The only way to effectively neutralize racism, and it’s not what they are teaching our kids…
Note: This is a letter I sent to the Executive Director of my daughter’s school early in 2021.
It hardly needs saying, that racism is despicable. It is a form of primitive tribalism based on skin color. It ascribes “moral, social or political significance to unchosen and insignificant traits like skin color and genetic lineage, while simultaneously rejecting the value and significance of the particular individual’s mind, choices, values, character and actions. Or in Martin Luther King’s eloquent words, the essence of individuals, and how they should be judged, is “by the content of our character and not by the color of our skin.”
Racism is obviously wrong, but what makes it wrong it’s tribalistic and anti-individual orientation. All forms of collectivism are unjust. It’s an “us against them” mentality that fosters division, suspicion, hatred and violence, against anyone who is not a member of the chosen group, whether that be an ethnic group, gender, class, etc.
When collectivism reigns, as it does today, on the left and the right, conformity and “groupthink” dominates, and individuals, their voices, their values, and their rights, are increasingly disregarded and drowned in the din of tribal struggles for dominance. Collectivism holds that your identity is bound up with your tribe or group. The individual is considered insignificant.
As in theory, so in practice.
It’s no accident that the rise of collectivism in the 19th century, led to bloodshed and misery in the 20th century. Nazi Germany was thoroughly collectivist, so was the Soviet Union, China and Japan, as were many other groups, such as the Khmer Rouge Cambodia. And in recent history, we have seen the same results of collectivism, in Rwanda, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
The only fundamental antidote to racism and all other forms of collectivism, is its opposite, individualism. Individualism is the recognition that all individuals, regardless of color, ethic lineage, or gender, are sovereign beings with the sacred and inalienable right to their own lives. When the rights of individuals are protected, the rights of all are protected. After all, the ultimate minority is the individual.
Yet this is what so-called “anti-racism” rejects.
Like collectivism, “anti-racism” embraces ethnicity as primary and central, and the group as primary. It asserts the racial guilt and victimhood of all members of a group. It pretends to fight racism with the very same collectivism that gives rise to racism, and it tries to inculcate collective guilt, collective victimhood, while denigrating the individual.
This is unjust and only leads to tribalist warfare as each group seeks special favors and hurls accusations at other groups, trying to protect its members at the expense of others.
I think this is particularly damaging to kids.
We have seen rising rates of teen and youth anxiety and depression, and it’s not hard to understand why. Such collectivism brands non-minorities, particularly white kids, as racists, and makes them bear an unearned guilt, usurps their innocence, their motivation, and their optimism for the future. They are implicitly taught that they are puppets of their DNA and heritage. They are implicitly to blame for past injustices and unconscious bias and racism. Their future is set by their biology and “identity.” There is no escape.
It has perhaps the most devastating effect on kids it is supposed to help. It instills the belief in kids in minority ethnic groups as helpless victims, in virtue of their skin and heritage. It undermines their confidence, enthusiasm and motivation to achieve their goals in the face of life’s challenges.
This doctrine replaces the natural innocence, benevolence and curiosity of kids, with guilt, anger, and mutual suspicion, and it perpetuates the very foundation of racism, collectivism. Only an individualist perspective can break the vicious circle and truly combat racism, at root.
In summary, I don’t believe education should be focused on propaganda, or promote particular political views. It should teach kids how to think, not what to think. It should be inspiring, value-filled, and overwhelmingly positive, showcasing the vast range of possibilities and achievements in math, science, history, art and literature, preparing kids to face the future with optimism and enthusiasm. Yet, increasingly, time is spent instilling guilt for the past and fear for the future. This is a huge disservice to students.
I leave the last word to Ayn Rand, a woman who grew up under collectivism and understood it better than anyone I know.
“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” – Ayn Rand
