While everyone is trying to understand racism, arguing about racism, searching for the cause of racism, no one, absolutely no one is approaching racism as a "learned experiential process".
Why does racism exist? We need to look at the process from which everything is learned when it comes to human beings. There is nothing that is natural when it comes to human beings. It is said that humans are the only "animals" that do not have instincts but rather learn everything that we do and participate in through out our lives.
Girls for example, are taught how to nurture a child as soon as they start playing with dolls. It is a learned process which include observing how parents act and respond to different situations in life. We all do it. No matter what we experience, we learn our responses to those experiences.
Another example is a personal example. When I was an Auxiliary Police Officer, a Park Warden, Special Constable, and Security Officer, every person I encountered who has a beard, I automatically did not trust them. From my experiences I always had problems dealing with men who had beards. It was like they were hiding something.
Another situation was when I worked as a Park Warden at Wasaga Beach Provincial Park. We dealt with a lot of Italians during the summer months. By the time my first summer was completed, I grew from experience not to like Italians, and yet I have many Italian friends at the time.,
We learn from our experiences and from our parents and friends. As a child growing up, I never knew what racism was. In our below middle class neighbourhood, there were a variety of people from different racial and ethnic back ground. I had learned from experiences with these people my appreciation for the diversity that was in the neighbourhood. That doesn't mean that it was a large diversity, but there was a diversity that belonged to that neighbourhood.
When someone new moved into the neighbouthood, it took a bit of time, but after awhile we either liked them or didn't like them. Once more it was based on the experiences that we encountered with these people.
To be honest, my dealings with those in my neighbourhood, whether I liked them or not, was not based on the colour of their skin, but rather on my experiences I had with them. Albert Brown, a coloured gentleman was a favourite of mine, in that he repaired by bicycle when ever I needed it to be repaired. In fact he and his wife were the heroes of the neighbourhood. Everyone enjoyed and liked Mr. Brown. We all missed him when he and later his wife passed away. They were icons and worthy of emulating their lives into our own experiences.
I can honestly say that my experiences in life, in how I dealt with people is based on what I learned in life and had nothing to do with, nor has anything to with colour, religion, or ethnicity. I have learned not to trust anyone, due to what I experienced as an law enforcement officer. It was the police departments that taught me not to trust anyone, including other police officers. This was further substantiated when dealing with religious authorities and/or organizations. They taught me how not to trust anyone, and it was all due to my experiences.
In saying that racism is a learned process, we can unlearn this experience even though it is much more difficult to unlearn an experience than to re-learn an experience. We base our living abilities on what we learn, and since our thoughts or brains are always working (from birth until death), there is a need to understand why we behave the way we do.
Legislating behavior is most difficult and yet that is what we do when there is a desired change to take place. We allow governments to legislate our behavior which does nothing to combat or change behavior. The law only punishes what society deems to be inappropriate or offensive. It does not actually teach respect for others. In fact legislating behavior often times only enforces our dislike to someone or something because we are being "punished". What we have learned is that if I speed in my car and get caught, I will be expected to pay a fine, loose my license or what ever the courts have deemed fit in punishing my offense. What have I learned? I learned that if I am caught, I will be punished. It really hasn't changed my behaviour.
Racism is similar. It is a learned process gained only by experiences that have been reinforced through activities that have taught us to dislike, hate, or disapprove of someone based on their colour and ethnicity. In saying this, it is not only based on colour, but on behaviour that has been encountered.
Racism in not just a "white" problem. Racism is a problem with all colours and ethnic segments of society. That is why racism is learned. There isn't one culture, nor one society, nor one person that hasn't experienced racism or bigotry sometime in their lives or existence. All cultures and social constructs experience racism in different ways and even within their own cultures and societies. It is not hinged on colour of skin only.
Every society and culture have had and continue to have, dislikes and hatred, as well as experience with slavery in the past and in the present. There are slave markets in the world and not just with the Muslim religion which just so happens condones slavery. It is not only the "blacks" that experience slavery. Slavery is an abomination to humanity and yet is it still practiced in many different forms and ways. Therefore based on this, people have learned that a person caught up in slavery, even economic slavery, is not at the same social level as they are.
Strippers and prostitutes are looked down upon. The poor are looked down upon. The middle class have hang ups as well. The middle class, while disappearing in most countries, has built in conditions where by social standing is important. We judge others on first glances, based on our experiences we have learned while growing up and even into adulthood.
Once racism has become politicalized and religious we no longer own the problem but have shifted the problem onto these institutions. Right now, racism has become a political problem. Legislation is being developed to "punish" the offender. What happens is that racism becomes a "white" problem because it is determined by law and philosophical reasoning that only "whites" can be racist. This is further from the truth, but is accepted because we have allowed racism to become a political entity fueled by the experiences learned.
A religious issue because people have used religion to support their behaviour when in reality religion abhors racism. In fact Christianity does not support slavery, owning humans as property by slavery or unlivable wages. Nor does Christianity condones ill treatment of others including family members including children. Any religion that supports slavery or seeing people as property to be used and abused is not of God but is something that is totally man made, man imagined and does not belong in any society or culture what so ever.
So how do we deal with racism. Since racism is a learned experience, we need to educate people from the very early ages that racism and ill treatment of anyone is not acceptable behaviour. And that is where the rub is. That is where the problem grows, from the very educational development which will take years to undo what people have learned and experienced as they live their lives.
I did not and could not trust anyone with a beard all do to my experiences with people who had beards. I did not like Italians based on my experiences that I have with Italians while at Wasaga Beach. I am glad that these experiences also taught me how wrong they were so that I could change my behaviour. Not only do we need to learn behaviour, but we also have to be able to unlearn our behaviour.
Jesus said: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." In other words treat people as you would want them to treat you. Jesus also said: "If you hate your brother, you have already committed murder". These are behaviours that can be learned and corrected which are also inclusive in their practice.
When God created mankind, He said let us make man in our image. It is inclusive in its understanding and practice. Therefore based on this ideology alone, failure to recognize each other as equals, failure to respect each other as individuals, is offensive to God and is not in the plan of God. God did not create racism nor slavery. It was man made as man stooped to below ground to come up with these abominations that are abhorrent to God and Jesus and in turn to us as individuals created in the image of God.