(03-12-2019, 08:49 AM)Bill the Piper Wrote:(03-11-2019, 01:36 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Racism can be a temptation, because people may not routinely associate with folks they are not used to being with. We need to rise above that. We need to be willing to experience how other people experience life, put ourselves in others' shoes, and not be racist or hate or discriminate against any people who are different in any way from us, as long as they are not harming others. I am not like anyone else, and I can't expect them to be like me.
Above all, racism is shallow since it notices "zoological" characteristics but overlooks intelligence and personality, two things that make us human. That's why I'm worried about the very notion of identity rooted in inherited biological characteristics. A Black American and Black Ugandan have few things in common save the colour of their skin. An educated Black American has much more in common with his White university friends than with the Ugandan. My relationships with people and ideas I believe in are way more important than the colour of my skin and shape of my school.
Perhaps the most radical solution would be morphological freedom. Spend some time as a White-looking person, then as a Black, or cat-eared mutant. Experience these perspectives in the most direct way.
-- some dude actually did that in the 1950s during the Civil Rights Era. Darkened his skin, permed his hair, & went down South. Then wrote a book about his experiences. May have even been made into a movie. Found a link:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cult...-74543463/
my 2 yr old Niece/yr old Nephew 2020