Let’s Talk About Race Structures

Understanding such structures can help us gain perspective, understanding and empathy

We twisted humans have created such a truly messed up concept of race that even “black” people and “people of color” can have difficulty empathizing with others of their same race.

I’ve come to this conclusion as I try to make sense of the differences between the US and Venezuela (my country of birth) when it comes to how race dynamics and racism are structured in each country.

Venezuela’s “structure” makes for a society where racism is less institutionalized and central than in the US.

Transfer Venezuela’s structure to the US, however, and you get a very particular kind of racism, with components I still struggle to understand and explain. It turns out that racist structures play out differently in different societies.

Almost half of Venezuela’s population is “white” and the other half “mixed”, with black and indigenous Venezuelans making up less than 4% and 3% of the population, respectively.

The thing is, the lines between white and mixed, which together make up about 93% of the population, are incredibly blurry. You can’t tell who would consider themselves white or mixed, and the general attitude is “Who even cares?”

Racism in Venezuela is reserved mostly toward blacks, and you’re “black” if you look to be 100% of black African descent. Terrible as our racism toward black people is, I will say that it is not nearly as bad as it is in the US.

What happens when we transfer our specific race structure and racism to the US?

Since racism doesn’t make sense, exporting your society’s racism to another society renders it even more nonsensical.

A Venezuelan who thinks of himself as white may be a viewed as a person of color in the US, while a mixed Venezuelan may be black or a person of color.

Heck, a dark skinned Venezuelan who thinks of herself as white may even be black in the US! I’ve known one such person. (Doesn’t all of this also show how race is so made up? Get on a plane and travel to a different country and your race may change.)

Another unsettling result of all this is that you have people who can’t see why the group they would be considered part of in the US is so dissatisfied.

A lot of the time, immigrants can’t see race issues and even color through the American lens. It’s astounding the extent to which how we’re socialized skews how we see and judge ourselves and others.

Why does this matter?

It’s impossible to see things from another’s perspective and to empathize when you don’t even realize (or admit to yourself) that there is a different structure and perspective.

No, humility and open-mindedness don’t come naturally to us adult humans. This, to my mind, is the greatest obstacle to ameliorating all of humanity’s biggest problems, racism included.

The problem is that cynicism, hubris and arrogance become cemented in too many minds as we’re “socialized” and accumulate experiences. They block our ability to even consider others’ views and realities.

I submit, however, that we humans do have the capacity to largely understand how someone feels, even if we haven’t personally experienced what they’re going through. I’m not saying we can fully understand it. Heck, not even an identical twin can know exactly how his twin feels in a given situation. But to a greater extent than we give ourselves credit for, we really can put ourselves in other people’s shoes.

I see this capacity all the time in my preschool students.

I know plenty of people who aren’t parents who felt my pain, so to speak, when my son was hospitalized with a serious brain injury. I know plenty of rich folks who empathize profoundly with people who live in poverty, as well as poor folks who are able to feel the pain rich people may also confront.

Similarly, we have the ability to relate to the pain of the victims of racism, which is the first step in getting us to do something about it.

First, though, we must be able to open our minds and remember this great lesson from writer, poet and visual artist Khalil Gibran (in The Prophet):

Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”

Say not, “I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”

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