The Stupidity of Racism

• Racism is a product of Ignorance.
• Discrimination is an act fueled by the unknown.
• Generalisations' the Founder of Racism.

source: tenor.com

Racism to me is not just about tribes, race, nativity or geographical origin. Racism, to me , is an act of indifference to the whole of any group.Some people are even racist to their own tribe. It's very easy to see blacks call themselves as "under-created" because the* un-black* creates things they never had. You are what you think you are, you are as backward as your thoughts are. I strongly believe that. I have seen some of my fantasies come true, I won't stop fantasizing. Fantasies are only wrong when it is not backed up by work so I choose to appreciate the un-black but never to see myself as lower.

I am proud of my nation. I have never wished to be from somewhere else. How would that be! really!. 'The Ghanaians are better than us'. That is what everybody says now in Nigeria because they went there and saw 24 hour electricity. They could have been closer to the truth but still far away from it if they said their country is better than ours in terms of resources and infrastructure but they are not better than us, neither are we better than them. We are what we make of ourselves. We are all created the best way we could have been. No one is lower, no one is higher. We are all that we think we are. No billions can trick me out of who I am. I am a proud Yoruba from a corrupt Nation. Deal with that. I am a Nigerian but I am not corrupt. I am black and over-proud. So if you think it sucks to be black, I think and I know it rocks to be one.

There is this speech by Chimamanda Adichie where she talks about the "Danger of the Single Story". The act of generalizing from a subset experience.

In her story, she sights examples of people who had judged her for what she is not because they have seen someone from her country or tribe exhibit a seemingly unapproved and despicable behavior but then, We all do that. We all judge the whole by the subset because it is so easy to do so. Even our psychology is racist, you get car-jacked my tall black man and since then , you get the chills anytime any 5ft plus black man pass by you . So you see, it's so easy to be racist and so hard not to be.

This picture speaks volume to me. It's a story of when Nigeria ruled the world in the Atlanta 1996. I was under five years old then.

As I grow older, I hear stories of what that meant to this country 'cause this nation celebrated in a way they haven't really celebrated afterwards. Someone told me , they ran through the city all night when the story of the victory broke out, even enemies smiled at each other because, at that point, nothing mattered except for the common victory they share.

That was what happened in that picture. It doesn't matter if the coach wasn't Nigerian, there was a common victory. Jo Bonfrère, the coach, is Dutch but that didn't matter anymore. Common Victory has taken over. That is why divorce becomes powerless in separating couples at the site of common victories like the College Graduation of their Child.

So, in reality, racism is just stupidity- an act of ignorance. We all need common victories to survive. More can be done when two opposite minds combine. Diversity and Variety make un-usual success.

I could go on and on about more and more examples of victories that have crossed the boundaries of limitations but what matters most is that boundaries have to be crossed before such victories could be achieved.

So be boundless in your dealings. Learn to let go of indifference.