Beautifully put I’ve been trying to relay this to other Americans as well. When I enter into a discussion about racism or BLM if I notice some of the participants aren’t American sometimes I make a point to say, “In the US.”
I’ve said it before that, I have 5 friends from 5 different European countries. Two of them are from Southern Europe and they are first generation immigrants. The other three still live in Northern Europe and occasionally visit the US. All of them also happen to have “white skin.” They always treated me as a fully complex human on first meeting. I have “white”friends in the US who I’ve known for twenty years that still can’t see my full humanity.
America has a distinct problem. Europeans have been putting in the hard work to address and self reflect. I don’t know if it is just that Europeans are more devoted to education than Americans? Maybe their standard of achieving multilingualism? I can honestly say once I started attempting to learn a few different languages my thought patterns changed. I was able to make stronger connections and associations. I could handle more abstract subject matter. Which is all incredibly important for overcoming improper theories about the myth of race.
Most importantly we need to talk about socialization. Europeans are not socialized the same way Americans are. Because no one has addressed that the race problem we have in the US is actually due to a habit of socialization no one is able to see the problem clearly.
White people in the US are socialized to believe they are a separate race from black and brown people. Notice I didn’t say “superior” race. Because that was the socialization of the past now they have been forced to drop the “superior” because of pressure to not be seen as racists.
Yet, they continue to uphold the myth of “separate races.” They distribute this propaganda on our US census. Where they innocently ask. What is your race? Mark x. It should have been changed to:What is your ethnicity? At least 50 years ago when the myth of race was debunked in the 1950s. This was probably about the time that Europeans made a different decision. With the knowledge in hand that race theory had been debunked they steadily began to implement this new found knowledge in their educational system. Americans did not. Teaching generation after generation an old outdated debunked theory for the purpose of maintaining the social hierarchical system in the US. It’s dirty, it’s dishonest and it’s underhanded. It’s also why whenever I run into a kid in the US that was homeschooled. They seem to be terrible at navigating the racial caste system in the US. Just choosing friends based on how much they like them and not considering race as a factor. I know a scary thought to see the humanity in everyone right?
What people don’t understand is that race is not a real concept in anthropology. Europeans understand this. They have been steadily following the new advances in biology and anthropology. They then apply this to their thinking patterns. Sociology as a college requirement was dropped in the US sometime in the 70s or 80s I believe. Because all the boomers I know took sociology as a required course.
Until the fundamental animating belief system of racism is dealt with the problem will continue to fester. Race=Race-ism.
Back when the theory of different races was getting its legs in the 1800s and 1900s they were very aware that to ascribe to the theory of different races existing was race-ism.
It has morphed into all these ridiculous definitions to confuse and distract.
If the ruling establishment in America was serious about removing race-ism. Then they would have already changed the question on that US census thirty some odd years ago. They would have actively implemented education that supports current anthropology and science. The ruling establishment does not want to get rid of race-ism.
They want to continue it for the purpose of capitalism. Capitalism must have an exploited class. It’s how it works. You can’t order a giant McDonald’s order from your big house in suburbia on Uber eats without people to exploit to make your hamburger. If there has to be an exploited class do you think they are going to choose the people who look just like them to exploit?
Look Europe isn’t perfect. There are still pockets of ethnocentrism. But not the majority. This is the difference. It is not the status quo there to be blissfully uneducated about race and ethnicity. Here in America it is. Because to educate yourself about sociology and race simultaneously is to destroy the United States caste system. I hope to eventually move to London. America is at this point a failed democracy. Liberty and justice for all. It is a laughing stock on the world stage.
