I could be wrong, but my best guess is that almost every human being today is a racist. They may not admit it, even to themselves, but tribalism and in-group/out-group preferences are so hardwired in the human psyche as to make it a near certainty that almost all humans are racist. No group or race or ethnicity has been spared by this evolutionary pressure..
Evolution has hard wired tribalism into our nature because tribalism, during all of evolutionary history, was absolutely essential to survival. Individuals who were not loyal to their tribe were, during vast expanses of human history, either killed (or equivalently) expelled from the tribe.
What is actually hardwired into the human psyche is, however, not specifically racism, it is in-group preference. In-group preference is both very strong and very easy to trigger. It can be triggered by extremely small group differences. Something as distinctive as racial differences in either appearance or behavior (in the absence of mitigating factors) a convenient and likely trigger.
Most people today deny being racist, but they are probably wrong about their own true inner feelings. They have almost certainly not deeply examined their most inner, secret feelings (their Shadow!). Either that or they have numbed their racist feelings or excises/compartmentalized that part of themselves that prefers their own group, which is generally equivalent to being racist.
The evidence for the ubiquity of tribalism is mountainous. It is not a theory, it is a FACT!
It is import to understand that tribalism, in todays world, does not necessarily lead to or cause discrimination. The rational, executive functions of the human brain are capable of overcoming in-group biases in favor of our moral precepts. The ability to do this, however, depends acutely on a person’s self-knowledge, awareness, and acknowledgment of their existing biases. The most racist people are often precisely those who are in denial about the reality of their racism.
Despite the reality of hard-wired racism, all people should be treated as kindly as possible and judged solely by the content of their character. Those people who are not aware of their racist feeling are
more likely to be discriminatory that those people who understand their own true nature.
Racism still exists in America, but it is NOT systemic!
We are all, without exception, self-centered, large-brained, hairless apes! We cannot escape from our basic nature, and it would be a form of suicide to try. Something inside would have to die for a
human being to cease having an in-group preference. But, we can accept the reality of our hard-wired in-group preferences and still behave as good human beings. Biases do not translate into actions unless we let them.
Possible Response To Being Called a Racist
1. Yes! I am a racist! Everybody is a racist! The people who claim they are not racists are either liars or they are deluded or they are not in tough with their true feelings.
2. I do not care what you think!
3. I do not care what you think! Your accusation is just your way of ending a discussion of issues that you are not equipped to defend. better to end the conversation than expose yourself to be an idiot.
Is Race a Real Thing?
Is the concept of race just a social construct with no real biological significance, or are there (on average) fundamental, behavioral and cognitive differences between the races?
All human races can interbreed so we are definitely all the same species, but all dogs breeds can interbreed any yet there are significant differences between dog breeds, both physically, cognitively and behaviorally. If the reality of the differences between dog breeds can be extrapolated to the human races, then
integrating the races might encounter evolutionary obstacles. THIS TOPIC NEEDS MORE THOUGHT!