We discarded the word tribalism for obvious reasons because it is loaded with a lot of baggage that is not helping our efforts to go past mislabeling and mischaracterization of other people.
For example, when the Europeans encountered cultures that did not wear clothes, they considered them primitive and backward. I am not saying that nudity should be encouraged, but in these societies where nudity was the norm, you could not sell pornography and nudity because the supply was obviously more than the demand.
In western societies, they are now exporting nudity in the form of pornography, and it is a multi-billion dollar industry. There are even communities that insist on going nude in the west. Therefore, to have labeled people who did not have any need for clothing primitive was not well-thought-out. We can leave this discussion for another book.
What I am saying is that instead of talking about tribalism, we should focus on ethnocentrism because it is prevalent across the globe, be it among Africans, Chinese, Indians, Hispanics, Caucasians, etc.
The basic question is why is ethnocentrism tolerated when other people engage in it at the exclusion of others, but when the Caucasians manifest it, everybody yells “racism”?
The term “racism” has been expanded in the United States of America to mean everybody in the Republican Party and anyone who supports President Trump. This generalization from people who themselves cannot get married to people who are not from their ethnic group and would not allow their children to get married to other children from different ethnic groups is hypocrisy of the highest category and must and should be pointed out.
Why is the idea of Chinatown in the United States of America cool and welcomed while the Caucasians are lambasted for being racist?
It is more than shocking the tales of horror and mistreatment you hear from Africans in China and the Middle East. I watch an add-in from China and even an exhibit depicting Africans that was too bad that I do not even want to mention it here. Where is the outrage against the Chinese for allowing their ethnocentrism to defile basic human courtesy? What happened to their sensitivity and the dignity of other humans? Is the amount of melanin in somebody’s skin the only measure of the person? Whoever thinks like this and behaves like this is ignorant about basic human biology and needs to go get some proper education.
I find it not only hypocritical but lamentable when some people from the Middle East where Christians and people of other faiths are tortured, imprisoned, and killed with impunity talk about Americans as racist or people in European countries as racist. These are the same individuals who enjoy all sorts of freedoms in the west that were fought by other people, but they have never pointed a finger against their countries of origin for their barbaric acts against other people in the name of their religion and culture. It is a shame that people who fled oppressive regimes that stifled growth and opportunities move to countries where other people shed their blood and sacrifice all to gain individual freedom and liberty and the best they can contribute is to bring a culture that wants to enslave women and take away the liberty of other people.
Those insisting on introducing and practicing the Sharia law in Western democracies are, in essence, saying that ethnocentrism trumps all. What they care about more than anything else is maintaining their way of life because the familiar is safer.
If racism were the proper word to describe the actions of these particular individuals, they would be considered the most grievous offenders, to say the least. While they are discriminating against other people, they tend to complain about racism the most. It is not uncommon for them to invoke Islamophobia, but they are not doing enough to let go of their own ways that are in direct conflict with western values and customs. It seems they have forgotten that something good about the west attracted them, and they uprooted themselves from countries where the Sharia law is practiced and the majority of the people embrace it. Obviously, the practice of Sharia law was not working for them, and they decided to go to a better place for a better life. Then, why come to the place and refuse to ask yourself what makes this place different from the one that you left? Why insist on implementing the same ways and customs that did not deliver for you?
All these questions are being asked because you uprooted yourself from your country of birth and moved to a different country because you wanted a better life.
If the reason you moved was not for better opportunities but to spread your ideas, conquer and take over, then you should not complain when there is pushback from people in your host country.
Unfortunately, we are living in such a “politically correct” world that what I have just written will cost some to call for my head. It seems common sense is dead and has been replaced by irrational emotionalism.
I do not have any score to settle with the Muslims or people who have different religious persuasions, but what I am saying is that if you escape a repressive and oppressive system that prevented you from reaching your full potential, you should, out of a good conscience and character, avoid re-establishing that same system in your new environment.
Secondly, you should be vocal about the abuses and excesses of the country of your birth that you fled from. The simple reason being that there are many people back there that are living under oppression and need to be set free.
When you insist on propagating racial superiority in the name of white privilege, you are not solving the problem, but digging a deeper hole for the entire society. After the election of the first biracial president in the history of the United States of America, he talked about racism more than any other president in the history of the country. To say that racism is in the DNA of the United States of America is tantamount to saying that there is no hope for the country. While such a statement scores good political points, it is venom that must be rejected.
Racism is not in the DNA of the United States of America. What each and every human has in them is the propensity to hate, be greedy, lust, lie, cheat, take advantage of others, and commit adultery, you name it.
These heart issues are not a respecter of persons and are color blind. You find people who behave like this all over the world and among all ethnicities. The truth is that we are more than flesh and blood and have a spiritual dimension that drives everything else. If this spiritual dimension is not functioning properly, nothing else will.
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