Racism, Sexism and Stereotypes

Hello, dear readers! It's been a while since I've posted something, but I've been quite busy with college and my thesis and all of that. Yesterday I finished all of my courses (18.5/20 average, fuck yeah!) and now I'm "only" missing my master's thesis to finish my course, yay! 

Well anyway, today's post is about discrimination. Let's start with a widely known quote (which I heard in V for Vendetta), by Gloria Steinem, a famous feminist:

Sex and race, because they are easy, visible differences, have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups, and into the cheap labour on which this system still depends.

I don't think anyone can refute the truth spoken in these words. The white male has been a major opressor of non-white races and non-male genders for centuries. Lately, it's improved quite a lot (no more slavery, good job, society) but you listen to stories all the time on the media about race crimes and all of that. The biggest problem with today's media coverage on race crimes is that the white race is still paying for last century's slavery (I am talking mostly about America).

Let's think of the following example: a thief walks into a designated house, expecting it to be empty. He then finds that the family was in the house, kills them all, robs it, leaves. Then he gets caught. If this crime were to be done by a white thief to a white family, media will announce "brutal murder in a robbery gone wrong". Black thief to a black family, same story. Black man to white family, same story. White man to black family "brutal race crime, racist finally caught". It's somethind that really annoys me in the media. The media follow the stereotype of "white people are racist and black people aren't".

It's just the same as when little children go missing. White 6yo girls spend 6 months in the news (remember Maddie? in my country she still pops up in the news once in a while), but spanish and mexican girls aren't even "worth mentioning".

But alas, we diverge! Back to discrimination. Why racism and sexism happen. 

Like Steinem said, it's easy to distinguish someone based on race and sex (and religion, but that's another topic). Why do people use that distinction to classify people in terms of superior and inferior races, I have no clue. I guess that, in mankind's eternal desire for power and control, the majority group could classify minorities as being less powerful, just because they're outnumbered. They could classify women as inferior just because the feminine physique is tipically smaller and weaker (strength-wise) than a male one. They could think less of other races just because they look different. At the bottom of it all, I think most people are just stupid.

Anyway, discrimination leads to stereotypes, which aren't always bad, but which aren't usually good. "Asians are smart", "black people are criminals", "white people are racist", shit like that. I think that stereotypes exist for a reason, in the sense that maybe statistics show that the asian community has better academic results than the american one, or that black communities have higher crime rates that white ones. I don't know if these are true or not, but I'd like to believe that stereotypes do have a proper source. The problem is, I also think you can't judge an entire race for what a small subset of them have/do/are.

I saw an interview on the Ferguson riots, which I can't find right now, but it mentioned the same point I'm trying to stress here. The internet was riddled with jokes about Ferguson (which, I have to confess, I found hilarious, I'm sorry, but I really have a twisted sense of humour) and how black people were just showing how inferior they were compared to white people, because they trashed the town in a protest. And again, I stress my point, whether you think the black community overreacted or not with these protests (which I think they have, to be honest), you can't judge an entire race by this small group of people.

However, one must also recognize that, as critical human beings, we judge people. Based on looks, actions, etc, we judge everyone we see. When I see someone that has adhered to the "swag fashion" (jeans below your ass, multiple caps, that kind of stuff), I can't help but think "this person has some issues". Well, the guy may be actually the coolest guy on Earth, but it's the same principle as to why you dress nicely for a job interview. Your looks count. 

Let's give an example. Imagine a painting showing 3 white men hanging a black man. Is it racist? If you immediatly thought it wasn't, then you might be a racist, because the white men may be hanging him just because he is black. If you immediatly thought it was, you're distinguishing the black race from the white race, so you judge people based on their looks. If you thought that it depends on whether this black man did some crime to deserve being hanged, then you are a wise one.

Obviously, and returning to Steinem's quote for the third time, race and gender are visible, and if you have an opinion like "black people are criminals", then when you see a black person you get wary of them. I think that this kind of logic can't really change for us as a species (the kind about judging someone and reacting to our beliefs, not about believe blacks are criminals), and I think that as long as your reaction does not step into the other person's freedom, it's ok. By this, I mean that if you cross the road in fear of being robbed, then you're not disturbing anyone. If you refuse service to a customer, then you are in the wrong. 

I've been focusing a lot on the thought of "black being criminals", but the same applies the other way around. If I lived in a black community, and the few whites that lived here were drug dealers, hey, I'd be ok with moms crossing the road with their kids to avoid going near me, it's in their right. I wouldn't be ok in applying to a job and being refused on the basis that I'm white.

Nowadays, it's sad that really offensive forms of racism and sexism exist. It's sad that black people have 42 more times the chance of being checked at airports than white people. It's sad that slavery still exists in parts of the world. I can only hope that one day this changes, but I believe it never will, unless we face a radical evolutionary change.

I wanted to address sexism and feminists and all of that, but the post is already too big, so maybe another time. All the best,

David