5 ms·
No, racism is not an inherent human feature. A claim like that needs better justification than ... none at all.
by bonaldi 6y ago
No, racism is not an inherent human feature. A claim like that needs better justification than ... none at all.
- pfisch 6y agoingroup and outgroup is an inherent feature of ALL social animals.
- 0_____0 6y agoingroup/outgroup behavior ≠ racism
- pfisch 6y agoracism is just a subgroup that is a type of ingroup/outgroup behavior.
- bonaldi 6y agoSpoken French is just a subgroup that is a type of communication behaviour, which is an inherent feature of all social animals. Doesn't mean speaking French is innate or inherent.
- yholio 6y agoNor does it mean that antisemitism, white supremacism, apartheid or nazism are anything but dialects of the same age-old social pattern.
- rv-de 6y agoalso kurds vs turks vs armenians. settlers vs natives. to some extent even stuff like car drivers vs bike riders. always two+ groups whose members identify with that group and act and feel like they are fundamentally better or more worthy than another group. it's taboo to say that - but in fact it's essential to overcome racism which seems to be the psychological root of many social issues at the moment. Why did these guys cut off those other guys' heads in Paris or in Nice? B/c they feel like they have to protect their group ideals against people deemed unworthy to live or even die in dignity. I wouldn't call this "racism" - but I firmly believe that the psychological thinking pattern is fundamentally related and entangled. Also interesting unpopular food for thought is that not just Murcans keeping African slaves is very much racist but also the reason for why one African tribe kept slaves from another African tribe and then sold them to American slave traders who shipped them to the new world.
- flyinglizard 6y agoThe argument that less advanced societies are more racist or acceptive of racism, strongly supports the claim you are dismissing.
- jussij 6y agoHumans don't seem to require much in the way of a push before racist tendencies emerge: https://exploringyourmind.com/blue-eyes-and-brown-eyes-the-jane-elliott-experiment/ https://exploringyourmind.com/blue-eyes-and-brown-eyes-the-j...
- bonaldi 6y agoSuspect there’s more going on there than the naive explanation. Repeatability breaks down quite easily: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/oct/18/racism-psychology-jane-elliott-4 https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/oct/18/racism-psych...
- dd36 6y agoRacism is a lazy mental short cut. It reminds me of Robert Cialdini’s research.
- globular-toast 6y agoWhere do you think it comes from? Elephants? Of course it's an inherent human feature.
- kazagistar 6y agoChristmas isn't an inherent human feature.
- globular-toast 6y agoNo, but marking significant events and anniversaries seems to be. Speaking English isn't inherent, but speaking is. The specific kind of racism you're thinking about probably isn't, but people preferring and trusting people more like themselves is.