Is it human nature to segregate?

Tate1 · (#1 (**permalink**))

I have noticed in almost every aspect of life, human beings like to form groups, cliques, gangs where they exclude others (not necessarily intentionally).

To give a few random examples: school children on a playground - form groups and openly exclude the ones they don't like; teenagers at high school choose the 'coolest'/most popular people to lead their gangs andthen they 'worship' them; at work certain people gravitate towards each other and form their little 'gossip'groups; even within some families people can gang up on another family member; even on Blacknet (no offence), some people know each other, form their own groups with insider jokes and read/reply each other's posts etc......... I could go on but..........

So, is racism or any other 'ism (where a group of people segregate/exclude/abuse/discriminate against others) a natural, unavoidablepart of human behaviour?

zaghawa · (#2 (**permalink**))

Tate1 wrote:

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I have noticed in almost every aspect of life, human beings like to form groups, cliques, gangs where they exclude others (not necessarily intentionally).

To give a few random examples: school children on a playground - form groups and openly exclude the ones they don't like; teenagers at high school choose the 'coolest'/most popular people to lead their gangs andthen they 'worship' them; at work certain people gravitate towards each other and form their little 'gossip'groups; even within some families people can gang up on another family member; even on Blacknet (no offence), some people know each other, form their own groups with insider jokes and read/reply each other's posts etc......... I could go on but..........

So, is racism or any other 'ism (where a group of people segregate/exclude/abuse/discriminate against others) a natural, unavoidablepart of human behaviour?

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Yes it is human nature to exclude and discriminate (but those terms have a hard connotation in the modern world and they don't deserve such hard connotations). It doesn't necessarily have to be about race or sexthough.

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People always have and always will form hierarchies.

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Conceptsthatmany people in the modern worldhave forgotten aboutare merit, talentand honor. Ressentmentand envy has becomea fashionable thing in the modern world. It is the IN hate. The hatred against everyone who is healthy, happy and free.

umbrarchist · (#3 (**permalink**))

Which humans are you talking about, the normal humans or the abnormal human?

Code:

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
George Bernard Shaw

umbra

CeeCee · (#4 (**permalink**))

Tate,

It depends on what kind of segregation you're talking about. Believe it or not there are two kinds of segregation, the type where people just feel comfortable being around their people for cultural reasons and the others because they just don't want to be around certain groups of people because of their prejudice towards them. I've been around many cultures and races. If there is one thing that they taught me is that. I was talking with my former professor who was Colombian. He said when he arrived in America, he went into Spanish Harlem( New York) because, he , at the time, wasn't speaking really good Spanish and he just wanted to be around people who understood his culture and language.

Sometimes he would get on the bus and talk with a native of Cuba, Mexico etc and when they spoke Spanish, some Americans thought that he was trying to be funny and told him that he should be speaking english, which made his feel even worse. Now he's comfortable with the language and has adjusted to the American lifestyle quite well. Far as neighborhood, he now lives in an Apartment in the Spanish section/Koreatown( as I call it) of Doraville , Georgia. This time it has nothing to do with comfort. He's been living there for so many years that he doesn't want to move anywhere else. The funny thing about him is that he's only lived in Black/mixed neighborhoods. Far as my old professor, he wasn't trying to get away from a group of people, he just wanted to adjust and he was struggling to do it.

Tate1 · (#5 (**permalink**))

zaghawa wrote:

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Tate1 wrote:

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Yes it is human nature to exclude and discriminate (but those terms have a hard connotation in the modern world and they don't deserve such hard connotations). It doesn't necessarily have to be about race or sexthough. I agree, it does not have to be about race or sex, it can actually be about anything, but still whateva its about its still about excluding other people.... this exclusion may make some people feel unworthy or not important or even inferior.......... so if it is human nature, then why fight what 'inbuilt'/pre-programmed?

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People always have and always will form hierarchies.

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Conceptsthatmany people in the modern worldhave forgotten aboutare merit, talentand honor. Ressentmentand envy has becomea fashionable thing in the modern world. It is the IN hate. The hatred against everyone who is healthy, happy and free.How can u know for sure that these emotions (resentment & envy) did not prevail in historical times? Even looking at African history there were queens, kings,chiefs (still are inmost), generals etcandthe 'subjects' (couldn't think of a better word) - those withouta 'title'/those who served. How can you know there was no discrimination within their communities? That brings me back tothe question; how can we conquer this discriminating aspectin our nature?

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Don't get me wrong,my people have been violated and abused fortoo long - I'm a strong advocate of our fight but whatsgonna stop discrimination from happening amongst us when we win? How can we become stronger and show the current 'power-holders' how things should be done?