Shape Shifter

For so long, color reigned supreme as the chief discriminator between humans. White. Black. Brown. Red. Your skin color determined the hue of your soul. White was godly. Red was the shoddy assistant. Brown was the half-cultured, maladroit one. And black was where all the demons went. For so long, people spat on people for pigments no one ever chose.

Ha!

Those ideas are falling apart in our world. Yet there are still many places in the civilized world where people still think a black man "incompletely evolved".

In truth, I've come to believe there is a sincere darkness in the heart of the human, and it seeks expression in a number of different things. Hate. Jealously. Oppression. War.

That one called discrimination is a wicked shape-shifter.

Racial discrimination, in my opinion, is only one of its skins. We have no racism here in Nigeria But all the other skins of discrimination are very much present. Ethnicism. Or tribalism, if you will. And many other indecorous isms.

How many genocides have happened because one ethnic group regarded the other ethnic as to inferior or infidel or evil stains on God's good earth.

Even today in Nigeria, we can easily "stereotypically" map out which tribes likes which and which ones hates the other.

Many who call out racism down here wouldn't ever let their children familiarize with members of another tribe, talk less of marrying someone from another race.

Some of us imagine ourselves so pure of heart that we imagine that if we were born white, and exposed to racist traditions and ideas, that wouldn't have turned out to be thoroughgoing racists.

LMAO! How arrogantly noble of you.

Yet here we are in this small space and we're running out of fake smiles.

Don't lie to yourself. Many ideological evils are institutionalized. They are legacies of people who were legacies of other people. We know the historical role religion has played in all of this. We also know the historical role premature science has played in all of this.

Today isn't for a history lesson.

It's to say, wake up and be aware.

You are a person. A human being. Acknowledge that. And you are only just a possibility.

Examine yourself. What discriminatory ideas on race and gender and ethnicity did you inherit or pick up along your journey? Which ones do you currently hold?

Now ask yourself, are they really true? Are there any facts to this? Any unbiased evidence? Anything other than some old anecdote whose origins or intents you know nothing of?

Then, are they necessary? Do they contribute any grace to the human condition or do they make it worse?

Go ahead. DEEPLY, and deliberately, examine your many beliefs..

What do I really think about this? And why?

What do I really know? And what don't I know?

Why is it important to have an opinion about this?

Do I really feel this way about this? Or do I feel this way because people who feel that way have taught me to feel like they do?

DO I REALLY KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THESE PEOPLE TO PASS VALUE JUDGEMENTS ON THEM?

Psychologists say we can't ever be sufficiently aware of our prejudices. That is true and bitter. It tells me that we all have our work cut out for us.

So lace up and get ready. It's a very long journey, I tell you. Consistently, in your future, you'll discover prejudices you have that will shock you.

Don't get discouraged.

A better you brings us one step closer to a better world.
Thank you @ngoenyi
@whitestallion
@bright-obias for inspiring me