As with all (or most) concepts/ideas, this minimalists view on race is small and simple:
There is only one race. The human race.
(How’s that for minimal?)
For starters, “race” is not the same as “ethnicity.” Race is a concept of grouping people by their physical attributes, and separating them with name labels. The very concept of race only serves to segregate people. So the very idea of race lends itself to race-ism. Ethnicity refers to the place of origin and culture of people.
So by that logic ……. race doesn’t really exist, or I should say that it exists only because we believe it does. Take it from Bill Nye (Bill Nye on Race).
One thing I have learned through experience about people and their behaviors, is that as much as our thoughts influence our actions/words (and therefore others actions/words), so too do our actions/words influence our thoughts (and others thoughts). So by that logic, the way to eliminate this fictitious concept of “race” (and therefore racism) is to simply not talk about it. I think Morgan Freeman’s view on this is the most valid one I could find (Morgan Freeman on Race).
So lets all just stop talking about it. Not to each other, not to ourselves, and certainly NOT TO OUR CHILDREN. Eventually the very concept will be just a memory to some, and completely erased for others. Our children won’t even have a concept of it or a use for it.
So in the spirit of not talking about it, this is my first and last post on the subject.