RE: Racism... Have you ever tried simply not referencing race?
In some of my other articles on the topic I recommended the movie Hotel Rwanda which is based upon a not too distant true story. Sadly, in that when they shared skin color they still found a way to define RACE and they committed mass murder and genocide against each other. They appealed to the UN to rescue them, and that didn't work out so well.
So when I hear people blasting one skin color or another I am always drawn back to that movie which shows exactly how much of a farce the division over skin color is.
Yet you and look at history. At times the Italians have been blasted in the U.S. At other times it was the Irish being put down. So that was also cases where even sharing a skin color was meaningless.
So yes... humanity seems to fall prey to being manipulated by one form of bigotry or another.
Lately though it is good ol' skin color, and/or religion that are being used the most. Historically those have been very good at dividing and manipulating masses to commit atrocities among others.
It always begins in something that SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME. Those ideas are generally reactionary in nature, and are really short term thinking, and the long term results are just the same bigotry/racism/religious persecution stories that repeat over and over again in history.
Black Lives Matter sounded GOOD at the time. Yet all it has ended up being good at is dumping fuel on to the fire of racism.
As you say: "Historically those have been very good at dividing and manipulating masses to commit atrocities among others". I would have to underline the good at diving and manipulating (conquering) the masses, in deed!
In relation to racism, it has been a subject extremely close to me for so many years and found myself, even as early as little 6 years old if not earlier, fighting against it. Movie depicting the subject very well are quite easy to find, luckily. Did you ever come across the movie "The Hundred-Foot Journey", "The Power of One", "Amistad", "Schindler's List", "Mississippi burning", "The Great Debaters" or "Lean on Me"? They are such powerful examples of this theme and offer some glimmer of hope to answer such matters for the sake of all humanity.
Do you think that Black Lives Matter issues have made the matter of racism worse or has it allowed for racism to surface and be seen for its ugliness? Maybe a bit of both???
All for one and one for all! Namaste :)