Am I a Racist?

What does it take to be called a racist? Do you have to hate another race that isn't your own, or could it be something as simple as telling an 'off-color' joke? While there are many, many definitions of the term 'racist', I think it's somewhat inbred to have a preference for your own race. Now, this doesn't mean I'm a racist, in fact, far from it. I embrace all people and love them all equally. I have a background in anthropology and appreciate all cultures. Skin pigmentation is just that, pigmentation. It doesn't define a person, nor should it isolate them.

Pigmentation has a biological function. Darker coloring helps to protect the skin in hot and sunny climates, while lighter skin color came about from the cooler, more overcast climates. Freckling helps with light skin. And, as we all know, freckles are simply pigmentation. So, if we are going to hate someone because of their pigmentation, why not hate blondes, or red heads? Or better still, why not consider blondes to be less than human (by the way, I'm blonde). See how ridiculous that sounds?

If you trace back the Homo sapiens line, you'll see that we all started in Africa (at least this is the accepted origin from the existing fossil record). From there, we branched out to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, etc. This all happened millions and millions of years ago, so you can see that a lot of changes have happened during that time. Just take a look at the human population on Earth. We certainly don't look identical, do we? That's because of environmental factors, mutations, and Darwin's survival of the fittest (evolution). Even if you don't fully believe or trust in human evolution, surely you can see that while not identical, we are all 'similar' enough to be of the human race.

Now, going back to my original statement of preferring to be with your own race. This statement is purely from an anthropological point of view. When humans were evolving, survival was a tricky thing. There were wild beasts roaming and slithering around everywhere. Disease wasn't easily treated, broken bones or cuts could deform a person or fester into a life-threatening illness, causing an individual to become crippled or even die. Then, there's the precariousness of food supplies. With all of these factors working against the early humans, it would be natural to try to stay within your small band and protect what you have. That would mean avoiding others who are different and might try to take your resources. This might cause a protectiveness and a sort of bonding within similar groups. It was a means of survival, a way to keep away the marauders.

It's known that Neanderthals and modern humans lived at the same time, with the Neanderthals eventually vanishing from the planet. This is a prime example of living segregated, however, something interesting might have happened here. New research is delving into the possibility that both groups interbred at some point. This would apparently blow apart my theory of self-imposed segregation. But does it really? Could something have occurred to make these two groups interbreed? Perhaps they learned to live together, share ideas, share hunting strategies and share the company of one another. Or, maybe it was just human domination, one group forcing the other to bend to their whim. We may never know.

Humans are a strange race indeed. We are more advanced in our thought processes than other animals, yet we seem to retain our primitive idea that if someone looks different or acts differently, they cannot be one of us. With the single genesis theory (all human life originating from a central source...Africa), we are all from the same stock. While it's okay to dislike a relative or friend, to hate them simply because of their biological pigmentation just doesn't make sense, especially since we no longer live in small bands, scambling and fighting for every resource. I'll end with this thought: while dogs and cats are mortal enemies, raise them together and they don't realize they are supposed to hate one another.