What Started Racism: Race, Religion or Eugenics?
"You can't give me the right to be a human being, I was born with that … You can deprive me of it, but you can't give it to me." - A Former Slave
I've always wondered how we got here where a group of people not only believes they are infinitely superior to some others but also have passed down that mentality from generations to generations. Like, what's the inception of this madness on God's own earth? Where did it all begin? What started it? How did we get to the point where black people are deemed to be "midway between man and monkey" and treated as such?
Despite the numerous amount of effort expended in solving the conundrum that is racism, we are still farther from the solution than we thought. The self believed superior ones are finding it hard to let go of their superiority complex. The average black man born into a system where he's made to believe he's living in a white man's world continues to struggle with an inferiority complex.
I listened to some Ludacris verse over a decade ago and couldn't stop thinking about his mentality. He talked about himself living a black man's dream. How? Simply because he said he's making a white man's money. I baulked when I heard him say that. So we have black man's money and white man's money? So there is a specific level of wealth that is normal for a white man but abnormal for a black man. I couldn't believe what my ears were hearing. What a mentality!
There is no denying the fact that racism and slavery are deeply intertwined. Racism probably became a thing due to the numerous amount of black slaves being controlled by white dudes back then. And with humans, power has always been the one thing we've still never learnt to control. Having power over a group of people means you can do whatever you want with them. And, yes, a lot was done to those unfortunate enough to be sold or born into slavery.
From the little research I did, slavery has its root from differing religions and the psychological warfare associated with one religion establishing itself as the superior one over the other. With the quiet religious war raging, owning those of a different faith became globally acceptable. As in, Christian can own non-Christian slaves, same for Muslims and even indigenous tribes of Africa. If an Ogun worshipper conquers the land belonging to Sango worshippers, the conqueror believes he was helped by his god and thus keeps the conquered as slaves.
The Portuguese exploration and exploitation led to greedy African kings and slave owners selling their 'defeated' kinds to slavery. Since these Portuguese are mostly Christians and practise a different religion from the blacks, it was deemed justifiable to keep slaves they've conquered religious-wise. And from thence, race and racism started. Here we are some centuries later still battling the effect of some weird belief caused by religion.
If I had a time machine and was able to go back in time, I'd probably make the hard choice of nipping religion in the bud. There is no denying the fact that religion, especially Christianity, has helped to advance the world. Its rivalry with science and scientists helped us develop even faster. However, one of the many negative effects of religion on the world is racism. There are still many negative effects that won't be mentioned here. Maybe I'll create the time to discuss those on another day.
