There is a lot of talk, just talk, about racism in the US media this week after Barach Obama defended his religious friend and advisor, Jeremiah Wright.
Prejudice and bigotry based on race, ethnicity and religion imply ignorance on the part of the prejudiced. Prejudice and bigotry lead to mindless and routine discriminatory behavior based solely on visual criteria. Actually, bigotry based on economic class is rampant in the US and nobody wants to discuss that at all.
Discrimination is another matter. Discrimination as thought is human and intelligent. Without discrimination in each moment of our lives, we become stupid victims of naivete and stupidity. This is the tragedy of rote political correctness.
Careful observation and investigation of the realities of racial subgroups and ethnic cultural groups is called science. Sociology, behavioral psychology and anthropology are examples. To walk into certain neighborhoods or group-specific settings, whether they are black, brown or white, would be simply idiotic for anyone who did not take time to research and understand the dynamics of those areas. Therefore, there is a need for looking at people in specific group contexts as a matter of self preservation.
Barach Obama shows the consciousness of someone who has struggled with these issues his whole life. As a gay man, I have also struggled with these issues my whole adult life. I have had no choice as an intelligent human being. I have tried to behave in a way open to individuals, despite their color or ethnic markers. Rarely, I find individuals who are capable of stepping out of their assumed markers of identity to meet me half way to mutual understanding.
Practice is hard. It is not for the stupid, the enraged or the cowardly.
