Racism and Bigotry

A Facebook friend commented on my last blog post. She argued that we are not born racists, but are taught racism. She asked if we do not continue to teach or children to be racists, can we finally be free of racism. I see her point, but I have the impression that we are born racists. I believe that early humans had to be leery of people who looked different than they did. This is a survival mechanism. 100,000 years ago, if you saw someone who looked radically different than you did, it would be a signal that you have new competitors for resources.

There is a difference, though, between racism and bigotry. An educated and open minded person can quickly overcome the shock of seeing another person who looks and sounds different than anyone else they ever met. A person can be racist and still have love for his or her fellow human beings. Many abolitionists believed that Africans were intellectually inferior, but believed that slavery was not justified under any circumstances. Bigotry is different. A bigot has malice in his or her heart for those who are different. Bigotry is learned. I do not believe that we are born bigots, but learn it from our parents, teachers and friends at school. We do need to be careful about what we say around our children about other races, religions and lifestyles. The best way to teach our children not to be bigots is to remember to “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” (Matthew, 7:1) and “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” (Matthew 7:5)