Race and Religion

Before this lesson, I thought race was/meant simply the biological differences between human beings as to how their ancestors have evolved through time to better adapt to their surroundings. This division with people was solely biological and all humans are equal in value and individuals should be judged on the content of their character as opposed to the assumptions of their race. However I guess Martin Luther King Jr. was wrong.

Now I think that race is that which eternally divides people over the boundaries of power and dominance characterized 300+ years ago by our uneducated and imperialistic actions of our ancestors that brought races together in hopes of claiming global dominance such as Ibram X Kendi argues.

I find it no secret by my tone that I am in disagreement with these ideas supposed by Kendi. Religion and race can have a relationship that can be characteristically different but I find these arguments brought by Kendi a justification of slavery wrapped in a new wrapping paper.

I find it valid that throughout history many of the accomplishments of black men and women have been white washed or discredited but to see the plague that affected our past and bring it back to modern day and apply it to the same ideology seems both morally and factually bereft to me.

Kendi’s writings take the narrative of the past, which is clearly mistaken, and then bring the same argument to the modern day as if nothing has changed. I find it clear from this peace that even since childhood Kendi was entrapped within this bubble of his own race shaping his ideology and find that it demonstrates bias and nothing more. I see no accreditation given to any idea that may suggest he is wrong but simply that he states his vision as if it is fact

Race and religion clearly have a relationship but through the other pieces I believe that it is a form of the culture of nationalism from our history as opposed to religion itself. There have been crimes of truth done to religion such as the white depiction of Jesus but Kendi seems to take it to the next level of extremism.

Among all of this I see no way, even as a person of color, to rid of racism or any true way to be an antiracist. It seems he advocates for only structural collapse as to diminish the culture that was once racist and start anew entirely from the ashes of the collapses system as to recreate the world into place where race is both crucial to ones identity yet at the same time an irrelevant factor to status or worth.

The tribalistic nature of humans would suggest that it is likely that the differences that we claim as identity is just a trait of survivalist Darwinism and that to eliminate that would be to eliminate only human nature.

Race is clearly a differentiating factor between people but even sociologists predict that the race that separates us will surely dissipate through the passage of time and increase liberalization, however Kendi seems to want to constantly have it loom over our heads.

Perhaps it is unfair of me to criticize this harshly and be unable to properly understand or be entitled to a response but in collegiate thinking I find that we are likely to draw our own conclusions based on the evidence we’ve been given.