It is a natural human tendency to look for and exaggerate differences in order to create distinction, especially WRT status hierarchies. These distinctions might be based in appearance (skin color or hair color), they might be cultural (religious beliefs/practices, diet), or language/education--basically ANYTHING that can be leveraged to create distinction.
The less actual variation, the less consequential the thing used to create distinction will be, but the distinction will often be seen or made as being even more substantive.
The purpose of the distinctions is to basically Other the people that you are making distinct, so that they do not have to be treated as fellow human beings--so that they can be denied rights or even, in extreme cases, life, without having done that to "actual human beings." It is the justification for preferential treatment/mistreatment.
This is a core mechanic of the whole Us/Them human dynamic.
Great explanation; thank you. I continue to struggle w/ it being a "natural human tendency." Why is that? And is it really? Why isn't it our tendency to want to cooperate vs. compete / "Other"?
The short answer is evolution. The full answer literally takes books to cover (but still basically breaks down to evolution, it just expalins the details better).
That was a really insightful book. Caste is a much more useful explanation for US racism than just race. Look at how Jamaican and African immigrants feel about native born US African Americans.
1) Will there ever be an end to the things coming out of MAGA world that sane people can't get our heads around?
2) In Isabel Wilkerson's book *Caste*, she discusses the whole idea of "race" extensively. It's fascinating.
It is a natural human tendency to look for and exaggerate differences in order to create distinction, especially WRT status hierarchies. These distinctions might be based in appearance (skin color or hair color), they might be cultural (religious beliefs/practices, diet), or language/education--basically ANYTHING that can be leveraged to create distinction.
The less actual variation, the less consequential the thing used to create distinction will be, but the distinction will often be seen or made as being even more substantive.
The purpose of the distinctions is to basically Other the people that you are making distinct, so that they do not have to be treated as fellow human beings--so that they can be denied rights or even, in extreme cases, life, without having done that to "actual human beings." It is the justification for preferential treatment/mistreatment.
This is a core mechanic of the whole Us/Them human dynamic.
Great explanation; thank you. I continue to struggle w/ it being a "natural human tendency." Why is that? And is it really? Why isn't it our tendency to want to cooperate vs. compete / "Other"?
The short answer is evolution. The full answer literally takes books to cover (but still basically breaks down to evolution, it just expalins the details better).
That was a really insightful book. Caste is a much more useful explanation for US racism than just race. Look at how Jamaican and African immigrants feel about native born US African Americans.