The role our senses play in perpetuating racism

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In the beginning, after God finished creating the universe and all that is in it was good. God gave the five senses so that mankind could enjoy the physical environment and all the good things that God had created.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned because the physical senses were used to break God’s law and have since then become the avenue through which the enemy uses to tempt people to disobey God.

Eve engaged her five senses to disobey God. This first act of disobedience forever changed the wiring of our five senses because they are now susceptible to be used to do evil. If you trace any evil thing under the sun, it is connected to one of the five senses.

I am focusing on the five senses because racism and discrimination are perpetuated through the five senses as well, especially the sense of hearing, seeing, and touch. Racism is not a born trait, and there is no such thing as the racist gene.

Racism is a learned behavior that is passed down from generation to generation by parents and society.

The transmission of racism is facilitated by the five senses because they serve were as a connection between the spiritual and the physical. For example, when a child is born, they have zero racism in them, but over time, the parents and society feed the child with information about other people that looked different.

The way this information is shared determines what the child believes about other people. Over time, this information determines how the child interacts with other people and sooner or later, confirmation bias sets in.

This implies that if the child is not taught that other people are inferior or superior, the child will have a different expectation when they meet different people.

Unfortunately, this racism virus is being transmitted as parents sit down at the dinner table with their children to eat. At times, the transmission is unconsciously done because of some of the racial jokes and comments that are made. The intention of the parents is not to teach their children racism, but the unintended consequence of such crude jokes is the reinforcement of negative stereotypes about other people.

At times, parents are more intentional in teaching their children how to continue perpetuating racism.

Take, for example, the parent who gives a stern warning to their child not to get married to a black husband because blacks are not smart enough or prone to a life of crime or whatever reason that may be given to justify why interracial marriages are bad. Such conversations are not only limited among those who consider themselves superior, those who are being looked down upon to be inferior also have such conversations with their own children. The difference is that they warn their children to stay away from the other people because it will be a betrayal of their own people if they cross the white/black divide. According to them, the whites should not be trusted because they are wicked, selfish, and evil.

Most parents think that they are having the best interest of their children at heart and are doing all within their power to protect their children from any harm.

But the underlying fear of loss of the position of power and privilege compromises their good intentions and the parents end up passing racism to their children who will, in turn, pass it to their own children. This has been the case over the years and explains why racism still persists in the world today.

Nobody wants to let their guard down because they are afraid of losing something. It is sad and shocking that some parents still think the worst thing their child can do is get married to somebody of a different race. In some places in Africa, marriages between people from different ethnic groups are frowned upon seriously.

More in, Racism, Where Is Your Sting? A provocative look at the beginning and the end of racism

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Originally published at https://www.erictangumonkem.com on June 11, 2020.

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Dr. Eric Tangumonkem, Author, Inspiration Speaker

My mission is to inspire, equip and motivate people from all works of life to become aware of the greater possibilities for their own lives and to take ACTION.