The Human Divide

Racism is a seemingly indelible stain lodged deep into the human fabric. In a tumultuous history of the seemingly most sophisticated ape, humanity has crafted an "us vs them" mentality throughout its evolutionary development. While racism in its modern form has been established as a phenomenon arising through the European age of imperiarism.

It is a scourge that has vested roots all across the world, and that, even among communities of the same racial background, is manifested as tribalism. The Rwandan genocide (Apr 7, 1994 – Jul 15, 1994) was a systematic massacre triggered by Juvenal Habyarimana's assassination (which also resulted in the death of Burundi's Hutu president, Cyprian Ntaryamira) on April 6, 1994. The resulting power vacuum, coupled with festering undercurrents of hate, led to a sustained and brutal campaign if violence that directly led to more than 500,000 deaths.⁵

While accounts of  Rwandan genocide are lengthy, it is quite evident that poisoned root behind the massacre of mostly Tutsi tribesmen by the Hutu was bred by undercurrents of tribal hate. 

While humanity is acknowledged as perhaps the most cooperative species on earth, racism is a scythe that cuts through this fabric of connectedness. In its every vile form, racism hinders progress on social growth and development. Members of a species need to work together for the betterment of that particular species, and racism is the very antithesis of all that. We are similar in all respects bar some evolutionary quarks which are confined to skin pigmentation and body hair. Different communities of humans handled different environmental challenges, and the largest organ of the body is that which compensated for those different environmental challenges. True, there are some humans who have evolved higher oxygen retention capacity based on where they live (Nepali Sherpas and indigenous Andeans), but they are not any more different from the rest of humanity.

There is nothing that indicates "superior race" or "superior genes," and those who are subscribed to those schools of thought are guilty of faulty intellect and sheer stupidity. From the schools of thought that promoted eugenics as a science (a trend that is still reflected in some areas of healthcare such as the belief that black women don't feel pain), to the alt right, Britain first and other far right racist groups, an outrightly moronic view of "white supremacy" has festered like a boil in the dermis of western democracies. China is equally guilty of such madness based upon the treatment of Uyghurs. 

Some most well known cases of racist genocide both involve Germany in its form as a colonial empire, and as a fascist republic : The first of these was Herero and Namaqua genocide. This was systematically waged by the German Empire against the Ovaherero, the Nama, and the San in German South West Africa. It occurred between 1904 and 1908. It was combination of the worst of crimes against humanity: genocidal massacre, human subject "research," starvation, and mass internment. The second occured when a certain anti-Semite took it upon himself to obliterate all Jews from Europe. Of course, it must be taken into account that the other European powers were no less racist, with Britain, France, and Spain being especially egregious in this regard.

One of the most revered western statesmen, Winston Churchill, is known for his incendiary racism (which has been sanitized as a "policy failure"), which directly led to the Bengal famine of 1943⁶ that killed over 3 million people. 

Churchill certainly believed in racial hierarchies and eugenics, says John Charmley, author of Churchill: The End of Glory. In Churchill's view, white protestant Christians were at the top, above white Catholics, while Indians were higher than Africans, he adds. "Churchill saw himself and Britain as being the winners in a social Darwinian hierarchy." ⁶'⁷

Beitar Jerusalem is likely the most racist football club in the world. The teams most extreme fans (the ultras) have been witnessed to even hang signs promoting "Jewish purity," ³'⁴ and other symbols of far right Israel. This is especially ironic, especially taking into consideration that their only claim to so-called superiority is vested in the onerous and farcical claims of "religious superiority." This is the real life manifestation of your god has a bigger dick than my god.³

While one can infer this to be like a bouquet of carnations for birthday celebrations, the tragedy behind this is that Jews have been historically marginalized on account of their background and religion. In a twist of sheer insanity, the oppressed has become the oppressor.¹'² Zionism mercilessly exploits and uses Judaism or parts of it in order to justify its racist and indeed genocidal practices. The Ethiopian Falashas have run afoul of far right elements in Israel, and their black experience, even with the police, is well nigh identical to racial minorities in America. 

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano was a Spanish conquistador who led to the fall of the Aztec empire. This was aided by guns, smallpox, horses and swords. Cortes died in Spain in 1547, aged about 62, diseased and indebted. Before him was Christopher Columbus who was aided by the same devious allies that the "new world" knew little to nothing about. The legacy of these men went even further, as Vasco da Gama and other European explorers further navigated around the world. What initially was a mission of discovery turned into one of conquest and slavery as European imperialism grew. 

History was rewritten, Africa was christened the dark continent, eugenics was actually recognized as a science, slavery came and went, as did most of colonialism, the black codes and Jim Crow became a thing in America, and and the world still reels from this legacy of conquest and hate. 

It is possible that, as the world further embraces scientific acumen over religious dogma, that humanity will eventually conquer the scourge of racism. Where education triumphs, racism will lose. One day, alk roads will lead to social equality.

¹https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-solidarity-with-black-people-this-ethiopian-israeli-doesn-t-believe-it-1.9036886

²https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/ethiopian-jews-suffer-racism-in-israel/1526782

³https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2020/12/10/beitar-jerusalem-the-most-racist-football-club-in-israel

⁴https://youtu.be/GJOV_cN-JP8

⁵https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26875506

⁶https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/4/1/churchills-policies-to-blame-for-1943-bengal-famine-study

⁷https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29701767