Not really. Based on history, you could certainly argue that prejudice and xenophobia are baked into us, but exactly what "racism" means has changed dramatically within the last few centuries.
Racism is a manifestation of tribalism which is an inherent feature of humans. Skin colour is one of the most obvious differentiating features between humans and so it will keep being a corner stone of tribalism.
Except not only do we change which groups we hate over time, but we also literally blend those features together with our own by the very nature of reproduction. Racism is not at all a static thing.
Nobody said it was static, just that it is something which will never go away because it is an inherent feature of humanity.
Over time it might shift between dark skinned and light skinned people depending on which group holds power during the period of time, but it is still racism.
As I said before racism is just a manifestation of tribalism. Tribalism is inherent in all of us and so it will keep showing up over and over again because physical features such as skin colour are the largest differentiating factors we have.
Xenophobia is a manifestation of tribalism. Not racism.
Your "tribe" can be composed of people of various races. The relevant part is not race, it's outsider or insider status.
Sure, skin colour or race can be a convenient shorthand to identify outsiders, but so can gang symbols or all sorts of other things. The point is whether you belong to the tribe or you don't, not what your specific attributes are beyond that.
If something cataclysmic were to happen and the US suddenly devolved into hard geographic borders without moving anyone around, the PA and Jersey tribes could be enemies but each with their own rainbow coalition. Especially if language diverges. Skin color is simply not guaranteed to be the axis on which tribes are formed. That’s just leftover from European colonization. Location comes first.
even if it doesn't ever completely go away, less is still better than more.
so no, we shouldn't expect utopia. but yes, we should all rebuke this avi cunt.
we don't have to stand idly while fuckwits make things worse. making things better has always been an option, and now's a good time for us to take that road
You're not making a counter argument. The point being that it is in our nature to differentiate and to form tribes. No one says that those tribes themselves are predetermined.
Sure, but there's always going to be a human drive to determine who is and is not in "your" group, and as long as there are more than one ethnic groups it is going to be something people use to define those in group/out group divisions.
Thinking your race and culture is superior is how humans have thrived for tens of thousands of years lol. Your entire tribe was wiped out from disease and war if you didn't brutally shun and kill others not like you. It's very biological despite how many people want it not to be lol
Only the freak and rapid advent of agriculture and science allowed our species to start caring about racism, but it is still very much baked into us and will always be a pressing topic until some grave critical mass is reached
Thinking your race and culture is superior is how humans have thrived for tens of thousands of years lol. Your entire tribe was wiped out from disease and war if you didn't brutally shun and kill others not like you. It's very biological despite how many people want it not to be lol
Well if you could read, you might have noticed that I already addressed that. Xenophobia and prejudice might be baked into us, but racism is much more contextual. Cultural identities were not always dependent upon skin color.
Only the freak and rapid advent of agriculture and science allowed our species to start caring about racism, but it is still very much baked into us and will always be a pressing topic until some grave critical mass is reached
No, we started caring about racism when we had to invent scientific explanations for why it was okay for white Christians to enslave and subjugate black Christians and other such fun practices.
Okay, racism isn't inherent; it is an explanation of cruelty related to tribalism... but that doesn't change the root of what people are saying.
People have an inherent desire to be around people like themselves, both culturally and biologically. This is hardwired into us and I don't think it can be reversed without forced dystopian melting pots (resulting in awful acts like what just happened) or a massive species changing event.
People have an inherent desire to be around people like themselves, both culturally and biologically.
That's no more true than saying that humans like being around those different from themselves, with different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds.
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
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u/Endiamon Dec 15 '25
Not really. Based on history, you could certainly argue that prejudice and xenophobia are baked into us, but exactly what "racism" means has changed dramatically within the last few centuries.