General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: White people (especially men...especially straight) seem to have lived in a bubble all their lives [View all]AOR
(692 posts)but is has ZERO effect on changing the social relations and arrangements that breed racism on the WHOLE. "Being the change you wish to see"...while a noble thought... has ZERO effect on changing systematic oppression and exploitation in any form. It is much more useful to understand where the foundations of racism come from and why.
Where does racism come from and why as a form of oppression and exploitation ? Looking inside oneself is a subjective process that has no real relation to objective material reality. Looking at objective and external material reality is where the solutions lie. Changing the system that breeds racism is far more important than changing oneself.
For many who deal in the subjective... It wasn't the fact that Blacks were hunted down, brought here chained in the pits of slave ships, and enslaved for money, profits, and political power that bred institutionalized racism. It was the "human nature of racism in the heart of man." Many want to look for individual solutions by changing the hearts and minds of people rather than getting to the roots of the oppression and exploitation. Everyone will then "look inside themselves" and defer to individual spirits to combat against the "evil that lurks within." A new mass of personal enlightenment will then solve the problem of systematic oppression and exploitation that is institutionalized racism. A bunch of nonsense to avoid struggle and changing the system of oppression and exploitation in which institutionalized racism was bred and thrives. Institutionalized racism is a man made tool of oppression and exploitation for profits and power set in motion by capitalist social relations.
A "cultural melting pot of equality and social justice" under capitalist social relations is so ridiculous and absurd a premise as to not even be worth the wasted breathe to give it the derision it deserves. It's time for people to face the facts. Social and Economic justice are not possible as long as capitalism exists.