PR PROFILING ?
JOSEPH HOLBROOK
Racism and Bigotry evidently lie somewhere deep in the psyche of mankind in general. Our lengthy history may even be the evidence for a genetic link, (or something of the sort) Slavery was built into the very Constitution of this country and people of the time considered some humans inferior to others as a matter of course. At the time, it seemed right to them. Racism dates to the beginning of written history.
Only time will tell if racism and bigotry can be legislated away. I believe that given enough time, laws and legislation (Governmental parenting if you will) can certainly make some difference. However, the learning experience will always take longer when the social body is as large as "The world".....and always changing.
The problem lies in the very nature of "difference". Those who are born different, or choose to be different, by their very nature partake in natural selection. Simply speaking, we are built to be "aware" of differences as part of our natural defense system. It is has always been a byproduct, or better said, a requirement of survival and evolution.
Drawing an analogy to another part of the animal kingdom: A zebra sees a lion kill a zebra; if he is to survive, he becomes aware that anything that looks and smells like a lion.....kills zebras. His awareness is necessary and hence all lions are suspect. Pretty simple.
The same is true for mankind; but on top of that, there are the complexities of human imagination, desires (which can be irrational) and so on. It is our nature to be ever vigilant to protect ourselves, our family and our social structure. Anything that is different enough to interfere with what we believe to be our "structure" and our "safety" is our enemy. Though tolerance, within reason, is an attitude that can be cultured, we continue to search out those that may be our enemy tomorrow....if not today.
There are those who choose only to react "against", not "for" anything positive. There are those who choose to be victims and destroy the structure around them by sucking it dry. There are those who seem to live in order to destroy. The question is whether those that are "different" (in these ways) can be identified by their appearance. And IF there are enough in that group that seem to fit the description, they will be discriminated against (on the whole) as being "The enemy".
The fact is, as civilized and intelligent human beings.....we know we shouldn't generally determine enemies by race, color or creed alone; but, when there are a significant number who appear the same and share the same negative factors....they WILL be discriminated against as a whole. And though it's the very basis of intolerance, and though it falls so far short of how we could be as humans.......I believe it's unavoidable. I don't think it can be totally legislated. Zebras and Lions. (Joseph Holbrook ©2005 )
Only time will tell if racism and bigotry can be legislated away. I believe that given enough time, laws and legislation (Governmental parenting if you will) can certainly make some difference. However, the learning experience will always take longer when the social body is as large as "The world".....and always changing.
The problem lies in the very nature of "difference". Those who are born different, or choose to be different, by their very nature partake in natural selection. Simply speaking, we are built to be "aware" of differences as part of our natural defense system. It is has always been a byproduct, or better said, a requirement of survival and evolution.
Drawing an analogy to another part of the animal kingdom: A zebra sees a lion kill a zebra; if he is to survive, he becomes aware that anything that looks and smells like a lion.....kills zebras. His awareness is necessary and hence all lions are suspect. Pretty simple.
The same is true for mankind; but on top of that, there are the complexities of human imagination, desires (which can be irrational) and so on. It is our nature to be ever vigilant to protect ourselves, our family and our social structure. Anything that is different enough to interfere with what we believe to be our "structure" and our "safety" is our enemy. Though tolerance, within reason, is an attitude that can be cultured, we continue to search out those that may be our enemy tomorrow....if not today.
There are those who choose only to react "against", not "for" anything positive. There are those who choose to be victims and destroy the structure around them by sucking it dry. There are those who seem to live in order to destroy. The question is whether those that are "different" (in these ways) can be identified by their appearance. And IF there are enough in that group that seem to fit the description, they will be discriminated against (on the whole) as being "The enemy".
The fact is, as civilized and intelligent human beings.....we know we shouldn't generally determine enemies by race, color or creed alone; but, when there are a significant number who appear the same and share the same negative factors....they WILL be discriminated against as a whole. And though it's the very basis of intolerance, and though it falls so far short of how we could be as humans.......I believe it's unavoidable. I don't think it can be totally legislated. Zebras and Lions. (Joseph Holbrook ©2005 )
