The world is a messy place to live in. It gets messier when humans start to show the multitude of their Hobbesian virtues of discrimination, marginalisation, and prejudices. Of all human evil virtues, one that has been the most prominent is the act of racism. The tendency to identify oneself as superior to the other on the basis of birth has been present from the start of civilisation. However, the modern notion of Racism develops during the age of the slave trade and mercantilism of the colonial powers. Though modern nation-states have relatively raised the bar of cooperation and dismantled the hierarchy of race, some extreme elements still believe that racism is the natural state of order. They still differentiate between the supposedly superior race and inferior race. This phenomenon, explicitly visible in the western nations due to the phenomenon of the slave trade, manifests in the bifurcation of whites and blacks.
However, as with all other traditions of oppression, these racists also do not go unchallenged. Lola Akingbade, a student at Northeastern University has started a program called Black Voices Project, which aims to empower black people against these racist elements of society. Through interviews and seminars, Akingbade has been able to generate among the masses a sense of independence and courage to face their identity with respect to the state. As a society, it is upon us to define our priorities and see to it that she and the likes of her never remain alone in her struggle for the collective. Marginalisation, discrimination, and bifurcation must not be the norm of society. Nobody wants to return to the dark ages again. This is possible only through the use of scientific temper in identifying truth and placing lesser emphasis on the differentiated identities of the individuals in society. Dismantling the Elitist power structure and replacing it with a more egalitarian system is the only way forward.
Nafis Haider
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