On racism and fictions

Fragments from imaginary dialogues

“What is your stance on racism?”

“Identity is a fiction, a construct. It can be a useful fiction, depending on its content. In believing it to be real, you make it real. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Race-identity is also a fiction. A useless divisive fiction which people make real with their belief. 

The brown eyes and blue eyes experiment offers a beautiful illustration of this phenomenon.

Once you attach an identity-story to an arbitrary category, you create a we/them dichotomy. I call the collective-identity thus formed a small-we. Such fictional entities allow people to be discriminated and manipulated, and have a tendency to gain a life of their own.

I reject any divisive small-we, including gender, race, and nationality. I strip them of their identity-story and regard them as mere linguistic labels.

I embrace the big-we, which includes ALL humanity, in all its beautiful diversity.”