re: Why did racism suddenly flare up in the past few years?

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I just simply don't know people who hate other people on the basis of their skin color

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It's not necessarily so much about "hate".

I think racism is way overblown by the pandering left wing media, but It is certainly not gone entirely. Honesty, what do you think the reaction would be from a lot of the posters on here if their daughter brought home a black man?

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I just simply don't know people who hate other people on the basis of their skin color.

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This will be extremely TLDR, but frick it. Some observation / possibilities if interested:

It's not as shallow as hate, it has to do with the recent need to overcome a once necessary instinctual fear programmed into everyone's DNA. The survival instinct to subconsciously associate with those you find commonality with in any given scenarios initial stages, or to be wary of those you share less in common with when forced to choose. If it wasn't in your genetic history at some point you wouldn't be here because those prior civilizations didn't survive the brutal and competitive expansion of mankind.

Indians were right to fear Europeans, there was a time Europeans needed to fear Muslims ( almost conquered Europe), a time Muslims needed to fear Europeans ( Crusades), a time Chinese needed to fear the Japanese (recent Rape of Nanjing), a time Africans needed to fear Europeans (obviously), and a time people of European descent needed to fear Africans ( South Africa - President Zuma ), and so on. Additionally, people of all races were right to fear regional peoples with much more subtle differences throughout mankinds existence.

I believe that instinctual wariness / fear is no longer a necessity in today's United States. But it's still somewhere in us and that instinct can lead to the unnecessary tensions that almost make the instinct still seem necessary.
There are always people willing to instigate and draw on that fear and the resulting natural response to advance their own agenda, or grab more power, through fear mongering too. On all sides. Making it harder to overcome

Recent examples outside of the US could also be a subconscious obstacle for some when it comes to lowering their guard. People much more similar to each other (from every race) have done things that make our recent troubles seem tame.
- Holocaust 1940s
- Sunni/Shiite Muslims to this day
- Hutu/Tutsi Africans in 1990s Rwanda.
- Bosnian Genocide 1990s
- Rape of Nanjing) 1930s




How I think fear currently manifests among individuals and can lead to the perception of hate in our country today:

Are white people hateful when they see a black person in daily life? Sure there are a few, but 99% are not and most have black friends or people they enjoy spending time with.
Are black people hateful when they see white people in daily life? I don't think most are, I think some are wary due to actions of past generations and it can result in hate in cases. I can't say I wouldn't be somewhat wary if the roles were reversed. I actually imagine it being hard not to emotionally, even though logically none of us here were involved. I feel most have white friends or people throughout their lives they enjoy spending time with, regardless of opinions on the big picture.

Where fear comes into play is when you look at the demographics as a whole, the masses without a face.

Some Black people see they are 13% of the population and are frightened by the "what ifs." At that percentage If white people really do become hostile what can they do democratically to prevent mistreatment? Can can they ensure their future generations desired way of life can't be instantly altered by the whims of a majority? Whenever there is a perceived "us and them" I can understand possible insecurities that can come with knowing in a hypothetically extreme scenario you really aren't in complete control of your own destiny. It's hard to have complete trust that "someone else" will not act in their best interest over yours in tough times. I believe it's similar for any minority (racially, religiously, or culturally) in ever nation on earth.
Then there can be resentment due to feeling unfairly demonized and stereotyped as a whole due to actions of some. Which isn't wrong, but if you stereotype an entire group as sterotypying you it's not much different.

I know white people who see the AA community stick together and fight for black issues first and foremost (due to increased uncertainty that comes with being a minority), then when white people address white issues they perceive the narrative to be they are racist and any action being is inherently negative to all other demographics. Some feel unfairly demonized and stereotyped as a whole through political fear mongering, stereotyping others groups as stereotyping them. They feel fear mongering is so effective it overshadows actual policy. Combine that with future demographics projections and that can lead to some to the same insecurities of current minority groups. What happens when more and more people will be voting strictly against the "evil" white culture? So there is a perceived "us and them," and any insecurities that can come with the minority mentality"

It's kind of an unfortunate irony that how we are all the same is what can create the divide some use to see each other as different.

I'm not here to argue likelihoods or justify these insecurities. Just stating how I think some on both sides see things. And it's very similar, but not widely realized IMO.




I believe neither as a whole are anywhere remotely close to the threat that some from the other assumes them to be. And the shared uncertainty by some on each side in regards to that opinion is the only thing that makes any signifanct number from either a potential threat to each other in the first place. It's what exacerbates the "us and them" mentality and that mentality is really the biggest threat to our nation. Which unfortunately would mean that we are our biggest threat, but encouragingly should mean eliminating that threat is well within our own power with no outside help.

It's extremely common and actually the norm to side with someone of a different race that you know personally against someone of your own race you are not familiar with. It's only when you know nothing about people that instinct drives you to initially side with those you can identify a commonality with. And there are 300+ million people in the country so you are never going to personally know anything resembling a meaningful portion of them. Yet because of social media you can communicate with any single one of them instantly, and if it that interaction is offensive you can bet everyone else will see it eventually even further polarizing the population.

We need to somehow perceive ourselves as a whole from afar the same way we perceive personal interactions throughout an average day of our lives.
Interactions between different races number in the hundreds of millions every single day, by almost every citizen of every race. The incredible majority of which never result in anything negative or are even given a second thought.
IMO the political effectiveness, on both sides, of preying on these fears is the biggest obstacle in overcoming the tensions that come with them.



These are just some observations/opinions based on relationships with people on both sides of the fence, and an attempt to be as objective as possible without pushing any personal political stances.