To me, the entire idea of racism is just... irrational. It makes no sense, and in an ideal world, it wouldn't even exist.
I think racism, or at least the potential for it, is a completely natural extension of evolution and a near-hard-wired part of our brains. If we look at the early history of humanity I believe there was a huge incentive for thinking in what amounts to an "us vs. them" way: being more sure of passing on genes. If one identifies strongly with one's tribe or other group, and acts to protect and defend the group, one creates a situation where the group has more resources and collectively has a better chance of passing on genes. It's logical, as well, because in a small tribe or other group one probably was related to most everyone, at least to a degree. Hard-wire that fierce protectiveness over millions of years and you the precursors to things like racism and nationalism.
The same intrinsic part of our nature that makes racism possible is exactly what politician prey on as well. Bush's "If you're not with us your against us" is an extremely powerful statement for that reason. It's the same attitude that gave rise to the Holocaust. There's a fundamental fear of being excluded from one's group because, in a hind-brain way, it means maybe not passing on genes.
/evolutionary pop!psychology
I tried to keep this brief. In no way am I justifying bad behavior, or worse, but I do think it's folly to ignore the less than noble parts of ourselves.
Re: This is going to be incoherent
I think racism, or at least the potential for it, is a completely natural extension of evolution and a near-hard-wired part of our brains. If we look at the early history of humanity I believe there was a huge incentive for thinking in what amounts to an "us vs. them" way: being more sure of passing on genes. If one identifies strongly with one's tribe or other group, and acts to protect and defend the group, one creates a situation where the group has more resources and collectively has a better chance of passing on genes. It's logical, as well, because in a small tribe or other group one probably was related to most everyone, at least to a degree. Hard-wire that fierce protectiveness over millions of years and you the precursors to things like racism and nationalism.
The same intrinsic part of our nature that makes racism possible is exactly what politician prey on as well. Bush's "If you're not with us your against us" is an extremely powerful statement for that reason. It's the same attitude that gave rise to the Holocaust. There's a fundamental fear of being excluded from one's group because, in a hind-brain way, it means maybe not passing on genes.
/evolutionary pop!psychology
I tried to keep this brief. In no way am I justifying bad behavior, or worse, but I do think it's folly to ignore the less than noble parts of ourselves.