by Maurice Sassoon

Created on: August 05, 2008   Last Updated: August 18, 2010

As we are all aware, racism is a notion that ones own stock is superior to those of others. Since time immemorial, such a belief formed the basis of peoples' thinking all over the world. Racism exists everywhere, in one shape or another. It should also be noted that racism in the United States is no different from that in many other countries.

Racism began rearing its ugly head long before the onset of civilization. Not even the Age of Enlightenment could change peoples' mode of thinking, although the need to promote racial equality brought about certain enactments of laws that made acts of racism punishable. Yet, such laws do not have the effect of eradicating racism altogether.

The notion that divisions in societies are supposedly preordained is totally unfounded. There is no difference in mental ability or in behavior among the different races. Throughout history, certain peoples have boasted that they were racially superior to other peoples, but they were only fooling themselves, as there is no scientific knowledge to support such claims. Distinct patterns of behavior, attributable to many cultures that are alien to one another, have contributed to the general view that one culture might not necessarily be equal to another, resulting in the kinds of racial discrimination that prevail from time to time, over which governments have no control.

Externally, the undesirable effects of racism appear to have lost their edge in the United States and Europe, but there is still that lingering specter of discrimination that continues to persist in many areas of society, and is considered to be the outgrowth of past social ills. For instance, discrimination against Jews and blacks stemmed from the belief that they are racially inferior. It is a mode of thinking, dating back to the time when Europe, in particular, used to be a hotbed of bigotry and antisemitism.

Undoubtedly, acts of racism in the United States were once rampant in many states, but it should also be noted that in certain parts of Africa, racism and bigotry still exist and continue to cause problems for millions of people.

The only route that can be taken, in order to overcome racism is by way of ignoring what some may consider to be cryptic acts of racism; appreciating the mitigation of the once inimical and hostile effects of racism, in consideration of the positive effects of the laws governing civil rights, and coming to terms with the fact that racism, in one form or another, cannot be entirely eradicated.

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