I think about this all the time. As a young Black person, who learns about Black History ever so often, I wonder what could really drive a person to hate somebody. So of course I find myself confused by the fact that I am hated for the color of my skin. That in itself is ridiculous, how can you be afraid of a skin color different from yours? We are all human:
From Wiki
. . .the US Government's Human Genome Project has announced that the most complete mapping of human DNA to date indicates that there is no distinct genetic basis to racial types. Based on this evidence, "racial characteristics" logically cannot exist either, such as group differences in eye color or human hair color.
These people hate simply because they do not understand and do not care too. But the thing is, is that racist White people tend to be on the right of the political spectrum and they are mainly Conservative. So for them it isn't enough to just hate dark skinned people anymore, they also hate White people who aren't racist. Who just happen to be Democrats and Liberals, there is a word racist choose for White people who don't see the world in black and white.
I will not say this word, but you probably know what I am talking about.
I also feel that if it were not for hateful parents, the world today would be a world of Equality, where everyone is actually treated the same. Hate, it seems, is passed down from generation to generation, because kids aren't born hating others. But when they're racist parents fill their heads up with hate speech, they are taught to hate all who aren't White and Conservative.
So I went to Wikipedia to see how they'd define hate:
Philosophically
René Descartes viewed hate as an awareness that something is bad combined with an urge to withdraw from it. Baruch Spinoza defined hate as a type of pain that is due to an external cause. Aristotle viewed hate as a desire for the annihilation of an object that is incurable by time. Finally, David Hume believed that hate is an irreducible feeling that is not definable at all.
Psychoanalytic
In psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud defined hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness. More recently, the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology defines hate as a "deep, enduring, intense emotion expressing animosity, anger, and hostility towards a person, group, or object." Because hatred is believed to be long-lasting, many psychologists consider it to be more of an attitude or disposition than a temporary emotional state.
So how do we fight hate, with love of course. Good vs Evil, Love vs Hate, it's a classic war still being waged today. A lot of people really did believe by electing a Black president, that we have passed the era of racism. But as acknowledged by a majority of people, racism has grown stronger ever since Barack Obama was elected.
It has brought it out, it's been lying dormant all of these years because it's a lot harder to openly hate today than it was 40 to 50 years ago. So they hide behind excuses and listen to hate filled radio and a certain news organization that makes them feel like they aren't alone. That they are the majority in this country. As each day passes the hate meter rises higher and higher and it's getting harder for them to hide.
Because I do not want to post these pictures, all you have to do is go to Google and search "Obama racist pictures" and you will be granted with pages of damn near every secret racist picture of him that has been exposed. They were at first passed around in e-mails until it was passed unto the wrong person who didn't tolerate it.
And with that study about the Teabaggers out, it's no longer something that can be denied so easily. It just shows you what we are dealing with. Because it also seems that majority of the top %1 are racist or are perfectly OK with it and are fueling the fire by paying shills to lie and spew hate daily.
Glenn Beck earned 32 million dollars last year, in the same year he was paid to tell his viewers that the Black (and White) President "has a deep seated hatred for white people." I don't need to tell you about what Rush Limbaugh says, another paid shill who earned 54 million dollars last year also spewing hate over his microphone.
It's sad that this is America in the year 2010, but maybe someday, generation after generation, the young children of racist parents will stop and ask:
Why?
Update: I asked my Mother to read this diary and she liked it. But she told me that I didn't really go into depth about how we should really fight this.
To really end all of this hate in America, is to vote. We have to head to the polls in November and vote out every Representative that has proven to hold racist views, or condones the racist actions of others. I was flamed for this a while ago in a comment, but it's recent events that really bring out these feelings.
I didn't know the Confederacy had it's own month, but if these people who are sympathetic to The Confederacy simply want to bring back slavery. That is the path we will be headed to if the Teabaggers are able to elect their candidates into office. They have shown their true feelings and they want "their country back."
We can't let this happen.
Update 2: Due to a commenter, I just want it to be known that I know White people aren't the only people who hold racist views. It's all cultural, depending on how you were raised and where you were raised.
But the focus of my diary is on Racism in America, it's history and how the Teabagger movement has finally been exposed for what it really is, Racist.