Recently when President Obama and the first family were in Italy a photograph was snapped of Malia wearing a “Peace Sign” t-shirt. The conservative website “Free Republic” had a caption contest. The submissions posted were so vile and ugly it is clear they speak to a not-so-hidden racist hatred that many in this country feel towards our first African American president.
Viciously racist verbal attacks on an 11-year-old girl wearing a “peace” t-shirt are quite upsetting on many levels but why am I writing about this on a blog about happiness?
Well, for multiple reasons.
First, let’s examine racism. The late British social psychologist Henri Tajfel and John Turner, of the Australian National University, devised a theory to explain the psychology behind prejudices. They proposed that racism or biases were based in part on the need to think highly of the self. One way to boost a fragile ego is to be part of a distinctive group – like to be on a winning team. To be racist is to feel that the qualities of your own group are enhanced and the attributes of “the other” group is denigrated.
If this group then seems to transcend what the racist considers their natural “place,” hatred and anger is a common response. Ultimately, racist or hateful terms against a particular group are used as a proverbial whip in an attempt to beat that group back to their “place.”
Of course, there is a total lack of introspection in this reaction, as the racist may actually feel victimized when their worldview is challenged by reality. In other words, the truth will set you free but first it will piss you off.
Hatred and anger is a heavy burden for the one who carries it.
I am reminded about something Nelson Mandela recalled about his incarceration. He said, “Yes, I was angry. And I was a little afraid. After all I’ve not been free in so long. But,’ he said, ‘when I felt that anger well up inside of me I realized that if I hated them after I got outside that gate then they would still have me.’ And he smiled and said, ‘I wanted to be free so I let it go.” In other words, hate and anger are a poison we take hoping others will die. Simply, if you are carrying anger or hatred towards or a group of people or even a person, let it go.
