Stuart’s Thoughts 6/15/2020

Discrimination, Labels and Tribalism

Lois just sent out a link to an article by Will Bunch appearing in  today’s Philadelphia Inquirer which recounted a number of violent attacks on African Americans by whites, throughout the history of our country.  The question was asked - Why have these very ugly episodes of our past not been included in U.S. History curriculums taught in our schools?  Actually, they have not been totally overlooked.  I can remember brief references to various racial conflicts and the  “critical point” we needed to remember for the test, the date.  But, Will Bunch is essentially correct.  The evil, and often horrific details, are almost never even hinted at.  It would seem that, at the very least, the general nature of the crimes and the number of lives lost should be presented.

In my opinion, the above serves as an introduction to a much broader range of  topics with the ultimate objective of understanding why humans behave as they do, particularly with respect to evil and violence.  I’ve recently taken a stab at exploring this question in several things I am in the process of writing.  I’ll hopefully have some of this in final form soon to share with you.  However, I can  mention some of the topics being considered.

We need to gain a perspective on how extensive human on human violence has been throughout the history of the world.  As upsetting as it might be, we should recognize that humans kill other humans at a current rate of approximately one million per year worldwide. In fact, except for the bloody medieval period when that rate was about double, the current rate (~1.5% of all human deaths) has been essentially stable throughout history.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, that figure is not really different from other animal species.  We can learn a lot about ourselves by studying other species.  We often tend to forget that humans are just another species of the animal kingdom.  Why shouldn’t we be subject to all of the same forces of nature.  Our tendency is to believe that because we have a more developed “better brain” and can think rationally, we should conduct our lives on a higher plain.  

The events detailed by Will Bunch would argue against that thought. If you think about it, there are many other situations throughout history, as well as some taking place even now, that would also argue against that point (eg. the 2014 ISIS massacre of 2,000 -5,000 Yazidi men and the 1994 genocide of nearly 1 million Tutsi people in Rwanda are just two of many examples).

Humans, like other species of the animal kingdom, exhibit a strong tendency to become tribal.  Tribes are differentiated by labels and present day humans crave labels.  We want to be identified with a specific group, or tribe.  We have a strong drive to establish the superiority of our tribe over others.  However, the more labels we wear, the more we are subject to criticism from others not bearing that label.  That is exactly why I, personally,   reject all labels.  I only want to be labeled with my name.  I claim no allegiance to any group or tribe other than my family.  It’s an interesting exercise to think of all of the tribes you might be a member of - racial, ethnic, community, state, nation, section of the nation (e.g., New England), even sports fans.  There seems to be a rather contentious rivalry between Yankee fans and Red Sox fans.  I’m amused when I hear one of these rabid fans proclaim something like “we need to be stronger defensively”.  They are so attached to the tribe that they picture themself as an actual member of the team.

One label you can’t shed, even if you wanted to, is your skin color.  Think of how much of a role that label plays in what we call “racism”.  Maybe the term tribalism would more  appropriate.  Racism is a form of the more general term, tribalism.
From the perspective of humanity, it may be most of tribalism that we need to overcome.