlash of various kinds of unrest. By denying equity we deny the potential in humanity. It really is the equivalent of shooting ourselves in the foot or worse. It certainly is not just a simple cosmetic issue.

Words, languages and communication, so central to our social and societal composition, are directly linked to the great achievements of humanity. Without created languages humanity’s achievements would be nullified. However, the road has been and continues to be a bumpy one where languages and the words and concepts behind them have been hi-jacked from time to time and used for unwarranted disparagement. Our histories are replete with examples of false narratives about individuals and groups vilified for their apparent unacceptable differences. Religious persecution, cultural slanging, gender diminishment, exclusion of difference and denial of human rights have all been perpetrated upon those who deserved so much better and really were threats to no one. So, words have been applied to individuals and groups who could not defend themselves, the vulnerable, the excluded, by those in power with control over the portrayed narrative, the rumour, the innuendo. 

The motivation for our words and actions comes from our values, attitudes, beliefs, experiences and knowledge base. It is the amalgamation of those principles and emotions which together drive motivations and determine how we go about achieving our purposes. Some follow, others try to gently influence and still others choose to grasp power and control over the agenda and those who implement it. Some lead by example and others by edict. So, we return to motivation, the why of our actions followed closely by the how and what we are prepared to do to achieve our various purposes. Are we community oriented or at the other extreme is it all about ego, achieving and maintaining control for personal gain? For some power and control over others can be an overriding motivation intended to achieve ego preferences. Achieving the purposes becomes all consuming, a socially dangerous situation when and where nothing will be allowed to stand in the way. Working broadly together and collaboratively is rejected in favour of aligning with a few like-minded individuals or entities with similar agendas and methodologies. In this scenario the ‘other’ has no place, indeed, they are an inconvenience and historically time and time again have been rejected as insignificant and a burden not worth carrying. Keep them out of sight and out of mind and if their heads do appear above the wall then mollify as long as the agenda is not disrupted.

Conclusion

I have tried to illustrate in the above passages that prejudice and discrimination arises out of a variety of different contexts. Science has confirmed humanity is of one race and by alluding to the notion of multiple races by our choice of words and actions, the myth is given legs wholly undeserved and socially damaging. By ignoring the science and perpetuating an empty belief and by creating false narratives, as a society we continue to miss opportunities otherwise available with greater inclusion and fostering of our human resources. From time to time humanity has done great self-inflicted damage, we continue to do so, but by rejecting the ‘r-m’ word a small step can be taken to correct some of the damage perpetrated upon ourselves, our communities and our integrities. I finish with this thought for you to ponder:

Walk with me,

Talk with me,

Be one with me,

And then try to tell me

We are substantially different.