Are Racism and Sexism Natural?

There are many people who think that racism and sexism are natural. As a father, I know that not to be the case. My daughter's first social interaction, at age 1, was coming up to a little Malaysian girl and giving her a hug. I have seen children play happily across racial and gender lines. If little children can be wiser than us, then boy do we have a lot to learn.

Are racism and sexism natural? It is natural to identify with a group of which one is a part. It is not natural however to see one as being superior than the other, or that one should be the leader and that the other should be a slave. To find out what is natural to humanity, study children. And then you will know what is naturally human and what is a result of ideology or conditioning.

There are differences between men and women, and there are genetic differences between races. That does not make one rightly the ruler and the other rightly the servant. Recognizing differences is neither racism nor sexism; it is reality. Where the whole exercise goes wrong is if someone decides that men should rule women or that white people should rule over black people. There is no room for this; both black people and women are capable of everything of which white men are capable, and discriminating against them is wrong.

Not everything that little children do is right, and there is bullying behavior in children. It however appears to be independent of race or gender. But the idea that racism and sexism are natural is transparently wrong. If it were natural, then children would show these behaviors. They don't.

One should not be blind to the differences between men and women; but neither should one be blind to the differences among women and the differences among men. Some things are gender, others are not. With men and women, there is the emotional and sexual nature, which is gendered, and the mind and the will which both men and women have in common. The logical solution is full equality for women in matters demanding the mind and the will – and women and men being able to pursue mutually fulfilling relationships to actualize their emotional and sexual nature and produce and sustain new life. Some may regard this stance as being sexist. I regard it as being merely reasonable.

In short, there is a lot that adults stand to learn from children; and from observing children we discover what is natural and what is not. Children are neither sexist nor racist, which means that these things are not natural to humanity.

We also stand to learn a lot from history. In the ancient world, there was no racism. The white Romans, the dark-skinned Egyptians, the Hindus and many others got along and traded as equals. During the Middle Ages, the white man was at the bottom of the world. The white man rose to prominence by virtue of science and technology; and, having known any number of scientists and technology professionals, I've seen them as being some of the least racist people I've ever known.

Far be it from me to support political correctness. Political correctness, as one Jewish liberal lady told me, is an embarrassment to liberalism. I speak from the position of simple reason. Men and women have the sexual and emotional nature, which is gendered, and mind and will, where they are equal. Both deserve constructive fruition; both deserve to be honored and let free to produce fruit.

With race, there are definite genetic differences; but none of them result logically in the idea that one races should rule and the others be ruled. They are different; however there is more in common among them than there are differences among them. A black person can do everything that a white person can do; and George Washington Carver, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Colin Powell, Barack Obama and any number of others show this to be the case.

For some time in America the white schools and the black schools were held separate from one another under the rubric of “Separate but equal.” It didn't work; the white schools were better than the black schools. I propose this idea: Different but equal. And I mean equal for real. If in the South you can get as close as you want for as long as you aren't too high – and if in the North you can get as high as you want for as long as you don't get too close – I propose that black people should be as close as they want to be and as high as they want to be. I am very close to any number of wonderful black people whom I am proud to call my friends. And I am supportive of their career goals.

So no, racism and sexism are not natural, and even if they were we have the mind and the will to stand up to such things. See people as people and treat the person of the next race in the same way as you would treat the person of your own race. The result will not only be social peace, but also a noble and rightful arrangement that works for everyone.