Racism! So simple a word, yet echoes in silence, breeding hatred, pain, and fear in it wake. Almost every individual who is of age, somehow have an opinion about racism, as they are either assumed to be a perpetrator or a victim of it. But, what exactly is this racism?
Many are of the belief that racism is simply the belief that some races are inherently superior or inferior to others, resulting in prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against individuals or groups based on their race or ethnicity. Yes, this is racism, but it goes deeper than that. In-fact, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I guess this is why racism might never end, why? Because it is the human nature.
Racism isn’t always about hatred, superiority or inferiority. At the very core, it is simply preference, and the self preservation of that preference. Funny right? Because we all have preferences. However, how one goes about the self preservation of the said preferences is what matters. A racist individual doesn’t necessarily need to hate, or have a sense of superiority or inferiority complex to discriminate a person simply for their race.
Racism runs deep throughout human history. It is the very foundation, kingdoms, empires, and nations are built upon. Drawing invincible borders around landscapes, making it one of the most important and powerful tool in politics of any form. Be it family, ethnic group, religious group, nations etc. why? Because it’s a form of self-preservation.
Throughout history up until this day, there are and will always be individuals who have mastered the art of racism through manipulations, hatred, and fear. Therefore, normalizing dehumanization, and all sort of atrocities without being seen as the bad guy.
I could go on and on, but then i might bore you with a very long write-up. Now, given that racism is the human nature, how does one break free from its grip?
What is the way forward?
The truth is, the human nature is not a problem to be solved, rather something to be understood. The unexamined life is not worth living. By understanding in itself is the way forward.
If we are to survive as a specie, unity is at the very heart of that. It is essential for individuals to look within, introspect, understanding that at the very core in this plain existence, we are only human. And one’s preference doesn’t negate that.
So therefore, empathy is needed. Empathy being the highest form of the human nature is an essential trait towards creating a better society. And only God can help one attain that height. God is the truth, and everything else is false.
With God one can never go wrong. Jesus Christ said; “I and my father are one.” What does he mean? God is within you. However, the presence of God is clouded by the presence of evil within individuals, and the by product is what one sees in the world today. Slave to the flesh, slave to desires, so one comes up with all sort of illusions to shield themselves from the truth. For this, introspection and repentance is required.
©️Victor E. Ojei, 2025.
VICTOR OJEI 
Beautifully written
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Thank you ❤️
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I see racism not as a form of self-preservation, as you suggest, but rather as domination over others.
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When you put it that way, you might miss it. Because then, one might ask: what do you mean by self preservation? Everyone has preferences. However it is how one goes about the self-preservation of these preferences that matters. The truth is domination is simply a by-product of racism and not necessarily the cause of it, because there have to be a preexisting factor, or a sense of value on which the the sense of dominance is built upon in the first place. You know what they say? A drop of water makes a mighty ocean. At the very core it all begins with a the spark of preference. It is how one goes about with the self preservation of the said preference that matters.
Let me give you an example: Should a certain black child of 5 years old happens to tell her mom she doesn’t like the skin colour of her friend who is white. And her reason is because she turns red when they play, almost like she was bleeding. She already developed a sense of preference towards skin colour, but would one call that racism? She’s a kid, she has no idea what racism is, neither was she taught, because she is surrounded by lovely people.
Now, let us say a certain black individual, turned down the job application of a qualified white candidate, and give the role to a least qualified black candidate simply for race and not qualifications. Is this racism? One thing is for sure, this is injustice, prejudice, and discrimination towards a certain individual simply for his race. However, he doesn’t necessarily need to hate, or have a sense of superiority complex toward the white candidate.
The second example is similar to the idea behind the concept of equity, where favouritism is applied across race and gender lines, in appointing roles to create a form of balance. One could call this racism and injustice towards the individuals who lost out due to favouritism.
Bottom line is, racism at the very core begins with preference, and everyone has preferences. However it is how one goes about the self-preservation of these preferences that matters. This is where empathy comes in. And empathy comes from God which shatters all illusions with the truth.
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Victor, thanks for taking the time to respond to my comment.
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🙏🏾❤️
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It sounds like you are talking about tribalism. People congregate together in groups that they feel comfortable with. And yes, that is a form of self-preservation. People are more apt to work together in harmony.
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Beautiful insight. This article is not to mistake tribalism for racism, rather to unravel the depth behind racism, which is preference. It all begins with a spark of preference, and whether it manifest into tribalism, racism, and whatever in the end, all depends on how one go about the self-preservation of the said preference.
It is easier to hate and discriminate an individual, or a group if you already don’t find them desirable.
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Interesting perspective.
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Thank you Susanne
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Wow. Equating racism to ‘preference’ sounds like the final boss of gaslighting. I prefer this over that, but I don’t think ‘this’, i may choose, superior or more valuable, or ‘that’, which you may choose, less deserving. Nor am I actively attempting to eradicate the human rights, freedoms and health of what doesn’t look like me. Or, maybe it does look like me, but Id like to consider myself superior? Either way, this ain’t it. Respectfully.
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I am not sure i totally understand this comment Shawnerly. But I will try to give a satisfying answer based on what i was able to get from it.
I am not trying to over-simplify racism, like you suggested (final boss of gaslighting). But the truth is racism isn’t something one is born with, it is taught, it is learnt, it is developed. And at the very core, it all begins with a spark of preference. How one decides to go about the preservation of the said preferences is what matters resulting to probably racism.
If one is to break free, one needs to understand this, to have a proper understanding on how certain individuals of which are mostly the elites, uses racism to divide, conquer, and control, without being seen as the bad guy, evading human rights violations. It is easier to develop racism towards a group or an individual, if you already don’t find them desirable. The elites understand this, the power of preference. This tactic is use in business, politics etc.
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There’s a great lack of compassion in our world that’s accompanied by so very much anger or rage.
I myself have been angrier over the last few years — perhaps in large part in relation to the Internet ‘angry algorithm’ sending me the stories, etcetera, it has (unfortunately correctly) calculated will successfully agitate me into keeping the (I believe, overall societally-/socially-damaging) process going thus maximizing the number of clicks/scrolls I’ll provide it to sell to product advertisers.
However, we, at least as individuals, can resist flawed yet normalized human/societal nature thus behavior; and if enough people do this and perform truly humane acts, positive change on a large(r) scale may result.
Perhaps somewhat relevant to this are the words of American sociologist Stanley Milgram (1933-1984), of Obedience Experiments fame/infamy: “It may be that we are puppets — puppets controlled by the strings of society. But at least we are puppets with perception [and] awareness. And perhaps our awareness is the first step to our liberation.”
… Still, it could be that the human race so desperately needs a unifying existential fate-determining common cause, that an Earth-impacting asteroid threat or, better yet, a vicious extraterrestrial attack is what we have to collectively brutally endure together in order to survive the longer term from ourselves.
Humanity would all unite for the first time ever to defend against, attack and defeat the humanicidal multi-tentacled ETs, the latter needing to be an even greater nemesis than our own formidably divisive politics and perceptions of differences, both real and perceived — especially those involving race and nationality.
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I really liked this post and your profound reflections, which I completely agree with.
A sad thing happened to me yesterday at Mass (I’m Catholic). During the invocations to the Lord, the nun who was leading the various prayers invited us to pray for the CHRISTIAN children of Gaza… And the others? It still shocks me every time I think about it. Is this the teaching of Christ?
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Thank you Luisa. I am also a Christian.
It is a sad thing to see Children dying in the war grown ups created, before they ever got the chance to live.
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That’s an excruciating pain!
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It is, sadly.
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Beautifully written ❤️
We are all children of God and equal.
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Thank you❤️
You are right. Although we possess different capabilities, and uneven in specific areas of life, we are equally human. We are all children of God, and our goal is a collective survival. No one is more important than another.
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I consider myself lucky in having had a mother who, unlike many other people I’ve met over my lifetime, did not even subtly express prejudiced or disdainful sentiments about people of other races and cultures. On the contrary, she, though being of Croatian heritage, openly enjoyed watching/listening to the Middle Eastern and Indian subcontinental dancers and musicians on the multicultural channel.
Most memorable for me was being emphatically told at a very young and therefore impressionable age by her about the exceptionally kind and caring nature of our Black family doctor. I believe that in doing so she had a positive and lasting effect on me.
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Regardless of skin color, such ugly and hateful sentiment is typically environmentally developed/acquired during childhood, often enough even passed down generationally, if not also genetically. Especially if it’s deliberate, exposing very impressionable young children to such an environment of baseless contempt and overt bigotry amounts to a formidable form of child abuse.
If the parents won’t do it for plain moral reasons, they then should do their own children a big favor by NOT passing down onto them such destructive anti-social/-societal sentiments and perceptions (including stereotypes and ‘humor’), since such rearing can readily make life much harder for those children.
It fails to prepare them for the practical reality of an increasingly diverse and populous society and workplace.
It also makes it so much less likely those children will be emotionally content or preferably harmonious with their multicultural and multi-ethnic/-racial surroundings. Children reared into their adolescence and, by extension, young adulthood this way can find themselves seemingly always feeling angry yet not really knowing exactly at what. They also may feel self-compelled to move to another part of the land, where their own ethnicity/race predominates, preferably overwhelmingly so.
This serious social/societal problem can/should be proactively prevented by allowing preferably-all young children to become accustomed to other races/cultures/faiths, etcetera, in a harmoniously positive manner.
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts 🙏🏾
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