What's your Racism Quotient?

When we call out "All lives matter" do we really mean it!

We have been seeing too many posts about destroying racism. Before we can destroy it, we need to understand what racism is and what causes it. Racism is self-identity exaggeration. It stems from ‘I’ being better than ‘Others’.

And how does the ‘I’ come into being? It starts with the society you are born in to, bestowing on you a name/country of origin /religion. All of these come to you by no choice of yours. Every child born will then imbibe from their surroundings perceptions about their identity and then start thinking of themselves as either superior or inferior depending on what they hear / are told. Very few can actually break out of the siloed outlook people and practices around speak/do/bring unto them. So, unless you and I make a conscious decision to work on perceiving our own identity to be only as good/as equal as/as important as any other human being, eradicating racism will just be a whim!

However, if you observe closely our current system is not very conducive of helping anyone assume/attain ubuntu ‘because of you I am’. Because the moment we are born into the system it is all about putting you in different classes. Racism is not anymore so much about the race you belong itself. These days a combination of Money, Color and Religion lay the foundation of racism, money leading as the single major determinant of how people are ‘classified’. We do not dare to factor in that aspect into the ‘so called fight against racism’, because if we do, what does that make you and I?

Our system is far from perfect. How flawed is our system in terms of offering choices on a daily basis to classify people "Us Vs Them"?

1.     Medical care –“We give preference to whoever pays for insurance”

2.     Kids education, -“If you have money your kid gets better education,”

3.     Flight on an airline– ‘Who ever pays more, gets better treatment throughout the flight!

4.     Visit to a bank – “Whoever has more money to invest, shall be given priority access”

In order to thrive in this system, it is important for every human to differentiate in which ever way they can, so they can avail 'special treatment'.

CONCLUSION:

• Racism is not any more just about the race you belong itself. The system is so driven by money, anyone who does not have enough of it, is vulnerable.
• We are all unknowingly participating in this vicious cycle while at the same time becoming victims of this system in one way or the other
• Fixing problems related to racism not only involves changing mindsets and outlook. It also involves changing the fundamentals of the system we all belong to