Where Does Racism Come From? As part of my series on racism, so to speak, I’m wondering where racism comes from. It doesn’t seem to be natural, as small children do not start out with racial tensions. I believe this is a common observation. In one South Park episode, the kids are supposed to debate whether the South Park flag should be changed. The flag depicts a group of white people standing around a black person hanging from a gallows. So the kids on the negative side (don’t change the flag) get up and say there has been a lot of killing in history, and they don’t see why people are so upset about killing. That’s when the adults realize that the kids didn’t know the issue was supposed to be about race.
“A more helpful type of history lesson would be lessons about past cases where people from different groups and very different backgrounds successfully cooperated and benefitted each other.”
Never considered this. I wonder what the best examples are?
I don't doubt that history classes contribute to racial tensions, but I am skeptical that racism would disappear if we just stopped teaching it to the next generation. Kids aren't racist by default because they have no reason to be. Why would they have a problem with other people based on superficial characteristics like skin color? But as these non-racist kids get older, surely they would start to notice some non-superficial differences between the races. Things that actually matter, unlike skin color. There are many differences in culture, patterns of behavior, etc., that can be distinguished along racial lines. And so I think once these non-racists notice these patterns, some of them would start to become racist.
– High ethnic diversity has a negative effect on innovation, but high “values diversity” has the opposite effect, as long as ethnic diversity is low. The best innovation happens in countries that are ethnically homogenous but diverse in values orientation.
– In Switzerland, social peace between diverse factions isn’t maintained by integrated coexistence, but rather by strong topographic and political borders that separate groups and allow them autonomy.
– “Our analysis supports the hypothesis that violence between groups can be inhibited by both physical and political boundaries.” Link.
– Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health showed that multiethnic diversity decreases happiness among all groups, and most markedly for the downscale and economically dispossessed.
– “[E]thnic heterogeneity [diversity] explains 55% of the variation in the scale of ethnic conflicts, and the results of regression analysis disclose that the same relationship more or less applies to all 187 countries. … [E]thnic nepotism is the common cross-cultural background factor which supports the persistence of ethnic conflicts in the world as long as there are ethnically divided societies.” Link.
– Genetic Similarity Theory (GST) could help explain why diverse groups in close proximity increases ethnic conflict and ethnic nepotism.
– Genetic diversity has contributed significantly to frequency of ethnic civil conflict, intensity of social unrest, growth of unshared policy preferences, and economic inequality over the last half-century.
– Using social science data and computer modeling, researchers found that policies that attempt to create neighborhoods that are both integrated and socially cohesive are “a lost cause”.
– The numbers and the genetic distance matter. Minority groups that get above a certain critical mass, and that are culturally distant from the majority culture, begin to self-segregate from the majority, moving society toward division and away from cooperation.
I read the your article. Parts of your article were quoted on another blog which drew me to read your article in full. Your views so unsettled me that I felt the need to write this brief response. First and foremost, (and the only point I’ll make) you erroneously assume children enter school with minds like “tabulae rasae.” In fact, such a state would be impossible. School children are already situated in the world. They have a given set of relationships which come ready-made with expectations, obligations and value judgements—some true and some false, some good and some evil. They are in a larger culture and they are part of a history—also filled with value judgments. I respectfully submit that you fail to understand that we are all part of a history which is one of many reasons why history needs to be taught and taught well. This seems to be an error common to a libertarian mindset. Because of this, among other misconceptions, your argument is painfully naïve at best.
Maybe kids are not racists because they have not made enough observations of how various groups tend to behave. But I understand why you have to rule that out by default.
I don't know where I "learned" it, but here's a wild anecdote about racism or similar:
When I visited south side Chicago (~14 years old) for a weekend and went out walking alone at night and I crossed paths with a a random black guy on the sidewalk, I felt intense anticipation of him punching me in the face as he walked past, which of course was ridiculous.
In case anyone’s interested, this piece has caused a reasonable response here: https://theelectricagora.com/2022/10/13/where-does-racism-come-from-a-response-to-michael-huemer/.
“A more helpful type of history lesson would be lessons about past cases where people from different groups and very different backgrounds successfully cooperated and benefitted each other.”
Never considered this. I wonder what the best examples are?
Seems like teaching the idea of universality of human behavior is the solution.
BTW we would all be unhappy if teachers taught students facts that make blacks look bad relative to whites even if they are in fact facts.
It really is incredible that you don't feel the need to define that accursed word, 'Racism'.
I don't doubt that history classes contribute to racial tensions, but I am skeptical that racism would disappear if we just stopped teaching it to the next generation. Kids aren't racist by default because they have no reason to be. Why would they have a problem with other people based on superficial characteristics like skin color? But as these non-racist kids get older, surely they would start to notice some non-superficial differences between the races. Things that actually matter, unlike skin color. There are many differences in culture, patterns of behavior, etc., that can be distinguished along racial lines. And so I think once these non-racists notice these patterns, some of them would start to become racist.
Evidence/studies you may be interested in... since they directly contradict some of your points.
– As diversity increases, politics becomes more tribalistic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/business/economy/racial-identity-and-its-hostilities-return-to-american-politics.html?_r=0
– High ethnic diversity has a negative effect on innovation, but high “values diversity” has the opposite effect, as long as ethnic diversity is low. The best innovation happens in countries that are ethnically homogenous but diverse in values orientation.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504851.2015.1130785
– Diversity hinders between-group cooperation at both the one-on-one and group levels.
http://spq.sagepub.com/content/78/4/324.short
– Social trust is negatively affected by ethnic diversity, case study in Denmark from 1979 to the present.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9477.2012.00289.x/abstract
– Ethnic homogeneity and Protestant traditions positively impact individual and societal levels of social trust.
http://esr.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/4/311.short
– “In longitudinal perspective, [across European regions], an increase in immigration is related to a decrease in social trust.”
http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/content/93/3/1211.abstract
– Immigration undermines the moral imperative of those who most favor welfare benefits for the neediest.
http://cos.sagepub.com/content/53/2/120.abstract
– The negative effect of community diversity on social cohesion is likely causal.
https://academic.oup.com/esr/article/32/1/54/2404332/Does-Ethnic-Diversity-Have-a-Negative-Effect-on
– In Switzerland, social peace between diverse factions isn’t maintained by integrated coexistence, but rather by strong topographic and political borders that separate groups and allow them autonomy.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0095660
– “Our analysis supports the hypothesis that violence between groups can be inhibited by both physical and political boundaries.” Link.
– Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health showed that multiethnic diversity decreases happiness among all groups, and most markedly for the downscale and economically dispossessed.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283881736_Happiness_in_modern_society_Why_intelligence_and_ethnic_composition_matter
– Using data from US states, study finds a negative relationship between ethnic polarization and trust.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1465-7287.2010.00215.x/abstract
– Increasing social pluralism (diversity) is correlated with increased chance of collective violence.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/425106?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
– “[E]thnic heterogeneity [diversity] explains 55% of the variation in the scale of ethnic conflicts, and the results of regression analysis disclose that the same relationship more or less applies to all 187 countries. … [E]thnic nepotism is the common cross-cultural background factor which supports the persistence of ethnic conflicts in the world as long as there are ethnically divided societies.” Link.
– Genetic Similarity Theory (GST) could help explain why diverse groups in close proximity increases ethnic conflict and ethnic nepotism.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886912005569
– Genetic diversity has contributed significantly to frequency of ethnic civil conflict, intensity of social unrest, growth of unshared policy preferences, and economic inequality over the last half-century.
https://www.nber.org/papers/w21079
– Using social science data and computer modeling, researchers found that policies that attempt to create neighborhoods that are both integrated and socially cohesive are “a lost cause”.
http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2013/study-asks-is-a-better-world-possible/
– The numbers and the genetic distance matter. Minority groups that get above a certain critical mass, and that are culturally distant from the majority culture, begin to self-segregate from the majority, moving society toward division and away from cooperation.
http://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/publications/wps/WP201530.pdf
– School integration (forced proximate Diversity) will not close race achievement gaps.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2016-01-08/the-academic-benefit-of-reducing-school-segregation-may-be-overblown
– Exclusionary dating is a natural consequence of racial diversity.
http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/content/89/3/807
– Company diversity policies don’t help minorities or women, and they psychologically discriminate against White men.
https://hbr.org/2016/01/diversity-policies-dont-help-women-or-minorities-and-they-make-white-men-feel-threatened
– Greater classroom and neighborhood diversity is linked to stronger tendencies to choose same-ethnic rather than cross-ethnic friends.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jora.12248/abstract
– A longitudinal test of the impact of diversity finds that it makes existing residents feel unhappier and more socially isolated.
https://www.academia.edu/3479330/Does_Ethnic_Diversity_Have_a_Negative_Effect_on_Attitudes_towards_the_Community_A_Longitudinal_Analysis_of_the_Causal_Claims_within_the_Ethnic_Diversity_and_Social_Cohesion_Debate
Gender diversity does not promote nonconformity in decision-making bodies. (But individual ability diversity does.)
http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2382
I read the your article. Parts of your article were quoted on another blog which drew me to read your article in full. Your views so unsettled me that I felt the need to write this brief response. First and foremost, (and the only point I’ll make) you erroneously assume children enter school with minds like “tabulae rasae.” In fact, such a state would be impossible. School children are already situated in the world. They have a given set of relationships which come ready-made with expectations, obligations and value judgements—some true and some false, some good and some evil. They are in a larger culture and they are part of a history—also filled with value judgments. I respectfully submit that you fail to understand that we are all part of a history which is one of many reasons why history needs to be taught and taught well. This seems to be an error common to a libertarian mindset. Because of this, among other misconceptions, your argument is painfully naïve at best.
Maybe kids are not racists because they have not made enough observations of how various groups tend to behave. But I understand why you have to rule that out by default.
I don't know where I "learned" it, but here's a wild anecdote about racism or similar:
When I visited south side Chicago (~14 years old) for a weekend and went out walking alone at night and I crossed paths with a a random black guy on the sidewalk, I felt intense anticipation of him punching me in the face as he walked past, which of course was ridiculous.
It is probably helpful to differentiate history from Heritage here