Opinion: You Are Probably Lowkey Racist – And Here’s What You Can Do About it

Imagine a world without borders, one where we all live in a single continent where there are no wars started over entitlement or internalised racial superiority.

It seems too good to be true, right? Well, about 300 million years ago this was Earth’s reality: Pangaea. This mass of land was made up of the 7 continents that we know Earth to consist of today.

Through a geological process consisting of convection currents rolling over in the Earth’s upper layer, Pangaea was torn apart. Granted, no humans existed at the time but this detail is fundamental in every person’s history and is crucial to understanding why racism is so incredibly ridiculous.

Let’s start with a bit of a wake-up call: I hate to be the one to break it to you but there’s a very high probability that you are in fact racist. I too am racist and although I am not proud of it I can recognise that whether intentionally or not, I have grown up in a society that has groomed me to be racist. Before you get defensive and use the “I have multicultural friendships” card, we need to look at what it means to be racist.

Brittanica defines racism as “the belief that humans may be divided into separate and exclusive biological entities called “races”; that there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and traits of personality, intellect, morality, and other cultural and behavioural features; and that some races are innately superior to others.” So, just on the basis of this definition it is clear that we are brought up to believe that it is socially acceptable to engage in race exclusivity and use that as some sort of warped sense of claim to land.

If you still believe that Malta is above that sort of racism because we “accept” immigrants, then understand that there is a difference between acceptance and integration. The latter is a two-way street so before I lose you to the “they came to our land so they should abide by our culture” thought, here’s another suggestion, have you tried to integrate with other cultures?

Have you tried to learn about other cultures and shown respect towards those practices? Have you engaged in any of those practices or allowed the space for them to safely take place? Or do you find yourself wanting to promote Maltese culture to smother these “heresies?”

Perhaps, you have reached this point of the article and are feeling pretty smug about the fact that none of these implications have applied to you. Let me ask you this then: do you believe that immigrants both legal and those who are non-compliant with immigration laws, are more likely to commit crime?

If the answer is yes, then it is most definitely racist of you to think so because, through a bit of education, you could understand that strangers in a society pushing for immigrants to become a crime statistic are often left stigmatised and forced into crime through social cognition of their circumstances. Save your breath, this is research-based so look it up.

Maybe your racism is not as outwardly as all of this, maybe you laugh at stereotypical impersonations, snigger at your phone over racist jokes or make unspoken judgements of people outside your own race.

Maybe you do not discriminate and just hate everyone equally but even that is not enough to not make you racist. We can all benefit from fighting against racism. Remember when I mentioned Pangaea earlier? Scientists believe that in another 200 million years, we could see the formation of another single mass of land.

Therefore, would it not be easier if by then we figured out how to live with each other in peace rather than continue this nonsensical fight over land that never belonged to any of us anyway?

Here’s what you can do to do your part and fight against your innate tendencies to be racist:

1. Educate yourself: This is the most powerful tool you can use. Do not believe claims made online, do your own research, find reliable sources and learn from the people who are experiencing it firsthand.

2. Lose the “us and them” mentality: We are all simply biological beings who just happened to get lucky with where our ancestors ended up. We are mere blimps in a vastness that our simple minds could never comprehend so really we are all pretty much insignificant.

3. Fight for equity over equality: Equality ain’t it! Equality just provides everyone with the same resources but equity is where it’s at because it recognises that everyone has different circumstances so people are given what they need to be equal.

4. Recognise your privilege: If you are white, you are privileged. Unfortunately, our history has always catered to the white person so we are inherently privileged and that comes with power but as a great man once said: “With great power comes great responsibility,” (you’re darn right I’m quoting Uncle Ben).

5. Break the cycle: Just because you have racist tendencies does not mean you have to continue being racist. Multiculturalism is the biggest part of our history, without other cultures we would never have the Maltese language let alone the culture that everyone is so proud of.

Recognise that you are not perfect and have made mistakes in the past but it does not mean that you cannot make up for it by supporting your fellow humans in obtaining their rightful place in society. One can only hope that if we ever need to leave Malta, willingly or not that we would be supported in that move because life’s hard enough to not have a place to call home.