Now, let's get down to brass tacks!
Of all the facts dealt with in this poor man's mini series, what may be the hardest to accept in some quarters is that no race, ethnic group or nationality can be proved better by heredity in character or quality than any other.
This statement strikes at the deep-rooted conceits and prejudices which have caused countless conflicts resulting in death and suffering for untold millions of people and which have been used to justify the enslavement or subjugation of some groups by other groups -- not only in the past but in our own recent time. Fortunately, there is a growing realization that if mankind is to have a happier and more peaceful future, the peoples of the world must root out their old racial biases and adjust to the truths about themselves that science is revealing.
Couple this, however, with the fact that a vast majority of the population, removed physically and emotionally from the heart of the matter, does not give a damn as long as their lives are not directly affected.
The challenge is to minimize mankind's historical need to dominate on one hand and to overcome resultant deep-rooted persecution complexes on the other. Admittedly, a tall order; but let's look at some important truths.
Racial stereotypes: The term "stereotype" is applied to particular traits of temperament popularly associated with specific racial or ethnic groups and it is increasingly a sensitive issue in society today. I need not elaborate on the not-always-complementary characterizations here -- we are all to familiar with with them. Whatever limited truth there may be in these stereotypes in any general sense, it is certain that they do not apply to a great many individuals of each racial group and in all probability have no hereditary basis.
The question of whether there are racial differences in thinking ability and in capacities for tasks of different kinds cannot be answered precisely; first, because environments are and have been so different among the world's peoples, and, second, there are yet no scientific tests by which any inherited racial differences in mental capacities could be accurately determined.
As with other human behavioral traits, a basic fallacy has always been to confuse performance -- what given peoples have or have not done, or are or are not doing, with their capabilities.
Physical achievements: One of the clearest examples of the distinction between racial performance and capacity has been provided by Negro athletes in North American sports. Until a few decades ago, Black athletes were almost completely absent from all professional sports except prizefighting (where it was thought that their more "animal" nature enabled them to excel). In professional baseball for instance, Blacks were relegated to minor leagues of their own and their total absence from the major leagues was taken as evidence that they somehow lacked the capacity for top professional competition.
That notion was completely shattered once the color barriers were lifted (i.e. the Jessie Owens and Jackie Robinson stories) and in an amazingly short period of time Black athletes began starring not only in baseball, but in professional football and basketball, far beyond their proportion in the population. Similarly, as opportunities increased for Blacks to enter colleges and be trained for varsity athletics, they swept to the top in almost every sport, particularly track and field where they now dominate many of the events that have become mainstays of Olympic teams.
Although the theory has been offered that Negro body build, musculature and special reactive capabilities may have something to do with their athletic prowess, it is unquestionably the environmental change that has so suddenly moved them from the limbo of the sports world into brilliant eminence.
Cultural achievements: As with sports, it may be dangerous to draw conclusions about inherent abilities of different racial and ethnic groups on the basis of their accomplishments and state of advancement at any given time. During the thousands of years of man's cultural evolution, there has been virtually no racial group which at one time or another has not contributed greatly to progress in invention, industry, art, music, religion, science, social organization and numerous other fields.
Changing places at the head of the historical procession of conquerors and cultural leaders have been Semites, Mongols, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Turks. And repeatedly, those out in front at one period fell behind later, allowing those who had long been backward or stagnant to take the lead and forge ahead.
It must be stated that the equalization of environmental conditions, education and opportunities for all races is still far off, and only when it is achieved can any judgment be made as to their inherent capacities. What has been said of African Blacks can also apply to other present or recent primitive peoples everywhere in the world -- from Eskimos and first Canadian indigenous peoples to South Sea islanders -- many of whom have proven that given the proper training and opportunity they can brush aside supposed inborn shortcomings and quickly master complex technical know-how.
Race prejudice relatively new: Not only the belief that one racial group is by inheritance "superior" in capacities and character to others, but race prejudice itself, dates back actually only a couple of centuries. Among ancient peoples there was no such race consciousness or prejudice. Kings would marry princesses of other races and Caesar hardly felt superior to Cleopatra, nor Solomon to the dark Queen of Sheba. Divisions among ancient peoples were tribal or political rather than racial.
For instance, the Biblical Hebrews thought of themselves as a "chosen people" mainly in the cultural and religious sense, and did not regard alien people as biologically inferior, nor ban intermarriage with those of other racial stocks who adopted their religion. Nor is there any evidence of inborn or instinctive antagonism between racial groups. On the contrary, science has shown that people have to be taught to hate and to look down on other races and that without elder influence white children, for instance, would no more shun black or yellow children than white birds, cats or dogs shun those of other colors.
As it happens, and in all honesty, racial antagonism in recent times has stemmed mainly from whites.
We need to remember that Canada was initially the location of both British and French colonies before it became a country and by the early eighteenth century, Britain had emerged as the biggest and most prosperous slave trading nation in the world and the number one slave carrier for European countries.
In fact, the presence of Blacks in Britain dates back nearly two thousand years. There are records in the British museum which show that African officers and soldiers were part of the Roman army that occupied Britain in 300 AD. Many references to Black people in this country can also be found in the literature of the Elizabethan period.
British diplomats formed the first Canadian government and immigrants from both Britain and France became the backbone of settlement communities, bringing with them illusions of white superiority and prejudices of long standing from their homeland that became ingrained in new world society and continue to exist to this very day.
We can all learn from this concluding acknowledgement...We must discard the antiquated thinking of our forefathers and political leaders that have created injustices leading us to the racial discrimination bind in which we currently find ourselves as a nation.
I have attempted to bring out in this three-part series how all human traits and all human beings, individually and collectively, are the end results of a constant interaction between the effects of heredity and environment. The unique heredity endowments of human beings have enabled them, alone among other animals, to consciously shape their environments and control their lives, carrying them an enormous distance from their original state, But this same advancement -- technological and cultural -- has brought with it, increasingly, both environmental and genetic pollution.
What will matter most from here on is not, or merely, how much more technological or scientific progress is made, but how far it will go toward providing saner, healthier, more enlightened, fuller living and peaceful coexistence for the world's people.
In the end, no matter how you look at it, pollution (environmental and genetic) may well be the downfall of the human race. It all depends on how we deal with it, together and as equals, in the crucial days ahead. Mutual respect will be essential...It cannot be any other way.
We do well to accept the fact that respect is a two-way street. It can neither be mandated, forced or demanded. Rather, respect has to be demonstrated by all parties and ultimately earned through genuine deeds and actions.
If only we could leave the past behind and go back and start all over again, but life does not allow us that option. Too bad! It would be so much easier.
I'm sure Adam would agree!
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