Racism and Other Isms on the Beach

One of my favorite sports is 2 X 2 beach volleyball. The only problem is, in beach volleyball you only get to hold the court if you and your partner win. Since it is not unusual for there to be pro players on the courts, they can monopolize the play, meaning I get a lot of sit time.
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Waiting for my turn, I usually stroll down the beach and enjoy the water, sand underfoot, wonderful weather, birds and creatures, and the interesting throngs of people.
 
Recently, it struck me gazing over the crowd, how heterogeneous it all was. We hear a continual drone in the media about racism and sexism and are led to believe preferences are immoral and must be eliminated. But here on the beach, where everyone was able to freely interact as they chose, there was rampant xenophobia—and there were no protests and riots. Everyone seemed quite content being with whom they preferred as they lollygagged around in the sun.
 
There was toddlerism, teenagerism, girlism, boyism, seniorism, familyism, churchgroupism, whiteism, blackism, mexicanism, orientalism, and volleyballplayerism. Looking overhead I saw duckism, and seagullism. In the water there was minnowism, crabism, and seaweedism.
 
Yea gads, there was political incorrectness everywhere. Nature didn’t even have it right. When you think on it, preferences abound elsewhere too, in neighborhoods, clubs, organizations, economic class, marriage, schools, and race-devoted television and radio channels. In the recent election, curiously heralded as a victory against racism, 90+% of blacks voted for the black candidate. In prisons, blacks, whites, and Mexicans strictly segregate, by their choice, and even kill one another when the divisions are not respected.
 
My beach mirrored what we see everywhere in society and nature. Things like to associate with their own kind. Clearly, rights groups, media commentators, and politicians have it wrong. Separating off into groups most like what we are is the natural order of things. Can we hope to change that reality by removing words from language or by legislation? Hardly.
 
Besides, isms are not really a problem so long as they do not unjustly interfere with a person’s right to explore their talents and be treated fairly. But that cannot include forcing a Chinese speaking restaurant to hire an English speaking Caucasian, or professional basketball and hockey teams to play a ratio of black to white players in accordance with the ratio in the general population, about 1:5.
 
The freedom to explore one’s talent, a thing guaranteed by the Constitution, has been confused with equality of results. This communistic notion that everyone should have equal station in life, lies at the root of the present financial pandemonium in government and the health care debate. If socialized health care succeeds (because everyone has a “right” to someone else paying for their healthcare), next everyone will be guaranteed a certain standard of food, housing, clothing, and entertainment money. All of this will continue until the money runs out or the payers stop paying. Then revolution. Such is the fate of those who will not learn from history.
 
The fact of the matter is there is no equality anywhere in nature or society. There never was and never will be. Results will always be different because creatures and people are different. Any attempt to force equal results on society will doom that society because such effort denies reality.
 
Nevertheless, political correctness, race sensitivity, and victim-mania have reached absurd heights in our society. For example, Henry Gates, a black man who is a Harvard professor and vacations in exclusive Martha’s Vineyard, was arrested for disturbing the peace by a policeman who teaches officers not to racially profile. Gates cried racism—and had sympathizers across the country—in a country laced with black politicians and policemen, in a state with a black governor, and in a country with a black president!
 
Those who continue to claim racism in a free society are the true racists. Leading a group to believe they are victims only assures feelings of dependency and smothers human initiative and self-responsibility.
 
When my turn came on the volleyball court I had to face losing to professional volleyball players. I could have protested the unfairness of their height, their skill, or that I lost. I could have, but I would have been laughed off the beach. That would not have been politically correct of them, but it’s a reality I needed to face nonetheless.
 
Reality is about doing the best with the cards we have. We will win some and lose some. Be thankful for the freedom that permits that. It is what drives us to improve ourselves.
 
Being “equal” by winning all the time and having all our needs met regardless of our efforts—or lack thereof—would be the most boring of all lives. An interesting and worthwhile life is about challenge, change, and, most importantly, maintaining the freedom that permits us to be unequal.
 
(Read more about the absurdity of political correctness and the futility of attempting to change reality with our ideals in, Living Life As If Thinking Matters.)