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Unpopular opinion alert!

I am sure someone’s toes are about to get stepped on. It’s fine. Really. You’ll live. You aren’t “holier than thou,” or anyone else for that matter.

I am getting tired of people making the following statement:

I’m not racist.

Why am I tired of it? Well, because it simply isn’t true and you are lying to yourself.

Every one of us has racism built into us. It’s part of our human condition. It’s not something that can be eliminated. We are built to be naturally wary, scared, skeptical, cautious,  (whatever you want to call it) about people who are different than us.

When you have that fleeting moment go through your brain about someone different than you, whether it is based on a stereotype or actual experience, that is racism. Denying that it happens isn’t dealing with the truth.

What you do with that fleeting moment determines the degree of your racism. Yes, there are degrees racism. There have to be because some people are better at fighting their natural instinct that others. Is it just a passing moment? Is is something you dwell on and allow to affect your thoughts and feelings? Is it something that you act upon? Therein lies the challenge. What you do with it makes the difference. Can you train yourself not to act on your racism. I believe so. Can you train yourself to eliminate the fleeting moments completely? Nope. I don’t believe so.

Let’s stop pretending racism can be eliminated. It just can’t be. Can actions and words be eliminated? Maybe. We can make people so fearful of actions that they just don’t do them anymore. Think of the reverse Pavlov’s Dogs experiment. We can make sure people are so averse to acting or speaking on their racism that they are afraid to be around other people or go into society. Is that what we really want or need to do? Doubt it. It might actually make things worse. Just a theory, but I think we are getting to that point as we see governments try to legislate what or how you think.

Is racism bad? Of course. There is no debating that. Can it be eliminated? No.

What do you think? Talk amongst yourselves…