Racismophobia

America’s face is forever changed when Obama won the presidential race; and Martin Luther King’s famous dream is closer to fulfillment than ever. The magnitude of his I Have a Dream speech is dwarfed by what happened November 4, 2008; a date that will be the date for black history and the reversal of past racism.

I’m sure you’ve heard all this; and I’m sure you’ve made the same inferrence as I have. So let’s sidetrack a bit: I’d like to talk to you about the latest social hype: Racismophobia – the mental illness of thinking that you just might be a racist.

It’s not just a fear of being racist – it’s also saying something racist; or even thinking it. Contrary to common belief, it would seem that it is possible to take from you your opinions – believe it or not, people are reprimanding themselves all the time for their own thoughts.

Yes, well that’s all good; but what does this have to do with Obama?

As you might have imagined, the main source of this Racismophobia is the United States of America. The reason is hardly a surprise either: the Americans are still feeling the stigmatic reprecussions of a past tarnished by the abuse of blacks. The land of the free and home of the brave; yet how could the land of the free obviously be not so; and how could the number of people with the bravery to address such issues be so scarce?

This is the logic that justifies a giant, coast-to-coast guilt-trip. The entire white society is petrified of being labelled a racist; and anything that is not perfectly politically correct is treated with shock and horror, and the person in question swiftly ostracized.

Of course, one shouldn’t fret so much about this – humans are naturally prejudiced against anything it sees as different; we have evolved to automatically divide ourselves into teams, and then develop hate towards other teams. Anthropological research has proven that society functions best when there is a conceived enemy-figure. Keeping in mind that mankind has not evolved in a few hundred thousand years, it is highly improbable, and indeed very arrogant, to think that the base of human morals has significantly altered from one or two hundred years ago, when racism was commonplace and acceptable to now. Essentially, we are the same humans and we are thinking with the same brains.

What I am saying is that the vast majority of people are racists; and if you haven’t realized yet, I am saying that society’s fear of being racist is just an illusion; a superficial curtain covering the truth.

But how can I say this? First, one must understand that true neutrality comes from not taking any stance at all. Saying that blacks and whites are equal is taking a stance.

This is a big truth, and don’t be quick to dismiss it. Zen master Sent-ts’an says the same thing, except he beat me to it by 1,300 years: “if you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against. The struggle between ‘for’ and ‘against’ is the mind’s worst disease.”

Frankly, I do not believe that most Americans, or most people in general, even, have attained this degree of enlightenment; and instead, society continues to dwell in its firm belief that they are utterly right in saying that blacks and whites are equal; and they mustn’t deviate from this belief, lest they might have that horrible, horrible r-word used against them.

Now that Obama is president, all that will change.

There is a rich irony here – although Obama’s presidency is a huge victory over racism, casual racism will increase drastically.

With a black president, there is an even thicker curtain for subconscious racists to hide behind.

Suddenly, everyone can prove that they are not racist: all that is needed is to claim that they voted for Obama, and no longer is there anyone to look you over the shoulder and reprimand you for cracking racist jokes or using previously unacceptable terminology; and very soon, all the previous taboos from society are gone; Racismophobia completely forgotten. Comedians will feel braver; television programs will feel braver; and soon enough, Average Joe will feel braver too.

I leave you to draw your own conclusions from this. This is just a musing. I, for one, will conclude, that until I can follow the advice of Sent-ts’an, and until I know that I can be neither for nor against – I will go without a conclusion.