I like using dogs for many examples because I am familiar with them. Dogs are also uniquely adapted to living with humans. The dogs’ extraordinary adaptation to humans makes them one of our best windows into nature.
For people who like dogs we may marvel at and truly appreciate how one breed of dog can perform a special task so well. However that does not make us hate other breeds of dogs. There are certain dog breeds I prefer, but I like all dogs. I judge a dog on its individual merits not on its pedigree.
I wanted to do this blog post sooner, but I was involved with dog training and planning for future development of the RenChenZa® Learning Network.
Racism and the United States Government
Census 2010
Why is the United States government still using racist labels in the census and elsewhere?
In the United States the labels Black and White have a definite racist overtone. In using these labels on official government correspondence the U.S. government tacitly encourages racism.
I believe that we can make a small dent in racism if we eliminate from our vocabularies the terms Black and White as they pertain to race. Black and white are historically racist words and it would do us all good to use a historically neutral classification, that is if we need any classification at all. Black and white should not become bad words or then we will be cultivating another little seedling of hatred. I have thought about different racial labels and have not come up with the definitive answer. But when asked for my race I usually put European – Asian – African. That throws most people for a loop. If this answer is on something official I have been asked if I would like to change my response. There is a reason for such an involved answer. It’s my understanding that the native people of Europe came by way of Asia and before that Africa.
By highlighting racial differences and using a vocabulary with historically racist implications the government is carrying on a tradition of racism. I’m not suggesting that we make either black or White a bad word like some other racist words. If we make the words bad we also contribute to hatred and division. What we need to do first is stop using the terms Black and White as officially sanctioned terms for segregating people in Government databases.
By abandoning traditional racist terms that are also used as descriptive adjectives we will encounter some new problems. How are we to describe a person if not by distinctive features? Especially if those features are represented by a person’s race? We will need to develop a new semantic model to take the place of race based descriptions.
I do believe that we should celebrate ethnicity, but without pride or condemnation. Perhaps we can celebrate ethnicity in a manner that’s similar to how we celebrate a person’s professional abilities and skills. This view would also allow us to more easily change our ethnic skill set according to the times.
All people have a certain amount of racism as part of their personalities. Racism is part of human biology. However, racism is not solely determined by biology. A person’s biology is shaped by an environment. This is something we can see in dog training. A dog may have a propensity for developing a certain behavior, but how that behavior develops often depends on the environment. We can suppress a behavior and/or change the shape of the behavior.
Since the emotions responsible for racism involve an almost universal phenomenon we must realize and accept that it is part of the human condition. All people are racists. As with many behavioral traits and/or emotions that lead to the dislike of others these too can be controlled and modified. However, it may take a considerable amount of social engineering to accomplish this. Like many other behavior traits that are modified by the environment the severity of racism is a matter of degree. If humans are to survive as a species one thing we need to overcome are the emotions that support the foundation of racism.
While humans have the ability of language, it’s only a layer on top of more primitive forms of communication. Primordial communication isn’t the only trait people share with our animal friends, we also have some of the same emotions.
How do we modify primitive animal like emotions into mental states that support a civil society? It is through training. At the Taoist temple I attended this training was called self cultivation. Just like cultivating a garden, we must get rid of the weeds so the desired higher producing domesticated plants can flourish. Hate filled and racist words in one’s native language are like the weeds, and they stunt the growth of what is possible. Or worse, they strangle the very emotions and traits that make higher human potential possible. Here I am thinking about human development in general, on a personal, a national, and a global level.
Self control or self governance is achieved through discipline. Don’t confuse discipline with punishment. Discipline is more closely related to learning self control. Learning discipline involves training. Training for people involves human development, while our canine friends learn self control through dog training. The dog training featured on RenChenZa.com is meant to function as a development program for both people and dogs.
Many of the divisive words we use don’t cause an emotional response in and of themselves, but they carry the seeds of hatred. The seeds only need to wait for the right conditions and time to germinate.
Why is it so important for humans to learn how to control the cluster of emotions that include racism?
Andrew Ledford
The Dog Saint