Why does racism exist?
Why does racism exist?
A first glimpse into my world of thoughts
Du kannst den Beitrag auch auf Deutsch lesen.
Assalamu alaikum and welcome!
My first post is about a topic that has occupied me the most and most intensively in my lifetime. It is one of the first posts I have written and edited, and also the first one through which I share my thoughts with you! I hope you enjoy reading it!
All over the news, events are spread about people being degraded because of their skin colour, origin, or religion. Whether it is slavery, the exploitation of Africa, police violence against people with the characteristics mentioned before, tragic cases like Hanau or the case of Marwa El-Sherbini who was stabbed to death at court by a racist because of her hijab, and many more. But even daily subtle experiences people have with racism, whether at school, at work, or at the supermarket.
I always asked myself what exactly racism is, how it originates, and why it is omnipresent and not easy to get rid of. As a Muslim with African and Arabic background and with time, I have experiences with racism. And all the more these questions came to my mind.
I was wondering where this hatred of people who are simply different from oneself comes from. Why optical characteristics like hair or skin colour, but also one’s origin, which no one has a say in and which does not show the value of a human being, initiates someone else to hate a person, to look down on them, to make them feel contempt directly or indirectly and to take away their right to live a life of dignity or to live at all. Racism is old, yet so present.
I believe that racism arises from the fear of the foreign. Because to protect oneself, everything that seems to be foreign is being rejected. It requires milliseconds to estimate someone to be able to show a reaction. This works best when considering external characteristics like appearance, hair colour, style of dress etc. And every characteristic has its stigmata, which means we generalize people according to their looks to estimate and to react to them.
I am not implying that stigma goes hand in hand with racism. But I do think that it forms the basis for what can develop in the worst case. That is because the impression someone has of a person, based on certain prejudices, is nothing else than limited ideas about primary characteristics of a human being which were not chosen by anyone.
No one was born and chose to be black, white, brunette, blonde, or red-headed. No one chooses their origin, their culture, and its history. And no one had power over all of these characteristics, and yet humans get judged based on them.
Yet it is precisely this variation that shows the beauty of the human being and the creation itself. Maybe humans tend to focus on differences. But everyone is way more than their origin or appearance. Even within an ethnic group, people tend to look for differences like the dialect, which leads into preferring one’s ethnic group and looking down on other ones.
But they are thoughts, values, ideas, interests or even flaws that every human being has, which make them special and likeable and that tell a lot more about someone instead of external appearance. And the more one sees of someone and the more one opens up, the more similarities are visible. And the more this feeling of someone being foreign disappears, which leads to putting the guards off towards others.
I once read that, according to the history of origin in Islam, the first human being ever created by Allah, Adam (as) was created out of clay with the variety in colour and procurement. And that we, his descendents, developed out of his variety.1 And there is beauty and wisdom in this. Because it implies that every human being, regardless of origin, appearance and way of thinking, has the same origin at the core. And this one fact itself is a tremendous common ground, considering the fact that people antagonize and fight each other precisely because they believe in having different origins...
I also once read that the earth once had one big continent named Pangaea, and that the outlines of country and continent changed over years because of earthquakes. It is visible, that the outline of West and south-west Africa matches the outline of south-east America.2
And the fact that humans connected with each other all over the world by travelling implies how many different roots one single person can have. There are DNA-tests nowadays that provide information about one’s origin and ancestors, which also shows how varied one person can be. Regardless of ones’ parents who originate from the same country.
And if this variety lives in oneself, how unfortunate is it to not appreciate the variety around us for what it is...unique and beautiful.
I could talk and write about this topic for hours. Because it affects so many of us and there seems to be no end in sight. With my thoughts on this topic, I would like to motivate each one of us to constantly reflect on ourselves and learn from our mistakes. And even if racism is a strong opponent of humanity and very stubborn, I very much hope that it will weaken in the future and that our children and grandchildren will have more means and resources to deal with the destructive effects of racism more effectively. And every little step in this direction is essential to combat racism, even if we won't see the fruits of our efforts in our lifetime.
I hope this post has inspired you and made you think. What are your thoughts on this topic? Have you had similar experiences or a different perspective? Share your opinions and stories in the comments below - I look forward to hearing from you and engaging in conversation. See you next time!
Your MindfulMuslima
Sahih Ibn Habban, Hadith Nr. 6160
"Pangaea." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Britannica