I am not naïve as I know racist attitudes exist, but I don’t believe racism has any basis in fact or reality. The bottom line is racism shouldn’t exist.
Allow me to explain…
My short answer is that the fact is that all people are really black, regardless of skin color, hair type or eye color. This is true for any member of the KKK, Vladimir Putin, The Queen Mother, our distant Ethiopian relatives and I.
On the surface this statement seems completely ludicrous. I would even have to agree with such an assessment if you were to view my opinion the same way you do any person; only by what you see on the surface.
Black, Negro & the other ‘N’ Word:
Let me start with what I mean when I say we are all black. Many people use these words in many ways whether in terms of sociology, jest, anger or even hate. Regardless of the emotional state behind the usage the terms are used most commonly for identification of a select group of individuals. Terms like Black, Negro or the other ‘N’ word implies one thing – people of African Origin, i.e. African-American. I would think that most reasonable individuals would agree with this statement when you exclude any emotional context.
Under the Hood:
When we peel back our veneer, the Hair, Skin and Eye Color we all look very much same. Some are short and tall, fat or skinny and have a variety of builds that would boggle any mind, yet we are all basically the same.
The more you reduce us to our tiniest parts the more similar we become. All the way down to our DNA.
DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, a complex collection of four chemicals arranged in billions of lines of coded instructions is what make us and define us as a species. The arrangements of Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Thymine are the bricks that make up our DNA and define us as Homo Sapiens.
It is these very building blocks that make us who we are and define how we look, including our skin color, eye color and what color our hair is and how it looks as well. In fact, it even defines some of how we behave and think.
Mitochondrial DNA is a unique subset of our DNA that converts our food into energy and has a very unique property in that it is only passed to the offspring by the mother and it almost never mutates or changes like the rest of our DNA.
Mitochondrial Eve:
This is not the same Eve as the one in the bible; this is essentially the only Homo Sapiens female that had a particular mutation in her mitochondrial DNA that survived to pass on to everyone of us as a species.
The reason hers survived above all others is thought to be due to the geologic evidence which shows an environment that almost resulted in the extinction of our ancestors in which it is believed that only a few hundred humans survived worldwide in a single isolated pocket.
Because Mitochondrial DNA mutates so infrequently and is always passed by the mother it was possible for scientist to sample the DNA of thousands of humans that were of different ethnic origins and trace back the few mutations that have occurred back to the original humans and where they originated from.
That is Africa, in the region now known as Ethiopia.
We Are All Black:
Science has shown, beyond a shadow of doubt, that it is a fact that every single human alive today can trace their ancestry back to a single tribe of black skinned and curly haired Africans from what is today called Ethiopia. So one can conclude from the evidence of DNA and peer reviewed science that has been duplicated by multiple research teams that we are in fact all Africans.
Why do we look so different?
That is really simple. The answer can once again be found in DNA, Natural Selection and habitat. Humans, like our predecessors, had a hard wired instinct to migrate in order to survive and expand the range of resources required to survive and breed.
Eventually our African ancestors ventured into colder latitudes that had shorter days and far less intense sunlight than was to be found in equatorial Africa. The melanin in the dark skin of our ancestors started to manifest as a weakness in that environment from what was a strength in their place of origin.
Melanin and dark hair block some of the rays of sunlight that our bodies required to manufacture usable Vitamin D which would have compromised their fitness to thrive. As a result minor genetic mutations that allowed for lighter skin started to offer an advantage that made those individuals healthier and more able to successfully reproduce eventually resulting in the different “races”.
Our more recent ancestors were now starting to express some new DNA code as a result of random mutations offering a unique advantage for survival.
What is Racism?
Here is the rub. Ironically “racism” is the result of a genetic trait. However it is not actually racism itself that is a trait. In fact it is a byproduct of another trait that offers an advantage for survival and reproduction of the individual. The trait is the instinctual need to be part of a group, tribe or community.
All groups and tribes evolve rules and customs as well as acceptable behavior that are requirements for membership in the group. Violation of these rules results in exclusion from the group which lowers an individual’s chance of survival and finding a mate.
Some other traits of group behavior include:
1. Being afraid of, untrusting of or hostile towards other groups.
2. Having Group Identity
a. Similar style of dress
b. Common Jewelry and body decoration
i. Tattoos
ii. Scarring
iii. Piercings
c. Similar looks
i. Skin Color
ii. Hair Color
iii. Eye Color
d. Similar set of beliefs or religion
e. Common sets of rituals and traditions
People have a very basic instinct and need to be part of a common group, often to the point they aren’t even aware of it.
You can see it everywhere you go; In the Malls, the schools, your place of work and neighborhoods. Just look around you at lunch time or at the coffee machine or anywhere. When you see people grouped together when they are relaxed and not working you will see they tend to drift to people that have something in common, whether it is dress, skin color or religious or political beliefs they will naturally be drawn to one another.
Now some of the mutations I have mentioned are starting to get diluted since our limitations of geography no longer apply in the modern day and age. The genes will still exist, but many of them are now combining as black marries white or Indian marries American Indian and Eskimo marries Russian. The results are yet to be seen but we are changing still as a species.
In reality Racism shouldn’t exist. We are all Africans with different wrappings, beliefs and traditions. The attitudes exist still but we are now an evolved enough species to have the self awareness of these primitive traits.
Hopefully the geneses that result in these attitudes are starting to get watered down so that we are now no longer hyphenated Africans and can just be humans. Racism is the result of behavior that is based on a combination of basic instinct and ignorance. The reason I don’t believe in racism is because we are all humans; racism is illogical.
By Prescott Small