by Ann Nurse

Created on: November 15, 2007   Last Updated: February 22, 2011

IS RACISM TAUGHT OR LEARNED, MAYBE BOTH?

Racism is a thorny subject.  Racism exists in America and it always has been in existence here.  Racism has the face of a hypocrite and for that reason it is both taught, in subtle way and it is learned the same way.  We even redistrict regions to influence the minority vote, or at least manipulate it.  For those who have not been subjected to racism, they call it a "non-problem."  Occasionally, on television blacks are accused of playing the race card.  People who listen to Rush or Fox News perpetuate racism and earn money doing it by feeding the mindsets of individuals who are racist.   Sensitivity envelops the subject of racism.

 When children as young as three years old don't feel good about themselves if they are not blond and blue-eyed, they have learned they are on the negative side of racism.  When you begin the subject of racism whites go on the defensive and say they are not responsible for slavery and what their forefathers instituted. They say it happened a long time ago, "get over it." Afro-Americans say, yes it happened a long time ago and it is still happening now. We have to start from this premise.  The first black president of the United States has been accused of not being an American-if it were true something would have already been done to correct it but racist sentiments keeps the lie alive.  Children hear how adults feel about different groups and they emulate the adult's behavior.  The truth is we all need each other and racism serves no group well.

Perception plays a huge role in racism. Our perception comes from our teaching/learning environment.   We have to begin on the same page as to what we mean by teaching and what we mean by learning.  Teaching means having information conveyed to you in a fashion that allows you to internalize the information and finally put it into practice or duplicate it.  Racism is tolerated and that teaches children that it must be OK, as long as doesn't appear to be  too overt.  Learning, it seems to me, requires some kind of engagement of the student in the process of receiving the information. The learning process is an interactive exchange. Here is an example given me by my grandmother. I have it in my latest book. She told me to watch a mother hen and her baby chickens. The mother hen was "imprinting" her chicks by showing them how to forage for food. She would walk, cluck, and scratch. The chicks did what they saw the mother hen doing.

The question of how you got to be a racist, taught or learned, is not nearly as important as knowing racism is wrong. Period. We don't have any problem kicking other bad habits and there should be no exception to this question. It is a sad fact that we claim to be a Christian nation and Christianity is build upon love.

The Word of God says, "God is Love." The most segregated hour in America is on Sunday morning when Blacks and whites go to their separate churches. Both groups claim they are going to Heaven when they die. The question is, "do they expect to go to a segregated Heaven?

Racism is a form of insecurity that gives some individuals a sense of security if they think there is someone (another human being in God's creation) that was created human but on a lower scale than themselves. How much sense does that make. It is equal to the intellect of a racist, This is called human equity disorder. I just created the name.

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