Racism the myth that divides us.

Now before you comment it would be an idea to read what i'm saying, RACISM is a social construct and does not really exist, what exists is fear of the unknown, fear of the non national, fear of something different, because at the end of the day we are all the same but some of us have different skin colours or cultural ideas and this can cause fear, we are all one race, what we actually have is a fear of the unknown and an unwillingness to listen to or engage with a different ideal and that applies to the left, the right, the Liberal and the centre ground. Because of the company i keep i often get branded a racist and a bigot, this tends to be by people who do not know me that well and have no real idea of my background in anyway meaningful.
But back to racism, it's a social construct to divide and cause fear, it's very real to those who suffer from it, and while i was in Serbia i was racially abused by a minority of people, but it still happened. As a species we can be stupid, infantile, petty and horrid, while at the same time we are capable of great feats of kindness and grace, feats that enable and foster growth that enable joy. You see, i see bigotry everyday, and thats what i tend to call it bigotry, i find it hard when well meaning people claim Muslims are a race and anything you say against them is racist, Being a Muslim is a faith path not a nationality. If thats the case every time a Christian gets picked on by someone it's racism if you want to call it that, if it's racism to slate a Muslim it's racism to slate a Christian or any other faith for that matter, so lets call it what it is which is bigotry, it's easier. Personally i have friends from many ethnic backgrounds and skin colour has never been an issue to me, neither has nationality, if i like you, i like you. We are in this thing called life together, we are all going to die at some point and thats a fact, we are all going to have ups and downs, we will have times of great trial and times of great joy, i'm happy to stand with any member of the human race and i will help anyone no matter of creed or political stance. For some people Racism will always be a term they use, it's not one that crosses my mind with any regularity, but it's out there i'm trying to get people to think slightly differently, if we can start to see ourselves as one race we could possibly stamp out bigotry, it's gonna be a hard slog but from little acorns big things can happen. For me racism is a social construct which is taught through fear, through stubbornness, through a lack of understanding and it's something i just don't need. It was Dennis Leary i believe who said " you don't grow up to be a racist, it's something you are taught" and that about sums it up.


Peace people