Daniel Harrison,
Auburn, AL.
What do I mean by neglected? I don’t just mean the easily targeted racists who are the enemy to be removed or reformed. Nor do I mean to target anti-racist activists who may unknowingly add fuel to the fire with false accusations. I mean the moral problem deep within the human soul and psyche. Call me a pessimist here, but as long as humans remain solely human in their judgments, there will remain some hint of racial superiority or inferiority. Pride or shame in what kind of person looks back at you from the mirror. This brokenness of human nature can be mended, though it is often neglected in protestations for political and social rights. I think in order for this problem to be mended, it has to first be acknowledged as not just a lack of education, but as a pattern of immoral actions. Despite the desires of many postmodern thinkers to put the minority experience as a norm against a class of so-called “white supremacy”, there must be some idea of how actions by any race can have unjust and immoral motivations. Ideas like these are controversial and not without debate. They are the question even of religions and philosophy the world over. How can humanity survive itself? How can we possibly get along with each other? This issue will never be forgotten because it is an issue of what values humans have and how a person can have worth. The definitions will constantly be redefined – “race”, “racism”, “gender”, “ethnicity”, and so on – but the constant question will be related to a peaceful human coexistence. In short, racism is a human issue, and as long as humans exist, they will act in immoral ways involving race but there will never stop being attempts to create a more peaceful world.
