Matt Ridley offers hope that we can get over our tendency to otherize people by race.
In his Wall Street Journal column, he cites research suggesting that it isn't human nature to categorize people by race, but a cultural artifact.
Social anthroplogists have long believed that evolution left us with a tendency to be suspicious of people outside our own group. In our ancient hunter-gatherer past, it was usually wise to avoid people who weren't part of our own clan or tribe. Outsiders would compete for resources, including suitable mates; they might take off with valuables; and they could bring new diseases with them.
But Ridley says recent research argues that the other groups our hunter-gatherer ancestors came across were seldom of other races. So racial categorization is not "human nature" but simply culture latching on to race as the expression of "groupishness" that is part of human nature.
If that's right, we should be able to get over a tendency to racisim more easily than if it were hard-wired into our stone-aged brains.
I hope that's right.
Robert Putnam, the Harvard political scientist, has pointed out that when he was growing up, people's religion was a much bigger deal than it is today. Jews only wanted to marry Jews; Catholics, Catholics; and so on. Today, when it comes to dating and marrying, religion has as much relevance as left-handedness.
But I suspect race will be a little more difficult to conquer, if only because "colorism" seems to affect people of all races, including African-Americans.
And, while inter-racial marriages are increasing, Blacks and Whites still tend to wed at much lower rates than people of other racial combinations. In fact, Whites are the least likely of any racial group to marry someone of another race.
Racism may not be hard-wired into us per se. But I fear that for too many of us, it's second nature.
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