Racism

When I was a kid I would wonder if I could have been a racist if I lived in the southern US in the time of slaves, or in Germany in the time of Nazis or in Africa in the time of Apartheid. I now know without a doubt that the answer would be yes in at least one of those situations.

The purpose of this blog has been twofold, to share funny stories and updates, but also to open up my mind to you and be totally honest about the different feelings and thoughts that I have along my journey.

Not only could I have been a racist in those times, but even now I catch myself thinking racist thoughts and it's only when I stop, accept that I feel them and then dissect them do I see why it is so easy for so many people to be racist.

First and foremost, WE ARE DIFFERENT. Like Alcoholics Anonymous, the first step is admitting the truth that sits right in front of all of us. We are genetically different, but there is more genetic variation within races than between races so that's not important. The cause is cultural, and when you can tell 99.9% of the time what culture someone belongs to by their appearance (black, rich etc.) it's a recipe for judgment.



It exists here daily, but I would say it's not horrible and it's not unfounded. Most petty crime here is committed by black people, most (if not all) beggars are black, most white tourists are uncomfortable in crowds of black people speaking another language and when you're uncomfortable and you see another white and know they're probably uncomfortable and frustrated by all the same things as you and you know they're not going to pick your pocket, you open up to them and trust them, initially because they're white. Most people (black, white, Indian) distrust blacks first as a rule and make them earn their trust and most trust whites at first. (I can bring a backpack into a grocery store, can walk out without showing a receipt or letting them check my backpack, but I think this is also true for well dressed black Zambians).

Culture and race are very connected and we are from very different cultures and you can usually tell what culture someone is by their race (here). Culture affects us so deeply that it can even manifest itself in us physically. Examples:

-Some Zambians sleep with the light on in their bedroom throughout the night, that is physically uncomfortable for me and would cause me to lose sleep
-When driving, Zambians blind you with their headlights on bright and then dim them after they pass
-On buses Zambians listen to music so loud it distorts the sound quality
-I can be standing beside a Zambian and I'll be wearing a t-shirt and they're wearing a jacket and they are uncomfortably cold while I'm fine. I've been asked if I am able to feel coldness and of course I can. I am from Canada but my ancestors haven't been there long enough to adapt to extra coldness so what is it? I feel cold, but I'm used to being cold, my house in the winter is as cold as the coldest days here and as a result, I think that this feeling (being a bit cold) is a normal feeling.

One of the biggest things I've learned here is the depth of the effect of culture on us. How we act, see things, react and even FEEL both physically and mentally are products of how we grew up.

The cause of developing racist thoughts is mental isolation and the key to concreting them is continued mental isolation. When I say mental isolation, I don't mean you're by yourself, I mean you are surrounded by people of the same way of thinking.

The stages of development of racist thoughts are: Annoyance, confusion, frustration and then the explanation (racist idea). I am sitting on the bus and the music is so loud its uncomfortable for me. I stop and ponder why no one asks to turn it down, they would if it bothered all the passengers so then it must not bother them, but how can it not bother them? Now I'm distracted by how ridiculous it is that the music has to be so loud that it distorts the sound. We could all easily hear everything clearly at half the volume, so why subject us all to this suffering without cause? But it's not "us all" it's me. "These Zambians don't understand what's going on around them, these idiots, they didn't invent buses or speakers, they just got this from our western culture and don't understand how to use them properly. Arg! Why are they so dumb?!"




The racist thought has been created and the next step is crucial. Is it cemented or destroyed. I could get off the bus and go see my other western friends and complain about how dumb Zambians are with their music and they would understand and tell their own stories of frustrations. Cemented. Or I could start talking with the Zambian beside me, or my Zambian friend when I get off the bus and complain about the music and they'd say "Yeah it's those stupid bus drivers, they always put the music too loud and people don't complain enough. It is too loud sometimes" or "But sometimes when it's a good song it's nice to have it loud so you can really feel it" which is true, I just have a different taste in music.


This transcends race and goes to ages, sexes and political beliefs. People don't understand why another group and the only way they can explain it is by making it a trait of that group and this segregation of groups is the most common and worst evil in our world. "Conservatives want Muslim women to uncover their faces for voting because they're racist", "vegetarians care about animals because they don't understand nature", the Separatists, Feminists, Red necks, Gays, Socialists, blah blah blah.