Do you recognise this photo?
You give up? OK, fine. It’s from Rwanda. It’s a memorial to the victims of the Rwandan genocide. Those are the literal skulls and bones of victims.
The Rwandan genocide was the mass slaughter of Tutsi by Hutu tribesmen. Between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Tutsi were killed: roughly 70% of their population.
Both the Tutsi and the Hutu ethnic groups are Sub-Saharan Africans. Members of both groups have the same skin colour.
That somehow didn’t prevent the slaughter. Black people murdered other black people. Rwandans murdered fellow Rwandans.
Like all forms of bias, racism just concentrates on finding something different between two groups.
OK, so maybe we’re all the same skin colour and live in the same country, but those people weren’t born here (Race riots in South Africa).
OK, so maybe we’re all the same skin colour and nationality, but those people are of a different tribal group to us. (Iraqi Marsh Arabs).
OK, maybe we’re the same skin colour, but they’re of a different religion to us (India/Pakistan).
OK, maybe we’re the same skin colour and share the same religion, but they’re of a different culture to us (Pakistan/Bangladesh).
OK, maybe we’re the same skin colour and same religion, but they’re of a different sect (ISIS).
OK, maybe we’re the same skin colour, but they’re Westernised scum. (Khmer Rouge)
And so on.
If everyone had the same colour of skin, racism and prejudice would not be eliminated. It would just manifest itself in a different form. Nationality, social group, economic status, job…
Picture Source Wikipedia
Thanks for Reading
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