Last night, I was tossing and turning: just another night in the long dark night of the pandemic, one year in. Earlier in the evening, in downtown Portland, white folks in chic black riot couture busted more windows and set more fires in the name of equality for the Black race; in New York the day before, video showed a Black man attacking an Asian woman after hurling racial epithets at her; in Minneapolis, the Derek Chauvin trial sought to understand whether the white cop is guilty of the murder of George Floyd, a Black man… a death that sparked the riots in Portland, and across the nation.
And it’s all about race. Dumb, stupid, disastrous made-up race. Born of high crimes against humanity, still used today to oppress and destroy.
In my insomnia, I recalled Sam Harris’ notion about the, well, superficiality of race. He recently said, “…how can I be so sure that the explosion of identity politics that we see all around us isn't a sign of progress? How can I know that it's an ethical and psychological dead end to be deeply identified with one's race, for instance? … Well, because I know that a person need not even identify with the face he sees in the mirror each day.”
So instead of counting sheep, I decided to count the ways that, not only is the idea of race skin deep, it is also demonstrably false. Believing in it sides you with some very unpleasant people — 18th century slavers — and allowing race to define you and others is exactly what is preventing our country from moving forward, relying on the classical liberal principles that have carried us thus far, to that city where it might shine even brighter upon the hill.
Seeing color, as it were, is blinding us to beauty, truth, and justice. It’s time to look past the face we see in the mirror to our best selves. And now, here’s the list I made to help you understand why.
(1) There are no races; "race" is a fairly recent idea -- a lie -- that was told to sell slavery. ("...much of the jumble of stereotypes, pseudo-science and wild conjecture that coalesced to form racism arose from the political battles fought over the slave trade and slavery, during the last decades of the 18th century and the first decades of the 19th.")
(2) Some of this human commerce depended upon differences in appearance; that said, there are plenty of cultures who enslaved others who looked just like them.
(3) There are no races; there are (formerly) isolated breeding populations with concomitant cultures which include each culture's beliefs and behaviors around age and gender, faith, the natural world, human dominion, war and peace, child-rearing, government, and so on.
(4) Some genetic differences reasonably exist. ("The ancestors of East Asians, Europeans, West Africans and Australians were, until recently, almost completely isolated from one another for 40,000 years or longer, which is more than sufficient time for the forces of evolution to work.”)
(5) These differences are not to be considered as either better or worse from culture to culture.
(6) Demonstrable and consistent equality of opportunity addresses any differences that may help or hinder one culture or individual over another.
(7) There are no races: One measure of the lack of "race" is that all humans can mate with each other.
(8) Wait. Why don't fish mate with fish outside their "race"? Or birds? Uh-oh.
Welp, a few birds do: "about 10% of the 10,000 known bird species have mated with another species. Hybridization most commonly occurs between closely related species, but occasionally it happens between birds of different genera that have evolved separately for millions of years. (Quick reminder: Genus is the taxonomic classification level just above species.)" But damn few do.
A few fish do, too: "Female fish can breed a new species if they aren't choosy about who is Mr. Right. Fish will mate with a species outside their own if the male's coloring is attractive enough or if the female can't see him properly, according to new research." (So, kinda like in the bar, 2:00AM, just before the lights come up and the bouncers bounce. That kinda lovin'.) But damn few do.
(9) OK. Cool cool. Back to races. Let’s look at dogs. All of 'em can mate with all of 'em. (The dog is black, the dog is white, the whole world looks upon the sight, the beautiful sight...) Setting aside we should spay and neuter most dogs, despite their disparate geographic beginnings, remarkable variation in appearance, diversity in skills and abilities, differing focus in intelligences and interests — dogs are... dogs are... Just like us! All one race! Ecce canis!
(10) Like the poets and madmen before me, my moonlit maunderings, wonderings and wanderings have brought me, beyond the shadow of a doubt, to the conclusion that everything being done to segregate and isolate humans one from another, to hierarchicalize humans one over the other, and to pit humans against each other, is bullshit.
(11) There are no races; a rambunctious French Bulldog has more in common with a playful St. Bernard than she does with her shy fellow Frenchie. A laser-focused Border Collie has more in common with a diligent Doxie than he does with his lazy Cattle Dog roomie. A loving Pittie has more in common with a sweet l'il mixed breed than he does with a stand-offish Husky. And mixed breeds? Well, they have their own beautiful individualism, and preferences for jobs, play and friendships.
(12) So. Really. Don't be idiotic. Get over this nonsense, and stop being a pawn to the Woke movement, which wants to separate us and turn us upon each other (just like all abusers do). Because nothing separates us, you know. And believing that race does isolate us makes you a patsy to folks who agree with those slavers we learned about a few paragraphs back — does that sound like an “equality” movement to you? No, I thought not. So go fetch a ball with someone who looks different from you. Roll in the grass with another. Play tug-of-war with a third. You’ll have fun.
(13) And get over yourself. You're no more special than any other puppy dog, which is to say we are all unique and beautiful and special. To imagine you are so vastly misunderstood that you must try your damndest to conjure a difference that science proves doesn't exist is nothing more than an arrested adolescence that coddles you, stunts your growth and stands between you and your one wild and precious life (H/T M.O.). Applied to others, it assumes, condescends and victimizes, which should make you shudder. Rock the born goodness we all share instead of what you imagine distinguishes you: your victimhood, your triumph over tragedy, your oppression, whatever. Then stop with the putative educating, calling out, cancelling. That’s a distraction and it’s dumb. None of it helps, none of it matters. You, in your magnificent individualism and connectedness to the rest of us, are all that matters.
(14) Be like the dog. After all, their name is god, spelled forwards.
There are no races. Returning to Sam Harris, I think he finally sets us straight on the topic in the clearest of terms, telling us that not only is the notion false, but the sign of a disordered mind. It seems to me that in the face of of this evidence, choosing to see race is deliberately choosing to promote something rather darker, and more in keeping with the “equality” the party-approved Woke vision purports. Harris says, “In fact, the deeper you examine your experience, the more you discover that freedom ultimately depends on not identifying with anything, even with how you look in the mirror. How much more so is it unnecessary to identify with millions of strangers who just happen to look like you in that they have the same skin color? In light of what's possible psychologically and interpersonally. In light of what is actually required to get over yourself and to experience genuine compassion for other human beings, it is a form of mental illness to go through life identified, really identified with one's race.”
Removing the delusion of race to focus on our individuality and shared humanity could change what happens in downtown Portland, on New York streets and in police encounters everywhere. Just thinking about the possibility of America, reimagined, was such a comfort last night, that when I got to number fourteen on my list, as the sun was coming up, I fell deeply and peacefully asleep, the dogs curled beside me, vigilant, and faithful.
Sources:
https://www.happyscribe.com/public/making-sense-with-sam-harris/243-a-few-points-of-confusion
https://www.audubon.org/news/the-amazing-world-hybrid-birds
https://fishbio.com/news/female-fish-can-breed-new-species-arent-choosy-mr-right