Racism

Thrice recently I have been surprised by Racism. The first was from Mark Twain and I suppose we have to give him the benefit of 150 years of separation. The other cases were from older folk who are otherwise lovely people. Now the question is whether they are carrying over old values from 50 years ago (plus), or, being old, are less capable of questioning their own prejudices and more capable or being influenced by shock-jocks.

At the core of the issue though is some dissatisfaction with their lives, or how society has changed since they were younger. They have not been brought along with the world’s changes and they feel somewhat alienated and very confused. Quietly blaming groups of strangers is a first-order ‘no-brainer’ response. Similarly they have fixed views on various political parties and the like.

I wonder what damage their racism proffers? I suppose only the general support which helps builds momentum amongst others that care more and actually may act. The old folk simply sit on their prejudices. It is very hard to reason them out of their stance I find; it’s almost not worth trying.