The causes of racism around us, what are they?

The United States was hit by major riots as a form of protest against racism against the black community. Not only in the US, racist behavior is still often found in people's lives in various parts of the world. Actually, what is the cause of acts of racism?

The scientific explanation behind racism

Racism is any prejudice, discrimination, and opposition to someone of a different race. Someone commits racist actions because they feel they are superior to people from other groups.

Racism does not only take the form of hatred, intimidation, or violence. You too can be said to be racist by derision, bullying , or by removing other people from certain activities and groups just because they see the origin.

Racist behavior is actually a human defense mechanism when anxious or feeling anxious insecure (not safe). Someone acts racist to make his position seem more important and valuable in the eyes of others.

This attitude doesn't just appear. Experts found five stages that a person experiences when doing racism, namely:

1. The emergence of insecurity

The cause of racism is taste insecure and loss of identity. When you feel you have no identity, you will look for groups that have something in common with you. These similarities can be in the form of race, color, ethnicity, and others.

Being in a group of people who are similar to you can provide a sense of security. You no longer feel lonely without an identity. Instead, you feel more complete and have a place in society.

2. Hostile towards other groups

After having your own identity, now you have a group identity. However, this identity can also make you hostile to people outside your group. Hostility arises because each faction wants to make itself stronger.

You may become closer to those in your group and love his principles even more. However, this closeness actually triggers conflicts with other groups. Even small differences can cause problems between races, religions, and so on.

3. Loss of respect for others

The insecurity that is the cause of racism now makes it difficult for you to respect other people. Someone in your class may behave well with his fellow members, but he can easily judge people from other groups.

Racist people only want to empathize with their group. When dealing with other people, he only saw the differences. This masks another commonality that could unite you with people from other groups.

4. Stereotypes

At this point, you begin to create stereotypes. You assume that everyone in a group has the same character, for example Sundanese must be lazy, black people must be criminals, Batak people are usually rude, and so on.

In fact, everyone has a different personality. However, people who are trapped in stereotypes cannot see this. When they meet black people, for example, they will immediately think that this person must have evil intentions.

5. Outsourcing to other groups

This is the final, most dangerous stage of racism. The hidden emotions that cause racism to gather within you. Then, you take it out on people from other groups.

You actually feel like you have flaws, but you take it out by hating other people of a different ethnicity. In some cases, this hatred can be so extreme that racism leads to persecution or murder.

How to avoid racism

Humans naturally label each other. This behavior is not always a cause for concern, but it can be dangerous if it turns into hatred, especially if it is fueled by deep-rooted anxiety.

Fortunately, there are several ways you can avoid racism, namely:

• Realizing that everyone is different. So, you won't get caught up in stereotypes.
• If you already have stereotypes, change them little by little. Or, try to respond to others in a better way.
• Seeing things from the other person's point of view. If anyone was in their position, how would you feel?

The cause of racism comes from a fear of one's own weaknesses, but not everyone realizes this. Some people get caught up in negative thoughts and end up acting racist.

Acts of racism should not be ignored because they are dangerous. If the person closest to you engages in this behavior, try to give understanding little by little. Despite differences in race, color, or religion, in the end everyone is the same.