Nice idea. Not remotely correct or practical. Race isn’t about color exclusively. But the hatred and discrimination and violence and and all manner of horrors visited upon the world isn’t all about race. Ethnicity, nationality, religion, “race” doesn’t even exist. There is no law or rule or record of authority on what races there are or who belongs to which. It’s just an informal system people use to classify those they consider “us” or as “them.” Those most different or most the same as they see themselves.
These justifications require no substantive backing or real world anchor. They simply require a petty or selfish heart. Discrimination is a complex thing. It can be simply malicious- a justification to exercise sadism or a need to feel better than another. They can be a logical fallacy where an entire group becomes a symbol of perceived problems in life or society- or is held accountable for the actions of those identified as part of that group who did you wrong.
It can be practical and human- subjugation is a way to improve the life of the subjugator- but much as propaganda in war paints the enemy as inhuman- so to most people of any conscience or idea of self goodness must believe that another suffers for a reason. It’s easier to justify doing wrong to a human being when you dehumanize them. It is also the case that where there is competition for space or resources, wealth, jobs, money or even love- reducing the number of potential competitors enhances the lives of those who can compete. If one sex could t work or own property- the other would have a much easier time at success in those fields because there is less competition right?
Forms of slavery or menial labor go hand in hand with this of course. What’s better than reduced competition for goods and services? Why- increased production at what is “no cost” to you or those you consider “yours” of course. So where self motivation is at play- people subconsciously find ways to achieve and justify the thing that suits their interests.
So even in a world where we are all the same color, we are all the same shape, the same height, the same religion- people would still discriminate based on where you are from: Certain Eastern Europeans are “white Europeans” but many other Europeans have ideas about them simply because where they are from. Many groups of similar people or those of shared ancestry get upset by “immigrants” from other countries even if they aren’t radically different in “race” or color or ancestry.
Even if we remove nationality as well- there’s still ethnicity- unique cultures- customs, clothing, cuisine, songs and stories and manners etc. so let’s get rid of ALL of it. Let’s exist in a world where every single human body is identical- where the world speaks one language and there is one story and one song and one food and one idea of religion. Safe now yes? Well... so long as we have males and females we still have some difference we can divide ourselves by. Even if we all look exactly the like- every man, woman, etc. looks like Ryan Seacrest or whoever and just has different junk- that will divide us. So we genetically engineer the human race so we are all hermaphrodites and identical in every way with a mono culture....
And let’s say that there are 0 genetic mutations or mental conditions or diseases or anything of that nature.... dating back to antiquity but even in modern times and recent history people have pierced themselves and branded themselves and tattooed themselves and colored our hair, our eyes- sharpened our teeth and underwent procedures to change our looks- breast enhancements and hair removal or transplant, gold teeth or veneers and so on. Based on time and place- those with those things- tattoos for example- have set apart. Sometimes a tattoo was a sign of honor and reserved for more elites in society. Sometimes seen as a sign of low status in society. Same for many of these other things.
So we will still have division and likely prejudice and bias and discrimination based on who does or does not have a certain hair color or “natural” features. In the future perhaps it would be those with cybernetics and those without. But ok. Let’s take all that away too and say it’s just not part of society....
Long hair, short hair, no hair. In points of history long hair on men was a way to group the “right” people from “wrong” and vice versa for women. In recent history- long hair on men or short on women was seen as a sign of rebellion or even mental issues and unsuitability for “proper” circles. “Punk” haircuts were and to an extent still are a tool that some use to set themselves apart and others discriminate against.
If we pull a DPRK and everyone must have the same haircut and all the other things we talked about are removed- you can still be fat or thin. You can be muscular or not. You can be a “weeb” or “dork” or a “biker” or a “yuppie.” But let’s get rid of all that with magic too?
We can still discriminate by name. We already do. Studies consistently show certain types of names can influence people’s opinions just by seeing them. Celebrities and brands and films and such spend huge sums of money or expend great efforts on choosing names that through various mechanisms trigger certain associations- that have a “nice sound” or are pleasing on some level. So ok. We will have one name too.
But.... what about the fact that “Ok Boomer” and “Millennials are lazy/helpless/ruining everything/etc etc.” is a thing? As humans- we can discriminate against each other simply by WHEN WE WERE BORN. The contempt of taunting a younger person who can’t use a rotary phone or whatever- the contempt of mocking a person who can’t save a pdf because they haven’t been using computers and surrounded by them since they weren’t old enough to walk. We can discriminate because you weren’t alive when a show or a technology was mainstream or because a technology didn’t exist your entire life.
Tl:dr- We can go on and on and on and try to get rid of every single variable between people and in the end- people as we exist and have existed for all recorded history will find reasons to discriminate and divide ourselves. If there were two people on earth and they were clones of the same person one would still likely feel they were “better” than the other- smarter, tougher, faster. They were “born first” or “more perfect” or whatever else even if they were identical to the molecule. That’s humanity. We will never be able to make ourselves so similar as to end discrimination and divisions- but we can better ourselves to respect and embrace differences.
This is inevitable. It is what has always happened, and it is surely happening now.
Thing is, people keep coming up with new prejudices as fast as the old ones become irrelevant.
Thing is, people keep coming up with new prejudices as fast as the old ones become irrelevant.