Racism is necessary

Working with refugees, victims of gender based violence in war, liberated child soldiers and people wrongly put in the criminal justice system has humbled me to how we all struggle with being humans. At our best motivated by love, as in love for other living beings and the earth. At our worst controlled by two main motivating drivers of our behavior: greed and fear. In many cases the last.

Beyond the 6 deadliest conflicts of the 21st century that have been raging many years below the consciousness radar of the western world (see footnote) We currently seem to have a possible world war kindling between the borders of the Nato-alliance for world domination and Russias. Plus the 80-year old conflict created by European meddling in the middle east, fuelled by politics of genocide, denying genocide, supported by a large nation built on genocide.

Racism is self defense

It seems to me that racism in any form is a collective self-defense. You need to keep looking down on the people that your grandparents have abused or you will just simply have to face the fact that if you are privileged, it is most probably an involuntary inherited result of abuse a few generations back.

You could say that racism is society's gaslighting of its victims and indoctrination of it's children.

You need to raise your kids to believe it, or they will start asking questions, like ”why are we here in the (US or South Africa, or Australia or...)?” And, you will need to create an illusion of being a ”patriot” as something good that stands up for ”your” country.

In the US (I love the US and many people in it) white men from Europe created the world's most powerful nation by genociding both the Buffalos and the First Nationals - then bringing in free labor in the form of Slaves. The only way to keep the illusion that this is ”America” and it is ”great” is to keep descendants of slaves and First Nation peoples and their cultures at a disadvantage. Anything else is admitting crimes against humanity as the foundation of the nation.

In the same way, every country that needs “nationalism” to defend themselves with the use of dehumanizing certain groups like “refugees” or “beggars” or “immigrants” will need some form of racism. You cannot hurt a fellow human without first dehumanizing them below yourself. It’s just human logic. How we are wired.

Misogyny is built on the same premises: if we stop misogyny, we will be forced to give up lower salaries for half the population, which will affect businesses badly. Also we will have to enforce equality and make sure justice is served for systemic violence and abuse that are all part of the economic system. We cannot defend raping the earth of it’s resources unless we agree that some form of rape is useful to us, which creates an acceptance of rape as a concept as brilliantly described by Judith Herman in her book Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror Paperback (1997).

In other words, if you take away racism, there is a much tougher discussion underneath questioning the very foundation of the richer and therefore more powerful parts of the world today. Racism is easier.

Guns are vital

If you claim guns are necessary to defend ”your” land it's because you know. That's how your grandparents stole it (no offence meant, we have the same European grandparents). You cannot take away everyone's right to guns no matter how many school shootings - then you have to take responsibility for why people need to ”defend” ”their” land and culture. Because it wasn’t theirs in the first place.

If everyone has a right to wear a gun we can create an illusion of agency, autonomy and safety at the bargain of no more than 50.000 shootings a year in the US. The reason there is a gun lobby is that there is a lot of gun money. In the first four months of 2024, American dealers and individuals sold nearly 5.5 million firearms, an average of almost 1.4 million per month (safehome.org).

Sentimentality is important

Either you can wear the genocide and slavery openly like in the US as a romantic Cowboy culture of guns, horses, pickup trucks, apple pies, beer, romance and open spaces void of buffaloes and First Nationals (I love Country music and the romanticism, not the reason for it or the effect), or deny it, erase it from history books like in former Soviet Union. Or both.

Or, you can point a finger at what you claim to be the birthright of your great great great grandparents, granted by the Lord himself as witnessed in holy scriptures noted by men presumably without any interest of their own.

Professor John Mearsheimer from the Department of Political Science in Chicago and author of The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities states that ”Nationalism wins over liberalism and democracy every time!” and it doesn’t matter if the ”nation” unites around totalitarianism, democracy or a religious belief. It’s how we are wired.

Focus on the smoke!

It would seem to be a very bad idea to take a step back and question genocide, colonialism, slavery and appropriation of natural resources. It will slow down the child labour it creates in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, DR Congo and China, and we would all have to put our smartphones down ( I love my smartphone) as we are forced to start sustainable and humane mining for the precious metals needed in Congo. A smartphone can be manufactured conflict-free, it's just not the same manufacturers as the leading brands.

It would seriously damage the complex foundation of global economic expansion by not selling tons of arms to conflicts and then loaning money to rebuild nations our wars destroy, ensuring centuries of welfare for the owners of these institutions.

There is no easy way out. How long is the prescribing time of genocide and slavery? Ask Europe, it was built on the same premises. These things cannot rewind. The road forward needs to be accepted to be explored and then carefully walked side by side, by every child born into a situation created by their ancestors. I am born into privilege, I know this. I have no simple solution, because, maybe there isn’t.

Meanwhile, let's continue to focus on the smoke: the conflicts of ideologies and religious belief systems or racial heritage, the thousands of dead and injured children, the refugees, the inhumane actions, the possibility of nuclear war, and if there is, or isn’t, a climate crisis.

Do not start a general dialogue questioning the culture of genocide, colonialism, rape of the earth and slavery in the various ongoing forms that all welfare and riches of the modern world and the 1% is built upon. Godspeed.

Footnote:

Some of the deadliest conflicts in the 21st Century - how many did you know?

1. Herero and Namaqua Genocide (1904–1908): 65,000 to 100,000 peopleGerman colonial forces in present-day Namibia systematically exterminated the Herero and Namaqua people, one of the first genocides of the 20th century.

2. Armenian Genocide (1915–1916): 664,000 to 1.2 million peopleOttoman authorities carried out mass killings, deportations, and starvation of Armenians in what is widely recognized as one of the first modern genocides.

3. Nanking Massacre (1937–1938): 200,000 to 300,000 peopleDuring the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese forces brutally killed civilians and prisoners of war in Nanjing, China, including mass executions and widespread sexual violence.

4. Holocaust (1941–1945): 6 million JewsThe systematic genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II, with two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population murdered, including 1.5 million children.

5. Indonesian Mass Killings (1965–1966): 500,000 to 1 million peopleIn the aftermath of an attempted coup, the Indonesian government led a brutal anti-communist purge, targeting suspected communists and ethnic Chinese.

6. Bangladesh Genocide (1971): 300,000 to 3 million peopleDuring Bangladesh’s war of independence from Pakistan, mass killings and rapes were committed by Pakistani military forces, leading to one of the worst genocides in the 20th century.

7. Cambodian Genocide (1975–1979): 1.5 to 2 million peopleThe Khmer Rouge regime, under the leadership of Pol Pot, sought to transform Cambodia into an agrarian society, killing nearly 25% of the population through executions, forced labor, and starvation.

8. East Timor Genocide (1975–1999): 100,000 to 200,000 peopleFollowing Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor, hundreds of thousands were killed through violence, starvation, and disease in a conflict that lasted for decades.

9. Guatemalan Genocide (1981–1983): Around 200,000 peopleIndigenous Mayans were systematically targeted by the Guatemalan military in a brutal counter-insurgency campaign during the country’s civil war.

10. Bosnian Genocide (1992–1995): 100,000 peopleEthnic Bosniak Muslims were targeted by Bosnian Serb forces during the Bosnian War, with the Srebrenica massacre marking one of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II.

11. Rwandan Genocide (1994): Nearly 1 million peopleOver the course of 100 days, Hutu extremists slaughtered nearly one million Tutsi and moderate Hutus in one of the most horrific modern genocides, as the world largely stood by.

12. Second Congo War (1998–2003): 3 million peopleA multi-nation conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known as “Africa’s World War,” resulted in mass civilian deaths, displacement, and atrocities.

13. Darfur Genocide (2003–2005): Around 200,000 people (and 300,000 in the ongoing conflict)Sudanese government forces and allied militias carried out mass killings, rapes, and displacement of ethnic Darfurians, leading to an ongoing humanitarian crisis.

14. Iraq War (2003–2011): Over 1 million peopleFollowing the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, years of sectarian violence, insurgencies, and counterinsurgencies resulted in massive civilian casualties and destabilization.

15. Boko Haram Insurgency (2002–2016): 20,000 people killed, 2 million displacedBoko Haram, an Islamist militant group based in Nigeria, committed widespread atrocities including bombings, mass killings, and kidnappings during its insurgency.

16. Afghanistan War (2001–2021): Around 400,000 peopleThe U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan led to a protracted conflict with the Taliban and other insurgent groups, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, many of them civilians.

17. Rohingya Genocide (2016–present): Over 1 million displacedMyanmar’s military has been accused of committing genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, with mass killings, sexual violence, and the forced displacement of over a million people.

18. Syrian Civil War (2011–present): Over 600,000 peopleThe ongoing civil war in Syria has resulted in mass civilian deaths and displacement, with most casualties being civilians caught in bombings, chemical attacks, and other atrocities.

19. Native American Genocide (1492–1900): Around 12 million peopleThe colonization of the Americas led to the mass killing and displacement of Native American populations through warfare, forced relocation, and exposure to European diseases, resulting in the near destruction of indigenous societies.

Thanks to sister Jondi for prompting me to review this merry list.

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