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Monday 26 March 2012

Race, Identity & Culture

I find it very hard to comprehend racism in all it's forms, from minor discrimination, (if there is such a thing), to racially motivated killing. In the 21st Century we know an enormous amount about the origins of the human race & population migrations since pre-history. There is a theory, held by many eminent people, that all of us are descended from a few early humans in central Africa. If that is true, & I see no reason to doubt it, doesn't it make discrimination on grounds of colour ridiculous?

Scientists have plotted migrations, over land and sea, from continent to continent, of early humans thousands of years ago. Many of the journeys are quite mind boggling when you consider the unknown adverse conditions people faced. People have always moved in response to poor local conditions, to somewhere they stood a better chance of surviving. That is what "survival of the fittest" is based on. Staying where you are in the face of life threatening adversity isn't going to keep your species going. So isn't every human being a result of that genetic melting pot of embryonic nations. None of us are "pure" anything.

The problem is the seeming unending tendency of the male of the species to define his borders & encroach on someone else's, whilst stopping anyone else sharing in & contributing to his own culture & heritage. It is such a narrow & isolationist attitude. It ignores the past patterns of land occupation, particularly nomadic & tribal history & heritage. It is a behaviour based on man's, (I use the word advisedly), need for power & dominance. It leads to wars, unequal sharing in natural resources & ultimately to genocide. In our case it led to "Empire" in Victorian times & Detention Centres today.

We glibly talk about the "Free World". Where is it in reality?

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