The Spontaneous Order Theory of Systemic Racism

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I disagree. Color blindness is the goal. Recognizing each individual as a child of God is the goal.
 
StudentMI said:
I disagree. Color blindness is the goal. Recognizing each individual as a child of God is the goal.
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Unfortunately it’s inbuilt. We unconsciously react more favourably to people with whom we identify then those we don’t. Bring people up in a racially mixed environment when all people have the same standards of living and this will tend to erode.

I’ve walked around enough cities to know that when I am in an area where there are predominantly more people of one ethnic group then I feel out of my comfort zone. It doesn’t matter to try to rationalise it. I just feel out of place. And those living there would recognise that I am the outsider as well. And it’s a small step from avoiding certain areas to avoiding those who live there.

How do we solve it? We can’t completely. But racial integration and equality of opportunity will help
 
That’s interesting. Perhaps there’s some in-built evolutionary thing about being comfortable around people of the same background etc.

Nonetheless, I think more of an emphasis on individual identity would be a step in the right direction. While some may be hesitant to endorse individualism due to a) political connotations or b) Catholic censures of individualism, I think the concept is saveable via the idea of personalism.
 
StudentMI said:
That’s interesting. Perhaps there’s some in-built evolutionary thing about being comfortable around people of the same background etc.
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A lot of sensory information goes through the amygdala before it gets to the frontal cortex. It’s the amygdala that makes you react instantly to a perceived threat - ‘Look out, a snake!’ and you jump back before the frontal cortex deciphers the (name removed by moderator)ut and sends another message - ‘No it’s ok, it’s only a stick’.

This was needed in our evolutionary past because those that didn’t jump back immediately all the time eventually got bitten by a snake. But the amygdala is the first in line when we see someone from a different group. And generally those from outside your group were less than friendly. So you get an immediate and subconscious warning. Again, there may be no danger, but those who didn’t immediately act defensively were sometimes taken out of the gene pool.

If you don’t know anyone from the other ‘group’ or how they will react then from an evolutionary standpoint it’s a reasonable reaction. But if you do know them and realise that they friendly and cooperative, then you’ll get a different reaction. So the more racially inclusive we are, the less racist we become.
 
StudentMI said:
Color blindness is the goal
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I don’t believe in color blindness. If it’s a goal, then it’s a bad goal. I think everyone should celebrate their race and color. It’s like a pizza. One ingredient would be boring. Its the mixture of bread, cheese, meats, sauce, onions, mushrooms, olives, pineapple, etc. that makes it so good. I hate the thought of color blindness.

I’m white and proud of it. I haven’t an ounce of racism in my blood and I apologize for nothing.
 
Is it racial, or cultural? I feel quite comfortable when Mariachi music is in the air, Ballet Folklorico dancers are twirling, and Our Lady of Guadalupe is being celebrated. I identify with Mexicans because I grew up less than a hundred miles away.

I feel comfortable at a hip-hop show, enjoying the freestyling and dancing. I grew up suburban, but attuned to an urban aesthetic because of TV and wanderlust. I identify with working-class MCs and rappers who have bling to show that they’ve “arrived”.

I visited London 12 years ago, and I was excited to walk around and experience the culture, up-close and personal. I’m ethnically Irish Catholic, so perhaps I should hate England, but I was raised as an Anglophile and the trip was the opportunity of a lifetime.

So there’s my personal anecdata regarding “identification”. Identification can be many things: race, class, tribe, music, profession, orientation, religion. I think that it is naive and unjust to break down our differences or prejudices to merely racial issues. I think that real human beings think on levels other than skin color when choosing how to react and behave around other humans.
 
Anesti33 said:
I think that real human beings think on levels other than skin color when choosing how to react and behave around other humans.
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Quite right. We do think on other levels. But our immediate subconscious reactions are not part of conscious thought.
 
StudentMI said:
I don’t believe in pride beyond ones achievements. I find it weird to see people being ‘proud’ to be white, black, Mexican, Irish, Polish, etc.
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I think it’s more like saying, I am who I am, and I’m good with that.
 
Yes but nonetheless I don’t like pride being displayed in something one had no choice over.
 
And that’s more weird than pretending that the different colors don’t exist?
 
StudentMI said:
Color blindness is the goal. Recognizing each individual as a child of God is the goal.
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Every person is equal in dignity in the eyes of God, and so it ought to be in our eyes, too, if we are to love our neighbor as ourselves as God calls us to do. We ought to accept and appreciate the differences between us as much as the similarities we share. But when injustices are committed against our neighbor as a result of inherent differences, whether it be physical, ethnic, or racial, we cannot say with honesty that we love our neighbor when we stand by and ignore or deny the violence, oppression, discrimination, and inequalities that our neighbors say they experience in their lives. Being blind to differences seems laudatory, yet it can also blind us to injustices that cannot be properly addressed until we see others for who they are in their totality and how we may be unconsciously reinforcing systemic injustices through our blind indifference.

Refusing to acknowledge differences doesn’t make the problems that arise from differences go away, and it could even make the problems worse because too many don’t see any problems in need of fixing. Of course we ought not judge others for the color of their skin. If racial division and injustice are to be overcome, we must accept that differences in skin color exist and that we all have within us the capability of being prejudiced despite our sincere convictions to the contrary. From there, we can begin to see the problem for what it is and actively resist it.
 
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StudentMI said:
I think more of an emphasis on individual identity would be a step in the right direction. While some may be hesitant to endorse individualism due to a) political connotations or b) Catholic censures of individualism, I think the concept is saveable via the idea of personalism.
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How would you define “personalism”?
 

Specifically Mounier and John Paul II.

I’m also thinking of the distinction between personalism and individualism as explicated by Erik von Kuehnelt Leddihn. He wrote (from memory) that individualism was tied in with both democracy as well as a political system at odds with Catholic teaching, while personalism was a long standing traditional way of viewing the human person that was only formulated late in the game.
 
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StudentMI said:
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RuthAnne:
I’m white and proud of it.
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I don’t believe in pride beyond ones achievements. I find it weird to see people being ‘proud’ to be white, black, Mexican, Irish, Polish, etc.
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No, I think RuthAnne is right. It is entirely proper and acceptable to be proud of your heritage, whether it be Irish, German, Polish, African, or Norwegian. The question is how one manifests that pride. If it is manifested by holding ethic festivals or learning the folk dances of the land of your ancestors, there is nothing wrong with that. But if it is manifested by systematically excluding candidates of certain other races for hiring in your company, or promoting land covenants that do the same, that is racism and evil. Details matter. Pride, all by itself, is not necessarily bad.
 
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