Racism is the misconstrued belief that race is the fundamental causal factor of human abilities and traits and that differences in race results in automatic hierarchical disparities among people. Most global conflicts and major points of diversions result from racial differences. From the Middle East conflicts to east-west divide to African tribal clashes, the drive remains taxonomical differences. Numerous ways have been explored in an attempt to close the differences and build a harmonious world where everyone appreciates the other fully without any prejudice and misguided perceptions. Indeed racism remains one of the most important and persistent social problems in the modern world. A racial grouping which feels threatened by eminent loss of power decides to exercise some economic religious or political strength to ensure they maintain privilege. This results instabilities and conflict. There is no biological bias for race. Race difference is just a variation of a common humanity. The taxonomical differences manifest on the bodies often result in separations of the mind. It is these mental divisions that separate the society. Various solutions have been applied to specific situations to resolve racial issues. The US has legislated affirmative action to address inequalities among whites and blacks. However, education has been touted as the most important route of reducing the racial disparities. This paper exposes the ineffectiveness of education in effective unlearning of racial inequalities.
The proposition that people should be educated on racial issues in order to boost tolerance makes much sense. Across the globe special curricula have been developed to instill racial information in the minds of young children in a bid to make them more accommodative to people of different races. The problem with this method is that it focuses on the surface issues. Too much emphasis is given to the skin colour instead of the deep level value systems. These value systems define how people think and act in accordance to the world they live in. Clearly, the problem is not whether one is white, black or brown, as proposed by the educational system; it is the deep value systems within us that do not merge. The value systems strongly advice the decision making process. The decisions made automatically differ resulting in conflicts.
It is thus common to find a middle-class white person share more similarities with a middle-class black person than a higher class white person. Therefore, what divides us is not our genetic make-up but our difference value systems. Genes only give the skin color but the value systems define our actions. Similarities in action patterns among people of the same race are only based on close relations and commonality in origins and cultures but not intrinsic to their color. This understanding is very different from the principles employed in using education to unlearn racial inequalities. The educational system is based on the precept that one should accept and appreciate the other regardless of the color of their skin as this is the right thing to do. Not much consideration is given to understand why certain people behave the way they do. This is the only viable approach to fully induct the recipients in the in depth truth of the solitude nature o human race and the pointless divisions that have continuously haunted the world.
A basic understanding that racism is the refusal to accept the other as an equal should be the starting point. Since racism has no biological basis, it is caused by a consistent social orientation which can be effectively unlearned and unstructured socially. The basic requirement to effectively fight racism is the understanding of the other person’s point of view and appreciating their concerns while making their choices. This minimizes conflicts resulting from divergences in determining the correct action to take. Whether one is a victim, a victimizer, a by-stander or a rescuer in a racism case, the common understanding should be that no one race is superior than the other and that difference views emerge from different orientations and not the skin color.
Such profound understanding is the most viable start of healing and reconciliation among the races in the world. Relying on school education to enlighten the person and make him /her see beyond race is not the best option. Evidence points to the fact that racism cuts across the educational qualification. The very highly educated are as racist as the illiterates. Advice should be towards self evaluation in terms of the beliefs, values and the thoughts towards others. If indeed other people who may be different to us elicit some form of discomfort then a self probe may be necessary to dig out the main reasons for the discomfort. This is because the greatest basis of racism is prejudice. On understanding the reasons, enquiries should then be made to clear out the unknowns in order to make informed judgments regarding the group. This is best way forward as it digs deep into the root causes and once the realization is home, one completely changes his/ her way of thinking forever.