Mari Serebrov's Blog - Posts Tagged "racism-genocide"
Racism is an excuse
It is a way of stripping others of their humanity, of justifying our own depravity, of condoning our personal brutality and then blaming the victim.
It defends our greed, frees us from self-control and makes others responsible for our failings.
Racism is an attempt to silence the guilt so we can look in the mirror. It enables us to honor the memory of our ancestors who covered their own ugliness with a cloak of “civilized reasoning.”
We think of racism as skin deep. But in truth, it is so much more.
Racism seizes any feature that can be used to define “other” and create a target for the hatred and violence that live within us.
Its focus is often color. But it can also be gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, height, the length of a nose, hair texture, education or status – anything that allows us to see ourselves as “more human,” “more civilized” or “more deserving” than our neighbor.
Racism, after all, is just an excuse.
It defends our greed, frees us from self-control and makes others responsible for our failings.
Racism is an attempt to silence the guilt so we can look in the mirror. It enables us to honor the memory of our ancestors who covered their own ugliness with a cloak of “civilized reasoning.”
We think of racism as skin deep. But in truth, it is so much more.
Racism seizes any feature that can be used to define “other” and create a target for the hatred and violence that live within us.
Its focus is often color. But it can also be gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, height, the length of a nose, hair texture, education or status – anything that allows us to see ourselves as “more human,” “more civilized” or “more deserving” than our neighbor.
Racism, after all, is just an excuse.
