So as we learned in class a few days ago, the imagery
surrounding the princess and the sultan in The
King of Tars has absolutely nothing to do with race and only has to do with
religion. However, the religious differences between the princess and the sultan
do manifest themselves in physical form, both in the Lump Child that is born
between them and in the sultan’s miraculous turning white. In the second
example, it just so happens that the sultan’s transformation looks kinda like
he changed races. This is not, however, the only time that human beings have been
confused about the difference between traits that are cultural (such as one’s
religion) and traits that are genetic (such as skin color). People frequently
try to explain differences between individuals with biology they don’t actually
understand—like trying to say that someone got a better grade than you because
their brain is literally bigger--and when it comes to individuals of different
races, these differences get attributed to racial differences.
There may be a lot of reasons why a large majority of
athletes in certain sports, such as basketball and football, are black. An
athlete’s body is the biggest part of his/her success, so probably an
individual’s height or length of arms or legs—something that is partly
determined by DNA—could contribute. But it’s probably not true that African
Americans are better athletes because their ancestors spent a lot of time “running
from lions” on the savannah. There are probably cultural and societal reasons
why black kids in the U.S. are more likely to be encouraged in sports while
white (or Asian?) kids are more likely to be encouraged to academic pursuits. And
while it may sound complementary to talk about black success in athletics, it
smacks of racism (or jealously?) to downplay the role that hard work plays in
an athlete’s career. “Why do Blacks dominate sports then?”
one Internet user asks. “Because they just work harder? Nothing to do with them
being taller, leaner, more muscle mass, longer limbs? It's all been proven
SCIENTIFICALLY.” Also, how can we attribute it to centuries of selective
breeding if the Onion is correct in saying that “African-Americans Go From
Being No Good At Sports To Only Good At Sports”?
So there are a
couple uncomfortable things going on here at once. First, a desirable ability—in
this case, athleticism—is assumed to be based in racial differences,
emphasizing a belief that people of other races are inherently “not like us” on
a level that goes down to blood and bones. Second, this racial explanation of
success is used to say that African Americans (in this case) are not successful
because of their own hard work or gumption but because of some unfair advantage
over whites.
Also, can we talk
about the myth that Jewish people use their yarmulkes/their hair to hide the
horns on their head? That’s messed up.
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