Today I would like to speak a little about racism. Its out there. I would wager that you see it everyday. While your at lunch look around. Take in your surroundings observe the groups around you, are they multicultural groups? The good news is, some will be, mostly due to education. Just to make sure we all understand exactly how ignorant we can be I have listed
SOME DEFINITIONS I FOUND TO DEFINE THE WORD RACISM
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
I love this part, because it shows exactly how ignorant we as the human race can really be. Reading the definition's for racism you will see the word race many times. Actually you would have a hard time defining the word racism without using the word race. I was brought up with a racist mentality. Luckily as I grew older I was intelligent enough, educated enough, loving/loved enough, and curious enough to realize the faults in that line of thinking. I have come to realize as I hope all that read this already understands or will after reading the next few sentence's. There is only one race the human race. Ounce again I turn to the simplest of tools to better understand our situation "EDUCATION" below are the definitions for the word race, and to prove my point listed below each un-doctered definition from the dictionary, I will try and guide you through or reinforce the belief in ONE RACE THE HUMAN RACE.
RACE
1. a group of persons related by common descent or heredity.
"A FRENCHMEN BORN IN SOUTH AFRICA IS FRENCH, AFRICAN, OR HUMAN?"
2. a population so related.
"IS THE POPULATION IN MIAMI A DIFFERENT RACE THAN THE POPULATION IN NEW JERSEY?"
3. Anthropology.
a. any of the traditional divisions of humankind, the commonest being the Caucasian, Mongoloid, and Negro, characterized by supposedly distinctive and universal physical characteristics: no longer in technical use.
"A DEFINITION SO IGNORANT IT IS NO LONGER IN TECHNICAL USE AS PHRASED ABOVE"
b. an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, esp. formerly, based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups.
"PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS; SO IF I AM TALLER THAN YOU I AM ALSO A DIFFERENT RACE?"
"BLOOD GROUPS; O+ & A+ PEOPLE ARE TWO DIFFERENT RACES?"
c. a human population partially isolated reproductively from other populations, whose members share a greater degree of physical and genetic similarity with one another than with other humans.
"TAKE FLORIDA AND TEXAS FOR EXAMPLE THEY ARE PARTIALLY ISOLATED FROM EACH OTHER BY THE GULF OF MEXICO, AND FLORIDA HAS A MUCH HIGHER POPULATION OF OLDER HUMANS THAN TEXAS ARE THEY DIFFERENT RACES?"
4.a group of tribes or peoples forming an ethnic stock: the Slavic race.
"DOES THAT MEAN THERE IS A AMERICAN RACE, AND A CANADIAN RACE?"
5. any people united by common history, language, cultural traits, etc.: the Dutch race.
"OUNCE AGAIN DOES THAT MEAN THERE IS A AMERICAN RACE, AND A CANADIAN RACE?"
6. the human race or family; humankind: Nuclear weapons pose a threat to the race.
The answer to the questions above are in the last listed definition. There is only one human race. Racism is an ideal born from our ignorance we have all been guilty of, and we should all do our best to let it go. So I challenge you to challenge yourself and your neighbors to make this a better world worthy of the future of our race!
