Editor:
Race.
What is it?
We hear terms like stereotype modes of behaviour associated with race and phobias of the unfamiliar.
People tend to be attracted to those who look similar — both in cultural and language terms.
People tend to feel uncomfortable with those who look, do and talk differently than they do.
There are a smaller percentage of those who are attracted to those who are different, however.
This is because they are perceived as exotic and romanticize the thrill of the unfamiliar.
Those who fear the unfamiliar often on an unconscientious level tend to develop racist viewpoints.
What’s interesting is race, from a scientific standpoint and biologically speaking, doesn’t actually exist.
It’s purely a social and cultural modern invention.
The idea didn’t even exist until the early 1800s.
Before the modern myth of race was invented in modern society people were not categorized by race.
They were categorized by nationality, status and religion, although most pagan religions didn’t differentiate from one God to another as only Christianity, Judaism and the muslim (Islam) religion did so.
No one was ever held as slaves because of race until the modern era.
For example, once the idea of race was taught in all the academic and educational fields early on, Mexicans were once categorized as whites.
But that changed quickly for political reasons in order to repress competition for power.
Religion was often used to demonize dark-skinned people as being offsprings of the mark of Cain from the Adam and Eve mythologies.
This promoted the erroneous belief that fair-skinned people were superior.
From this environment spawned Black Elk who, at the time, was considered an Aboriginal messiah.
He was also educated by both the academics and the missionaries.
He created his own version of the medicine wheel with the four races.
Originally the colours represented the four seasons but that was changed to races.
I keep on hearing the flawed argument that Aboriginal land claims are based upon race.
Aboriginal land claims in reality are based upon inheriting land from your ancestors.
Race is out of the equation. Although Crown land claims are not.
Andrew Merritt
Williams Lake