my great x4 grandfather on my mother’s side was black but you’d never know it looking at me…

oh Age Simpson addressed that much more articulately.

“When I was a college freshman, my Intro to Anthropology instructor casually mentioned that race is total fiction. We students angrily rejected this contention. Anyone could see we had Africans, Asians, and Caucasians right there in the room. The professor responded by demanding empirical evidence. We spent the rest of the class gathering data, attempting to sort ourselves into races. Sure enough, we failed to place even two of us in a scientifically-definable subgroup

“There’s a better case for Santa Claus,” my professor grinned.

[...]

“The (racial) model appears sound on the surface, but science insists paradigms be demonstrable at an elemental level. While exceptions to any paradigm inevitably crop up, if it is valid, there aren’t many. Yet the (racial) approach engenders more exception than conformity. To be sure, human (appearance) varies in place and time. Widely separated populations differ immensely. It’s placing the dividers that topples the paradigm. Locating exactly where (“Black Africans”) stop and (“South Asians”) begin in time and place is impossible. In between are a good dozen other (“races”), or versions of one or both. And the frontiers between those populations aren’t clear, either.”

So race has a certain subjective validity in informal, relatively unimportant contexts. A policeman describes a suspect as a “white female” because we all get a picture of what she looks like, in general, from that expression. But when we get attached the concept that physical appearance determines anything else about us (intelligence, sensitivity, education, sense of humour, personality), we become dangerous people.

In the context of Western Buddhism, I think it’s perfectly right (and about time) that we strongly question the lily-white complexion of virtually all of our sanghas. Hell, you don’t even see many Asians in the Zen sanghas I’ve known! That ain’t right. But as we use these terms, let’s all keep in mind that the concept of race is fundamentally crap.

To me the teachings seem to direct us towards coming into closer contact with the immediacy of our experience as it occurs moment to moment. And so while it is of course important to ensure that we use language that doesn’t cause harm or offence to another, we also do not want to feed the fire of delusion and slip into the world of views (mine right – yours wrong), claim and counter claim as there is no end to this. The response to Brian’s comments on genetics does seem to have gone this way. If you are offended, you could try not being offended…

I think that given the context of the original comments by Brian and the subject matter of this blog they could easily have been read as a simple sentence making a relatively minor point – even if it irked you a little. Whenever I am offended I try my best look at my own mind to understand the cause of the suffering I experience. Now i’m not suggesting the author of the comment Brian received didn’t examine their own mind first, and the point they made about race being a social construct is a perfectly valid one but the fact remains that there is difference, and the tendency of the mind is to classify and compare. So it seems that it’s this process of the mind adding to experience that we need to understand in order to be free from suffering. As far as my understanding and experience goes, we can then let the mind do its thing and be far more present with our immediate experience – using the mind when its useful, and not being carried along by it when its not.

Blessings to you all.

Mat

I know the original poster wasn’t calling me a racist, but I felt that his even touching on the subject seemed to suggest it. Either way, the topic came up, and I think it’s a worthy topic for discussion.

As far as me not having something to teach on every topic, there I think you’re wrong. For someone who takes Buddhism and teachings of Buddha seriously, EVERYTHING must be seen through that lens. If my articles on masturbation, pet food, and cannibal horror films didn’t demonstrate that, I’m not sure looking at racism will do the trick either. Buddhism isn’t something that we do on Sundays before noon, it’s an integral part of us that colors everything. Anything and everything is fair game, even moreso if it’s a topic others choose to ignore. At least that’s the way it works for me.

I will admit that I don’t think I have anything to TEACH on racism, it’s definitely not something I’m all that close to. But I have an opinion on the subject just like everyone else, and my opinions are tinted with Buddhist ideals and concepts. If it gets you thinking critically about the way you think, whether you agree with me or not, then I’ve done my job.

I like when you talk about Buddhism. It’s when you talk about other things that you seem to be on thin ice. Your reader, earlier, who referred you to the PBS show, did not accuse you of being racist. You should watch the show, perhaps, before responding defensively. But more importantly, you don’t necessarily have something to teach on every topic.

My goodness. Isn’t the internet an interesting place? You can offend
virtually anyone by saying virtually anything.

An interesting debate, to be sure but I will tell you as a mixed race parent
with mixed race children – also auntie for children of all races and in the
process of adopting a black child – using the terms black and white provide
a handle – social construct or not. It is important that the black children
in our family have the ability to identify with people who look as they do -
it’s part of their human experience. So we seek that out. If the word
“black” isn’t used, we would have difficulty locating groups.

And if you really think about it, blue eyed and brown eyed are also “social
constructs” or perhaps, they are human constructs and since that is the
experience we are having, those are the terms we use while on this planet.
Being Irish or Italian, black or Asian, white or Mexican – these are terms
that help us connect with our larger family.

We have a lot of human constructs – and, if we choose, they can help us to
build community.

A friend once told me that all the drama in our lives is a direct result of
taking things personally and making assumptions. This applies to taking
offense as well.

I appreciate the community you’re providing and for your generosity of
spirit.

Namaste…

I work for an organisation riddled with political correctness and I cant agree with you more. We should value difference, embrace it and celebrate it. We should not ignore it or pretend it isn’t there for in doing so we fool no one but ourselves and anyone too scared to tell it how it is, I am reminded of the emperor’s new clothes. Keep up the good work.

David

I agree with the social construct point, but most things, if not all things, are socially constructed. But many things are hegemonically ‘constucted’, and ‘race’ is often one of those things.

In Europe, the term ‘Caucasion’ does not sound right , where we believe it has NAZI ovetones. Italians and the Mediterreanean World were viewed as European; but not ‘White’. Conversly,to many British people, the term European is reserved for dark haired people who have olive skin. Skip a generation or two, ‘Darkies’ were Africans and ‘Indians’, including Buddha and ‘his’ people. Irish, frankly, were merely subject to abuse, and not even given a racial category.

Its a shame that today only the ‘African’ diaspora are clearly racialised. Buddhists must not forget who the Buddha was, where he resided, and not forget the relationship of the ‘non-white’ Buddha to the ‘non-white’ world. In concluding, what colour would the Buddha be under contemporary Ameircan racial classifications?