Division is one of the oldest forms of control. If a group or nation can be divided, they can be conquered. It is only by unity and community that a group, nation, or planet can be superiorly strong. One of the most effective ways to divide people is to continually point out irrelevant "differences" amongst people and watch them segregate themselves.
Race, beyond religion, is quite possibly the biggest divider of people in modern day history. The difference now is that there no longer seems to exists a constant "victim" as we know the word to be defined. We have victims, sure, but there is not a constant group that is victimized like there was decades ago.What we have now is a mass of people who perpetuate racism and continue to segregate themselves. The groups that were once victims have now become there own enslavers and in the process have become what they hate.
Seeing in color
How many times have you seen a head line in the news: White cop shoots black man. Well, what difference does the color of either of these people make? It doesn't. Why? Because someone died and someone has to live with killing for the rest of their life. Suffering knows no color. Newspapers print these headlines for sensationalism, not journalism.
How many times have you started off describing someone as a "black" person or a "white" person? Is that really a detail that should be acknowledged? Ask yourself this, do you talk to someone of your same color differently than when you talk to someone of a different color? I've seen black people in the southern United States do that a lot! It's startling to me. That's not something people want to hear, but it's my personal observation. As a Buddhist, it's silly to me. For Buddhists, there is no separation.
Self inflicted segregation
I love movies. I'm an actor and a storyteller. I remember walking into a major retail store one day and looking through their movie section. I noticed they had divided their movies up by genre: Action, drama, horror, romance, etc. Then I noticed another section: Black Cinema. I thought, how ridiculous is that? Is this suggesting that black people can't enjoy all films or that they somehow have to watch movies that have predominately black actors? That's absurd. But what is crazier is that no one seemed to have a problem with a category of film that was sectioned by race, not genre.
What about B.E.T.? Black Entertainment Television. Why is this tolerated? Do you think we could have a channel called White Entertainment Television? No, we couldn't and we shouldn't. Nor should we have channels that segregate themselves in such ways. All this does is perpetuate the notion of separatism and it makes people somehow think that that's ok. Let me tell you, it's not ok, friends.
Race in politics
During the election of America's first black president, people pushed the agenda of: "if you don't like him you are racist!" This unfairly pressured a lot of people and shut down a lot of necessary dialogue that should of taken place. Particularly after his first term. People innately don't want to be called racist. I actually saw a headline recently that said, "What to tell white people who didn't like Obama" Really? That is racist. (Because the premise of the article has to do with a person's color.) How about people didn't like his policies or his leadership. Neither had anything to do with his color. His election should of been more unifying than ever but he failed and we failed to make that happen. Lots of people made his election about color in order to gain an upper hand. This is an unspoken form of discrimination. While effective, it is still stone age thinking and should not be tolerated by anyone.
The disregarded discrimination
People hold a notion that if a group of people has been discriminated against, they as a people, can never be found to be discriminators. That is a false narrative. Anyone can be racist at any time. Anyone of any color.
The Equal Opportunity Act was put into place to make sure that employers were hiring a percentage quota of minorities. The reality was that if an employer didn't have enough minorities at their business, and a white person applied, the job would have to go to a minority even if they were less qualified. That is discrimination. When you choose someone based off of their skin color, you have discriminated. It is no better or no worse if the colors were reversed. Discrimination is discrimination.
College Scholarships are another example of discrimination. Take the United Negro College Fund. You get a scholarship because of your skin color and someone else can't get the same scholarship because of their skin? Yup, that's racism. Ironic, very much so. But we turn the other cheek.
The N.A.A.C.P. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It is heart breaking that this organization even exists in 2017. Within it's own name, it is racist. It is self segregating. This is an ironic example of a group that has become what it allegedly stands against. But there lies the problem. Rather than be against something, stand for something. Don't be against war, be for peace. Don't be against racism, be for equality. Your approach toward circumstance can redefine it.
Contributing to the problem
If you see in terms of race, then you have contributed to the problem. What you think about expands. When you decide to see differences, then differences will be what you see. To dissolve racism, we must approach it like we do love. We all want to be loved. There is old saying, "Before you can love anyone else, you must first love yourself." In regards to racism, if you don't like racism, then don't be a racist. Pretty simple but tough. It's tough because we often overlook our own forms of prejudice. We fail to acknowledge our own short sightedness and biases. In order to stop seeing differences, we must decide to see our similarities. I breathe, you breathe. I bleed, you bleed. I feel, you feel. Love is love. We are not our bodies but the consciousness that inhabits these temporary vessels called form (bodies).
Labeling
We have been programmed since birth to label things: Good/bad. Right/wrong. Black/white. This is ok and that is not. Over and over. We take that labeling and we personify it. You can't be called simply American if you are a black man that was born in the United States. Nope. You have to be labeled, "African American". Even if you have never stepped foot into Africa. How much sense does that make? Seriously. I was born in America. I'm of mixed European decent but I don't call myself a "European American". Why? Because I'm American. But even that is a label. I'm not an immigrant. Our ancestors do not define me or you. You define you. Not your color or your family's past. We struggle to find our identities as humans so we gravitate to groups to make us feel like we are a part of something; all the while we are surrendering our commonality. You are not a slave because your ancestor was. You are not evil or oppressive because of the poor choices of others. You are this you, right now. Nothing else.
Owning guilt that isn't yours
Look at all the people in prison for, let's say, murder. Do you feel guilty that they murdered someone or do you feel guilty that they are in prison? No. Right? You wouldn't because you didn't have anything to do with them or their crimes. You may feel a sadness for the victims or for the murderers who threw their lives away, but you shouldn't have any guilt about it because you are not responsible. A lot of white people turn the other cheek when they should see racial unfairness in society and they seem to go way above and beyond in tolerating what is termed, reversed racism. The fact is, modern day people didn't contribute to slavery. Nearly every race of people were slaves at one time on this planet. I never owned anyone and no one is entitled to anything at this time in our nation because they, themselves, were never owned. Your guilt, changes nothing. Your guilt is unjust, imaginary, and useless. Nor are you a victim simply because someone you were related to was. So enough already.
Having a victim attitude
There is no such thing as privilege. White, black, or otherwise. Your life is your own. You are not your color, your bank account, or your circumstance. Privilege is an illusion and is perpetuated by people who don't want to solve their own problems. You are accountable. You are the sum total of your choices. You choose who you are. You can choose to be a victim or anything else you want to be. If you want to be loved, then you must choose to be love. Your perception of life defines your experience.
Race is an illusion. It is like a child's game of pretend. Or like a Halloween costume party where you somehow believe you actually are the character you dressed up as. It's not real. We can wake up though. We can realize the true nature of this experience. We can choose to take off the masks and be who we are. One race. One song.
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