With today’s Black Lives Matter movement and Feminist movements, we hear a lot about the ills of racism and sexism. Most of us know that they are both wrong. But, do you know what really makes racism and sexism wrong?
The truth of the matter is that there is an underlying cause behind racism and sexism that lead to the behaviors associated with those mentalities. It is this underlying cause that is to blame for these two social ills, and this underlying cause is undoubtedly alive and well in society today, but just takes different forms than it used to.
So, what is this underlying cause behind racism and sexism that is still alive and well in society today?
Let me tell you. It has to do with the means by which people derive their sense of importance, value, significance, and self-worth.
You see, everyone needs some way to feel like they are important, and have some value. Unfortunately, almost every single human being alive today, and throughout our recorded history, has been misguided in the way they derive their sense of importance, value, and self-worth.
ALMOST EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING, TODAY AND IN THE PAST, HAS DERIVED THEIR SENSE OF IMPORTANCE, VALUE, AND SELF-WORTH BY CONVINCING THEMSELVES THAT THEY ARE SUPERIOR TO SOMEONE ELSE, OR SUPERIOR TO SOME OTHER GROUP OF PEOPLE.
We derive our sense of self-worth by developing a superiority complex. This is where racism and sexism fit in.
The Real Reason Behind Racism and Sexism
White people (not all of them, like Robin D’Angelo would have you believe, just the racists) would derive their sense of self-worth by thinking they were superior to black people, and they would do whatever they needed to do to suppress and keep down the black people in order to continue to ensure that they had something driving their superiority complex.
Men (the sexist ones, that is) would derive their sense of self-worth by thinking they were superior to women, and they would do whatever they needed to do to suppress and keep down women in order to continue to ensure that they had something driving their superiority complex.
We have done a lot in our society to get rid of the symptoms of racism and sexism. But, we have done absolutely nothing to eliminate the underlying cause that was driving racism and sexism. The drive to establish self-worth by developing a superiority complex against someone, or a group of people, remains alive and well.
What do I mean?
We see this superiority mentality in many forms today. Let’s start with the very people who were the victims of racism and sexism in the past.
If you are black, and you’ve mistreated white people while thinking “I’m sure glad I’m not one of those darned racist white persons!” – like many of you in the BLM movement are doing, then you are acting on the same superiority mentality that drove white people to racism.
If you are a woman who is a feminist, and every time you interact with a man, you are rude, disrespectful, and condescending, because you think that all men are “sexist pigs,” then you are acting on the same superiority mentality that drove sexist behavior in men.
Other Ways We Practice the Superiority Complex
Wealth Status – If you are wealthy, and you derive your sense of self-worth by thinking that you are better than others who are only middle-class or poor, then you too are practicing the same superiority mentality that led to racism and sexism.
Education Level – If you have a high level of education, and you derive your sense of self-worth by thinking that you are better than others who have a lower level of education, then you too have fallen prey to the same superiority mentality that drove racism and sexism.
Body-Builder – If you are a body-builder who likes to lift weights, and you derive your sense of self-worth by looking down on others who are “runts,” then you too are a victim of the same superiority mentality that drove racism and sexism.
Beauty – If you are a beautiful, good-looking, and attractive person, and you derive your sense of self-worth by looking down on people who aren’t so visually appealing, then you are practicing that very same superiority mentality.
Political Affiliation – If you are a progressive, and you look down on conservatives and Trump supporters, to the point of mistreating them, all because you think you’re morally superior to them, then you are practicing the very same mentality that in the past expressed itself as racism or sexism. And how is acting in a morally repugnant manner proof of your moral superiority?
It doesn’t end there!
Gossiping ‘Round the Water Cooler – If you’ve ever been at work, and you gathered around the water cooler with your coworkers to gossip about the “stupid” thing that your other coworker did, then you are building up your sense of self-worth and importance by looking down on your fellow coworker – you are still utilizing the same superiority mentality that causes racism and sexism.
Conclusion
The truth of the matter is that whenever we build up our sense of importance, value, and self-worth by thinking that we are better than someone else, or by looking down on someone else as inferior to ourselves, we are utilizing the very same superiority complex that drives racism and sexism.
If you think that you are better than, or superior to, people who are racist or sexist, you are wrong – you most likely are practicing the very same superiority complex that drives them! We humans don’t change our nature. We only change our expressions and manifestations of our human nature.
If we really want to make our society better, then we really need to figure out a better way to derive our sense of importance, value, and self-worth than by developing a superiority complex. Only when we have completely trashed the superiority complex in every way, shape, and form, and figured out another way to derive our sense of self-worth, only then can society forge ahead into a brighter future.
