Patriotism In The Great Gatsby

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Racism: it’s ridiculous, it’s silly, it’s tremendously awkward, even -- and yet, it’s still extremely serious. How does an idea like this attain so much oblivious following and power? How is everyone still in denial about this epidemic that’s not an epidemic? How did it ever even come to be?

Well, I’ll tell you what it is. It’s insecurity. A pathetic insecurity -- a disgusting elitism, along with a twisted sense of traditionalism. Racism is a sick stupidity that hides behind a cracking mask of pride and patriotism. We’ll get to the patriotism in a second, but let me expand on something else first.

We define insecurity as “uncertainty or anxiety about oneself; lack of confidence,” and elitism as “the advocacy or existence of an elite as a dominating element in a system or society.” I think this applies very well to racism, when you think about it -- the question is why?

The thing is, as kids we grow up in a society that’s already very ingrained in its own beliefs. Our parents telling us to believe in God and saying that gay people were gross without explaining why
When we’re simply growing, we want to belong to something. We want to stand for something. And growing up in an echo chamber of intolerance, ignorance, and hate brings people to standing for it -- even in the face of reason, it’s almost a reflex. A default. And this cesspool of a cycle just keeps going and going. Racism is a tradition.

And I don’t want to upset anyone with this, but none of these are excuses. Sure, they’re all causes, but none of this excuses the racism that’s taken place for years and years. Understanding it’s wrong now, or having been ignorant earlier doesn’t mean it suddenly wasn’t racist. Instead of trying to act superiorly to others, what we should be doing is spreading awareness and standing up for the rights of others for others, not to feel good about