Racism - A Culture of Fear

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1 Introduction

In the year of 1945 one of the greatest sins and deceptions against mankind was unfolded to the eye of the world as people worldwide realised that the feared concentration camps not was an evil rumour but in fact reality. 6 million Jews from every corner or Europe had lost their lives in what would go down in history as the most despicable act of violation against mankind. One year later, as the UN was founded, the world swore to never let it happen again but time would show that that promise soon would be forgotten…

1.1 Purpose

To write an essay about racism is not easy especially if your purpose is to cover not only racism today and in the past but also in the future. Never the less, this is a subject that mustn’t be neglected or forgotten but highlighted again and again since the memory between generations throughout time has proved to be very short. The purpose of this essay is not to give specified details concerning historical events but simply give an overlook to why racism today is still a threat and what to expect in the future. I hope that my work won’t be just another one of those essays that have nothing new to present but that I may offer new facts and give a different perspective why tolerance between the peoples of the world still is as important today as it was fifty years ago.

1.2 Questions

1 How is it possible, after all that has happened in direct or indirect cause of hatred between different “races” that racism still has a huge impact on our lives?
2 Do we need racism in our modern day society? - If yes, why? If no, who not?
3 Not since late 19th century has a people been so feared and hated for their religion and ethnical background as the Muslims are today. Back then, before the First World War the Jews stood in the same centre that the Muslims now do and we all know what happened to them… After George W Bush’s witch-hunt for Islamic fundamentalists, in the post 9/11 world, is a new World War and a new ethnical genocide to expect? - If “Yes”? Why and what can we do to prevent it? If “No”? Why not?

1.3 Method

As I mentioned before, this essay is not meant to answer questions concerning specified details but that doesn’t mean that I can forget about them when it comes to my research. I will try, through books and through internet to find the most accurate information available. I will also try to read as much as I can about other peoples opinions when it comes to dealing with racial problems today. This is not only because they might offer information that otherwise could be hard to find but also because I personally can’t think of any other source that is more right to use than opinions from influential people that has fought to unite societies everywhere against the racism that has crippled them. Civil-rights heroes like Martin Luther King still plays a large role even as we today touch these delicate matters and they will and must have their share even in my simple work.


1.4 Criticism of Sources

During my work I have used mostly information from encyclopaedias on the web and from oral discussions with friends of mine. The information that I have got from them is of course slanted and so is also the one from the UN-books which function as a source to make people more aware about racism. For me this hasn’t been something negative since that is how I wanted to make my work and it hasn’t made me reflect over the reliability of the sources. Combined with the information from the encyclopaedias it has constituted a stabile ground for me the stand upon and write my essay. I must also admit that this is a work that expresses my personal viewings and that is something that you must keep in mind while you read it.

2 Background

What makes a person a human being? What defines it? Is it the physical shape, “the body” or the unidentified thing we call “soul”? To be able to answer these questions one must first answer whether the soul exists or not. Although the existence of the soul is hard to prove, recent research has showed that at the point of death the weight of the body eases with 21 grams. If this information is right it could confirm the existence of the soul in a scientific point of view but no matter what science claims, most people seem to believe that the existence of the soul is undeniable.

In Ancient Greece, the soul had the biggest importance. During this time it was said that the body was just a shell meant to preserve our inner being and that the body could and should be used for enjoyment and maximal pleasure. Later on, as early Christianity came to replace the old religions its influence on culture meant a change in this attitude. The body, made perfect by God, was not to be ruined in any way. It was sacred and artists like Michelangelo who worshipped the perfection of especially the male body expressed this point of view. During this Dark Age another pattern of thought also started to visualise as the imagined superiority of the white race in comparison to others became clearer. A need for justification was also essential as the wrongful acts that were committed to other populations of the world, especially against the Muslim and Arab societies, needed to be justified. Of course, they thought, the god-sent white population of Europe could not do anything wrong because they had God on their side. There, in the holy city, horrifying genocides were committed in the name of God. The crusades became in more than one way the climax of the church’s persecution of “different- minded human beings”.
However, the centuries to pass after the secularisation of the church meant devastation to large parts of the world as words like “race, nationalism and righteousness” got new meanings. Along with these words followed a new world-order that also came to create one of the biggest lies in human history; the “fact” that white men are superior to all other “races”. During these dark ages of history, the importance of the soul and the true value of a human being, no matter the colour of her skin, were lost in fear and hatred of the unknown. The end of the Second World War was said to be the end of racism-related crimes but sadly, that wasn’t the case. Even though, the end of the Great War created an awareness of human rights and the forming of the UN came as a great beacon light of hope to the millions of people who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. Like Martin Luther King would have said: “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity”.


2.1 The Need to be Safe

The end of the Second World War was an end of a process that had begun during the “Thirty Years War” when Napoleon and later on other rulers ravaged the lands of Europe. The constant threat that lied like a shadow across the continent created a feeling of nationalism that could only grow stronger. During this time nationalism was seen as something positive since the different peoples of Europe came together within their nations. This was one of the contributing reasons to why Napoleon at last could be defeated at Waterloo. Even though nationalism at times played a large role it also created a fear of the unknown and also the need for the creation of a scapegoat that could be blamed for all the suffering the peoples of Europe had led through. The verdict fell as so many times before on the Jewish population and the reasons for that is clear. They were the envy of every man since luck seemed to follow them like an eternal ghost especially when it came to business and while they also could be blamed for the death of Christ, they were doomed. As time went by, the discussion also led to racial questions and the thought that one race is superior to all the others was born. The purity of the blood became a central question and nations all over Europe fought to prove that they descended from the most untainted kin.

After the states of Germany became one, a need for unity within the newborn country became essential and as a gift from heaven nationality came. Together with displeasure, poverty, jealousy, militarism and a strong sense of righteousness, the perfect ground was laid for a World War and later on as the economical depression troubled the country and the democratic process was not to count on, Hitler took the power. The rest is history.

It is easy to get stuck in the belief that racism is only about ethnical genocides like that that happened in Germany. Of course it is not and we mustn’t forget that racism is much bigger and scarier than we can imagine. All over the world, racism related crimes are a part of the normal day life as people are harassed for the simple sake of being different. No matter what time you live the essence of racism seems to be the same. It all comes back to the question to why and how we can be able to feel such a hatred towards something or someone that is different from ourselves. The answer to that is pretty much hidden in mystery but some theories, like the power of the fear combined with feeling alone can offer us a deeper understanding.

3 Result

To be able to understand the (issue) of racism we must first realise that racism is something that exists within all of us. This problem descends from our most fundamental urges. Every human being seems without exceptions to be a mix of good and evil. In every one of us a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde lies beneath. Feelings like love, affection and comfort have a positive influence upon us while jealousy, fear and hatred can, during the right conditions, bring out the worst in us. To think that racism is a problem that only affects less fortunate people and that racism today only is the concern of a minority is not only naïve but also directly foolish. Again prejudice takes control over our common sense and again we seem to stand on another brink of destruction as the extreme right-wing attracts ever more voters. After millions, if not billions of people has been murdered in the name of racial discrimination it really is a mystery why we still haven’t learned anything from past times. The real question seems to be if we are addicts and enslaved under the rule of fear and if we really need racism in our society. As an answer to that, the fact that racism still exists today should be a proof that we need it no matter how scary that might be to realise. Nationalism or rather the feeling of belonging together is ancient and goes back farter than we can prove and according to psychiatrists, it is group-behaviour that is essential for our survival. Maybe racism is just something that we must learn to cope with.

3.1 After 1945

From September the 10th - 22nd 1945 there was total peace on earth. For twelve days, all over the world, no one fought one another and for what might be the first time in the history of mankind, the whole world stood still in remembrance of those who had lost their lives during the Great War. After 6 years of continuous fighting, a broken and shattered world was all that remained and the years of reconstructions had only begun. Over 80 million people had lost their lives in or in direct cause of the battles and the peoples of the world were going to face even more losses as famine and diseases trailed in the steps of the indescribable catastrophe. Victory was at hand for the allies and the beginning on a new era with a new world order arose like a great phoenix out of the ashes. In 1948, the United Nations was founded and mankind swore to never let anything like the two world wars happen again. But the memory of mankind is short and as soon as the fighting continued in countries like Korea, Israel, Argentina and Vietnam the wars again brought back the fact that warfare is not only physical but also psychological. Again, it was pointed out for the fighting soldiers that the enemy was not human beings and the racial discrimination survived to live yet another era. Time passed and again the UN failed as reports of ethnical exterminations from Cambodia (then Kampuchea), Rwanda and Yugoslavia found their way into the beautiful hallways of the UN house in New York without taking any notice until it was too late. The post-war time was also a time when Apartheid and the continued (förtryck) of the Afro-American population in USA was at its peak. The world seemingly boiled with suppressed anger and until now, at least 7 wars has been fought every day, a terrifying number…

After the end of the “Cold War” only one nation was left that was worthy of bearing the name “Super nation”; USA, land of liberty and home of the brave.

3.2 Fear

10 000 years ago, fear of the unknown was the only reason to why mankind survived and grew strong in the fight against the other mammals. Fear taught, as we all know, cautiousness and this in turn created a breed that survived against all odds. Ten thousand years later though, fear has showed its side effect and the same thing that once saved our entire population has become on of the biggest threats against us.
Fear gives birth to hatred, that is a well-known fact and an even more famous fact is that hatred gives birth to racism. Therefore we are forced to realise that fear equal’s racism, right? Since fear is something that is so deeply rooted within us that it should be wiser to name it “instinct”, we must realise that we are addicts to it . In the same way that fear creates hatred and later on racism it would be right to presume that we in fact are addicts to racism, right? Or are we really? Since fear no longer is essential for our survival we must start to wonder whether we need it or not (in other situations than extreme ones). We cannot deny it as a part of us but is it something we can have use of in our every-day life? Because we can learn to live with the fear. Just think about the daily traffic with cars that that have the power to kill or badly wound our vulnerable body. Are we stricken dumb by fear every time we meet them? No, of course not and why is that? Because we have learnt to cope with the danger. So, what is the conclusion? Since we are addicts to fear and therefore addicts to racism we can learn to deal with the feeling and live happily side by side. So what is the problem? Well, the problem might not lie within us. Maybe racism and fear exists within us because someone else wants it that way? Maybe someone can gain something out of our need to feel that we constantly are facing a threat that we must protect ourselves with whatever means available?

As fear swept in over the American continent after the 9/11 attack the selling of alarms, handguns, bullets and other self-defence tools has increase tremendously. Nearly 2.5 years later the nation still trembles from fear of where another unexpected attack might fall next. Nothing and nowhere is safe. In this war, the civilians are as always the ones who loose the most while the companies feed on them. It has become a business interest to keep the people locked in fear as long as possible.


3.3 A Nation of Fear

People say, the world changed on September the 11th. The Truth is that the change began centuries before that. In Europe, the word “crusade” has a bad cling to it since all who has read about “the Dark Ages” remember the terrible history-telling about the crusades against the Muslims, histories about how the popes sent knights to “liberate” Jerusalem from the heathen-plague that haunted it and how blood floated on the streets. All in all, the crusades went down in history as one of the most appalling periods in the history of mankind. Even though, seven hundred years later another crusade takes on and again the history seems to repeat itself. Seven hundred years later we stand on yet another brink of destruction. The question is, how far will the war go this time before another truce is set? How many innocent lives must pay the price before we can understand that violence only begets violence?
In the frightened United States of America the biggest lie was created in the post 9/11 world as media and the population started to think about why the “evil-doers” had attacked them. Of course it could not be that they might have done something wrong so the obvious must be that Usama BinLadin and his comrades chose to attack World Trade Centre and the Pentagon because of jealousy. While the terrorist on the other hand said that they had attacked them mainly because of their involvement in Israel, the Americans kept to their story and later on as they attacked both Afghanistan and Iraq they “knew” that they were righteous in their struggle because they had the might of God on their side. In their own country however, another quiet tragedy is displayed as the Muslim population faces Hell. Everyone, no matter how long you might have lived in the US, can be charged on lose grounds for being a terrorist. Again a similar situation is displayed as the one during the “Cold War” when calls were recorded and soviet spies lured under every other rock. Only this time, they are terrorists that are connected to organisations like Hamas and al-Guaida with widespread networks all over the world. Not since the late 19th century, has a people been so hated an feared as the Muslims are today. Even though we cannot know what the future might bring we can look upon history and see the events that were displayed in the times of old. If we take that into consideration…then, it’s a scary future we are facing.

4 Analysis

A very famous wise man once said “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools” and the most fascinating thing about this is that the more you ponder about it, the more you come to realise how right he really is. You might already know who said that sentence but I’ll tell you his name anyway. His name was Martin Luther King jr. and he bears the name of one of the most well-known civil rights heroes in the history of mankind.

4.1 Coexistence

The week before Martin Luther King was shot, he held a ceremony at which he spoke about what he wanted people to say about him at his funeral and he came to the conclusion that he didn’t really have much more to leave after himself but a devoted life. He wasn’t rich and he didn’t have a lot of beautiful things to pass on to his wife a children but the devotion of his life left us with a bigger gift than money ever can buy. He left us a dream, a dream that spoke about a time when heaven on earth would come, when racism would become a thing of the past.
What civil-rights, the belief that all human beings are equal, began with was just what Martin Luther King always spoke about. It began with a dream that one day there would be a better future for everyone no matter the colour of his or hers skin. This dream began in the hearts of the slaves, the hearts of those who suffered from injustice, the hearts of those who were unfortunate enough to be born with another skin-colour than the “right one”. At first the dream was an illusion that seemed as unreachable as utopia but as time went by the illusion grew to something that no longer was impossible to reach. The power of the true heart could easily be subdued but not crushed and while centuries passed by, the truth showed that every time is was beaten to the ground , it would rise again and carry on the spirit of the true heart until the time came when it was cherished. During the sixties, the struggle again rose to its peak but when the leaders died, the battle died with them and things that shouldn’t have been forgotten were lost.

To be honest, I don’t believe that Martin Luther King’s dream ever will come true just the way he wanted it to be but I do believe that if we don’t do everything in our power to integrate our world, we will, just as he said, “perish together as fools”. We need to realise that the true immeasurable value of a man lies within us, in our hearts, in our colourless soul. We need to let go of our fear and come to the understanding that the only thing fear does to us, is making us blind towards what’s good in this world.
As the gap between the east and the west continues to grow in the world we can sense a future coming where the segregation will lead to yet another war. Like George Bush said, the war on terrorism is a crusade and it will bring just as much bad things with it as the crusades did during the 14th century. At this time in history the most important question we have to ask ourselves is what kind of a world we want? What kind of world do we want to leave to those who follow our generation? The keywords for a better future are, as always; tolerance and understanding. Without this in our lives we cannot live together. In lack of tolerance, the peoples of Jerusalem has fought a war for as long as history can tell and my question is whether a piece of land, a little more power, some money…is worth even one good persons life?

We need to learn to celebrate the diversity and welcome it into our lives as we continue our struggle to create a better and safer world. The most important thing to remember is that this “safer” world is not created through war. Instead war only creates bitterness within the survivor and brutality within the destroyer and as history has proved to us so many times before; this will not end the battle. We need to open up our eyes and face the truth that willing is just not simply enough, we must do. We must fight just like Martin Luther King did but we must face this problem every day and tell about it to our children so that they also can continue the struggle when we one day are gone forever. In a few years, no one who has known and seen the real horror of the Second World War will be alive to tell and as always time will make us forget if we don’t do anything about it. Once again we must learn to believe in the immeasurable value of the human life so we can continue to fight for her right to become equal. When all comes around, can you tell me the colour of your soul?

5 Summary

What makes a person a human being? What defines it? Is it the physical shape, “the body” or the unidentified thing we call “soul”?
In Ancient Greece, the soul had the biggest importance. During this time it was said that the body was just a shell meant to preserve our inner being and that the body could and should be used for enjoyment and maximal pleasure. Later on, as early Christianity came to replace the old religions its influence on culture meant a change in this attitude. The body, made perfect by God, was not to be ruined in any way. It was sacred.
During the Dark Age another pattern of thought also started to visualise as the imagined superiority of the white race in comparison to others became clearer. A need for justification was also essential as the wrongful acts that were committed to other populations of the world, especially against the Muslim and Arab societies, needed to be justified. There, in Jerusalem, horrifying genocides were committed in the name of God. The crusades became in more than one way the climax of the church’s persecution of “different- minded human beings”. During these dark ages of history, the importance of the soul and the true value of a human being, no matter the colour of her skin, were lost in fear and hatred of the unknown.

The end of the Second World War was an end of a process that had begun during the “Thirty Years War” when Napoleon and later on other rulers ravaged the lands of Europe. The constant threat that lied like a shadow across the continent created a feeling of nationalism that could only grow stronger. During this time nationalism was seen as something positive since the different peoples of Europe came together within their nations. . Even though it at times played a large role it also created a fear of the unknown and also the need for the creation of a scapegoat that could be blamed for all the suffering the peoples of Europe had led through. The verdict fell as so many times before on the Jewish population and the reasons for that is clear. They were the envy of every man since luck seemed to follow them like an eternal ghost especially when it came to business and while they also could be blamed for the death of Christ, they were doomed. As time went by, the discussion also led to racial questions and the thought that one race is superior to all the others was born. The purity of the blood became a central question and nations all over Europe fought to prove that they descended from the most untainted kind

It is easy to get stuck in the belief that racism is only about ethnical genocides like that that happened in Germany. Of course it is not and we mustn’t forget that racism is much bigger and scarier than we can imagine. All over the world, racism related crimes are a part of the normal day life as people are harassed for the simple sake of being different

To be able to understand the (issue) of racism we must first realise that racism is something that exists within all of us. This problem descends from our most fundamental urges. To think that racism is a problem that only affects less fortunate people and that racism today only is the concern of a minority is not only naïve but also directly foolish. After millions, if not billions of people has been murdered in the name of racial discrimination it really is a mystery why we still haven’t learned anything from past times. The real question seems to be if we are addicts and enslaved under the rule of fear and if we really need racism in our society. As an answer to that, the fact that racism still exists today should be a proof that we need it no matter how scary that might be to realise.

From September the 10th - 22nd 1945 there was total peace on earth. For twelve days, all over the world, no one fought one another and for what might be the first time in the history of mankind, the whole world stood still in remembrance of those who had lost their lives during the Great War. Over 80 million people had lost their lives in or in direct cause of the battles and the peoples of the world were going to face even more losses as famine and diseases trailed in the steps of the indescribable catastrophe. Victory was at hand for the allies and the beginning on a new era with a new world order arose like a great phoenix out of the ashes. In 1948, the United Nations was founded and mankind swore to never let anything like the two world wars happen again. But the memory of mankind is short and as soon as the fighting continued in countries like Korea, Israel, Argentina and Vietnam the wars again brought back the fact that warfare is not only physical but also psychological. Again, it was pointed out for the fighting soldiers that the enemy was not human beings and the racial discrimination survived to live yet another era.

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