There’s very little new under the sun, and that goes double for things from the political world. Each week, Liberty Nation explores a contemporary political phenomenon that has deep roots in the past.
“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” — Nelson Mandela
Today, it seems everything is considered racist. Calling a person black or white, boy or girl can result in a mental and verbal breakdown of epic proportions among progressives. But are we really experiencing today racism of drastic dimensions or even approaching that which our ancestors witnessed?
Then: Slavery, Genocide, Segregation
Since the dawn of time, humans have fought for power and control. Segregation, slavery, and genocide have been among the vicious means to accomplish these goals. Many empires were built on the backs of slaves, and not just in America’s Deep South. Thankfully, this vile practice has been eradicated in the United States, although it is still practiced in other parts of the world.
Is slavery racist? It was in the United States. That’s because in large part white human beings were considered superior to those with black skin, and they used that position to subjugate the lesser. In some cases, slaves were treated as lower than animals, worked incessantly, separated from their families, beaten, humiliated, starved, and more. Later, as the slavery system unraveled, segregation took its place. In America’s history, blacks were forced to go to different schools from whites, drink from separate water fountains, not enter certain establishments, and struggle to find work.
The Europeans who arrived in the New World considered Native Americans savages. Tribes were hunted down and slaughtered until some became extinct. Lands were stolen, Indians were captured and made slaves, foreign diseases wiped out villages — all because the conquerors felt superior to the natives and took by might what they didn’t deserve by right.
Charles Darwin’s natural selection suggested survival of the fittest. Take this theory to the extreme, and we find Adolf Hitler’s efforts to create a Master Race of Aryans and rid Nazi Germany of the pollutant Jews. German Jewish men, women, and children were captured, starved, tortured, and gassed to death. The Holocaust and concentration camps are horrific reminders of just how deadly racial prejudice can be.
Progressives would have us believe that racism is as virulent and pervasive as ever, and that conservatives – or anyone who doesn’t bow to leftist beliefs – are perpetuating and encouraging more racism. But is that true?
Now: The Problem of Immigration
“Practically the whole human race is hypnotized because it thinks what somebody else told it to think.” — Ernest Holmes
Does racism exist in the United States today? Absolutely. But is it as horrifying as some on the left make it out to be? Well, slavery is not legal in America, although many on the left claim illegal immigrant families are being segregated in border enforcement facilities and children are being separated from their families, reminiscent of slavery days. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-CA) and her Squad cry on cue as they excoriate migrant detention centers, likening them to German concentration camps, when there is absolutely no comparison.
It is not realistic to suggest that the temporary separation of families at the border is akin to slave owners auctioning off family members to other slave owners. Nor are the detention centers even remotely like Nazi concentration camps, where prisoners were tortured and killed. Is the US guilty of genocide when illegal aliens willingly cross the Rio Grande border, eagerly present themselves to Border Patrol agents, and exploit the loopholes in the US immigration system? That’s not exactly rounding up a people for extinction. It is dangerous even to broadcast such inflammatory notions.
The differences between then and now are vast, and the left’s mission to make Americans think otherwise perpetuates and enflames race division in our country.
Today, racism is not what it was.
Racism then:
- Slavery.
- Genocide.
- Segregation.
- Christian and religious persecution.
Racism today:
- Calling Colin Kaepernick’s anthem kneeling unpatriotic.
- Nike shoes that sport the Betsy Ross flag.
- Historical statues of people who owned slaves.
- Freedom of speech.
- Beauty pageant winners who support the president and refuse to wear a hijab.
- Resisting reparations.
- President Donald Trump telling the Squad to go to other countries and fix problems there if they don’t like it here.
- Addressing people by their biological gender.
- Refusing to share bathrooms with opposite biological sexes.
Not everything we say or do is racist. Because a person is a specific color, age, or wealth status does not mean that he or she is prejudiced.
We see progressives looking for racism behind every tree and underneath every rock, and that is stifling our ability to find common ground and focus on the real issues. Christians are being persecuted around the world, including here in America. Our freedoms of speech, the right to bear arms, religion, and way of life are being threatened. Fight true racism when you see it; don’t manufacture it.
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To read more from Kelli Ballard, visit her author page. At Liberty Nation, we love to hear from our readers. Comment and join the conversation!
