I have been hearing a lot about race and racism these days (more about the second). Discussing race and racism has become some sort of taboo, so most of what I have been hearing is everything about race that it is not... i.e., people pretend to shut their eyes to differences. This trend has also entered management research these days (see for example Harrison, Price, & Bell, 1998). What people probably ignore is that differences do exist and it manifests itself in different ways. It is these differences that makes life interesting. So, why ignore it to just sound politically right? Why not celebrate our differences?
Here is my take on race. I think, when it comes to race, there are four kinds of people, 1) "I like my race, I like the other races too", 2) "I like my race, I hate every other race", 3) "I hate my race, I like some another race" and 4) "I hate racism". The first and forth category are noharmers, the second harm others, and the third harm themselves. The race challenge could be handled in two ways, 1) Teach people to shut their racist eyes and say all humans are alike. Which is what most recent attempts do. 2) Teach people to understand that there are difference, acknowledge the differences and live amicably with one another... The first is more of an utopian task, the second is reasonable... As we say in India "Unity in Diversity"... Lets learn to acknowledge our differences and live amicably...
