#29 - To Be Racist Or Not To Be Racist

We must live with the ambiguity of partial freedom, partial power, and partial knowledge. All important decisions must be made on the basis of insufficient data. Yet we are responsible for everything we do. – Sheldon Kopp

RACE

"Make it short, make it short". A voice in my head was screaming. Don’t get involved. Bin there, done that. I began writing my short response because I think anybody who starts a conversation about race should be applauded first and then criticized if need be. Race should not be a taboo, on the contrary.

In my book (to be) Peoples’ Impact, The Final Revolution, I write about race and white supremacy. If you want to build a new society, there is no way you cannot deal with these topics. Building the future demands that you know how the past has poisoned the minds of us all.

I decided that my response to Jiske’s post (here) is the new post for The Peoples’ Impact Dispatch [here]

Dear Jiske,

I read your introduction post. I appreciate it. I will put in my two pennies.

This is what I believe

• Everybody has the right to talk about slavery, white supremacy, racism, racialism, or anything else.

• I believe we need a meaningful conversation about this topic in Curacao, (Caribbean/LATAM).

• And finally, I strongly believe that nobody carries any guilt or blame from the past. (don’t blame the child for their father's sin).

• A guiltless conversation is crucial. The goal is to better understand how racism affects people – individually and collectively. And how reduce the influence of racism for future societies.

WE ALL INTERNALIZE

I think you brought up a crucial point by mentioning the concept of internalization. I like that. What I don’t like is the role of the oh-so-guilt-stricken white person. My mind always wanders off to those religious fanatics who whip their backs bloody screaming “I am a sinner. I am a sinner". Do I have to be guilt-stricken too? Men are treating women in the most horrific ways possible for too many centuries. Does that mean I have to walk around as an oh-so-guilt-stricken man? Not in my lifetime. I am only responsible for my actions; not the actions of other pathetic creatures with a dick between their legs.

I hope that in your next post, you leave that attitude behind. You are only responsible for your actions – right here and now. So if you have unwanted racist ideas popping up (if any) - internalized by white supremacy-tainted education - then make it about you. Make the scope of your story smaller because it would make things much more meaningful and interesting. At least, in my opinion.

JUST SOME POINTERS

You will start a conversation that will end up being a copy of so many other conversations in which people keep repeating the same old positions. Let me add some pointers that most people do not include in the conversation.

• There are no genetic races. This is a critical point. There are no white people. All people have skins and all people have some form of pigmentation that essentially works the same for everybody. Why? Because we are the human race.

• Race is a social construct that is intimately connected to power and who controls power in a society (group)

• 99% of Dutch people in the last centuries have not owned slaves.

• Holland as a country profited profoundly from Colonialism and Slavery.

• Most Dutch people until 1950 were poor or not wealthy

• Slaveholders/traders had pale skins

• Slaveholders/traders were males.

• Slaveholders/traders were Christians … yeah, God-fearing people.

• Many people in Group All Shades Of Brown are Christian

• Feeling superior is different than feeling hate. A man who feels superior to women, can still love a woman deeply. A man who hates women cannot

• There are many pathways to feeling inferior

• Too many (light) brown-skinned people are deeply racist

• White supremacy is a fraud because there are no races

• How many of us dare to truly confront our biased (aka bully) thinking?

Just combine things and play with it as a mind game. Why did the slaveholders/traders rip families apart, torture people, dehumanized people, forbade their music, language, and expressions but permitted the conversion to Christianity? Why? Why?

FRAUDULENT THEORY

The critical question for any society is: Is white supremacy (biased thinking) holding us back as a nation in our pursuit to create a better future? And if so, how do we overcome those obstacles?

In my opinion, the conversation about race needs to be framed relative to the future. To collaborate building better futures, we need to uncover all the ways how the poison has affected our thinking and our assumptions. How has white supremacy (biased thinking) penetrated our DNA (figuratively speaking) and how can we cleanse it?

A (decentralized) centuries-long indoctrination campaign of white supremacy has infected us all in some ways or another. The campaign is horrific but highly successful. Its purpose is to retain the power in the hands of the powerful, reduce the competitive intensity in labor markets, and retain leadership positions for the Select Few. The Race Card is played to avoid that the masses play the Class Card. Race is always about POWER and who holds that power.

The past is the past and we need to build today and tomorrow. Another critical question is: "How to build an unbiased society with biased people?" Most of us have some sort of racist/biased views. The questions all of us need to ask ourselves: Do I have racist views? Do I open myself up to others to seek the answers? Do I want to have racist views? How can I cure myself of having racist views?

(By the way, black, brown, pale-skinned people can be infected with the poisonous virus of white supremacy views! )

The cure starts simple. Can I be a racist when I do not believe in genetic races? If there are no races, how can one race be superior? If no race is superior because of non-existence why do I feel inferior? Why do I need to feel superior? Why do I need others to be inferior? What kind of future do I want for society? Why is it difficult to accept that there is only the Human race.

Life is not easy but is not too difficult either.

To be continued …. Probably

THE END