Zero uncomfortableness here. I'm suggesting that a lot of people go out of their way to create racial tension where there was none.
It's true that people are not born racist. But it's also true that part of the human race's ability to survive has depended on our ability to categorize things. Imagine 1000 years ago, 2 humans that have never seen an animal larger than a squirrel. They end up getting in a scuffle with a wolf. Both survive but barely. One month later the same two humans, on seperate occasions, cross paths with a bear. One human see's that the bear is clearly not a wolf so he engages it and dies. When the other human saw the bear they recognized the bear has big claws, big teeth, and an aggressive disposition and chose to avoid the bear based off his past experiences and his ability to categorize things as dangerous. What gene lives on?
It goes against human nature to not categorize people, so it takes a lot of conscious effort and knowledge to not make judgements based off people's skin, religion, hair, clothes, etc.
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So you're correct when you say people aren't born racist. But people are indeed born with the cards stacked against them when it comes time to not categorize a person you just met based off your life experiences.
If you think you're above this little sliver of human nature, consider this: I voted for Trump. Now, has your opinion of me changed in that last sentance? Could it be that every person on earth who voted for Trump is a mirror image of what you believe a "Trump supporter" to be? Or could there be at least one exception? Because if there could, then you were wrong to categorize me. And you know what that makes you?????....... human.
When I was working down under, I had a colleague from Japan, and her name was Asuka. But the chef of the restaurant found that name too complicated and just called her Ash.
It's true that people are not born racist. But it's also true that part of the human race's ability to survive has depended on our ability to categorize things. Imagine 1000 years ago, 2 humans that have never seen an animal larger than a squirrel. They end up getting in a scuffle with a wolf. Both survive but barely. One month later the same two humans, on seperate occasions, cross paths with a bear. One human see's that the bear is clearly not a wolf so he engages it and dies. When the other human saw the bear they recognized the bear has big claws, big teeth, and an aggressive disposition and chose to avoid the bear based off his past experiences and his ability to categorize things as dangerous. What gene lives on?
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So you're correct when you say people aren't born racist. But people are indeed born with the cards stacked against them when it comes time to not categorize a person you just met based off your life experiences.