Les Whitenaugh
Aug 28, 2017 · 2 min read

There is a strong relationship between education level and racist tendencies, and it is easy to just say dumber people are more likely to be racist. Exposure to nuanced ideas about the world beyond one’s limited upbringing and experiences usually has an expansive effect. People who are learners, and are not suffering from some pathology, tend to become more liberal in thought and empathy. Educationally marginalized will fall back into safety nets that are familiar, familial, where church and neighborhood systems perpetuate old beliefs and habits and myths. At least for white racists, here, there seems to be a lower IQ where fear of failure, insecurity, low self image makes those vulnerable to hate group tribal mentality, where cultish indoctrinations immunize the members to normal logical challenges from even well-meaning family and friends. Memorizing slogans and memes and aphorisms is simpler than dealing with factual or logical arguments.

I still think bigotry is the preferable word to describe those who have irrational generalized ideas about others; racism should be saved for those who actually behave and act in ways that affect those others in negative ways. Knowing and understanding one’s own biases, but being able to not act on them, is where tolerance and civility have to begin, when hearts and minds are not likely to be changed. In family and school settings, convincing parents that passing their beliefs on is not going to help, but actually harm their children’s future, is a hard argument to win, but still easier than challenging a person’s entire belief system and intelligence level.

The insidious reemergence of institutional racism along with the dramatic tolerance for overtly racist posturing and new levels of pseudointellectual sophistry by those trying to gain power by fomenting hate shows we have come a long way, but the backlash and reactive nature of hate will always be one election, one complacent generation away from calamity.

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    Les Whitenaugh

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