Is racism not natural to humans?

Question

animals dont have racism neither monkeys howcome humans do?

Answer 1

For humans and chimpanzees there is an instict towards formation of groups. Part of solidifying a group is separating yourselves from others. Since chimps have less intraspecies variation, they do not divide based on race, but on different factors (sometimes based on family). They will show high levels of intolerance for chimpanzees in other groups and favor those in their groups.

In human populations which have a mix of ethnicities, it is very easy to form groups based on race, from which naturally racism spawns. Primates similar to us socially do not practice racism, since they do not have races within their populations.

Answer 2

Racism is trigerred by fear of the unknown. It is a way to keep other races at harm lenght when our own territory or values is threaten. Animals cannot verbally express racism but will not hesitate to kill when threaten by an other race.

Answer 3

How can there be racism when there is only one race of people?

Answer 4

Racism is a social value.  Humans are social on a level that monkeys and apes are not because we can speak.

It is entirely random that this particular value system was and is in place.  It could just as easily have been short people.  However, the need for labor probably made short people an obviously wrong choice.  Racism makes it entirely possible to enslave a population that can also build pyramids and toil in the fields.

Answer 5

On the contrary, most species do have "racism" of a sort. Simply put, any "stranger" who tries to enter the "community" will, at first, be treated in a hostile manner until the stranger is either ousted completely, or does something to warrant being accepted (if a group's numbers are low, due to natural disaster, starvation, poaching, etc, etc, etc, then the patriarch or matriarch of the "pack" may accept newcomers provided they are submissive; after all, an extra set of eyes and ears will protect the "pack" and may be useful in finding food). So, in that regard, virtually all species are "racists". Unfortunately, only the human animal practices bigotry for no valid reason.

Answer 6

Xenophobia is somewhat natural to people.  We like our group, and fear the other groups.  It's a survival thing.  You don't know what they're doing.  You don't know what they want.  That uncertainty is scary, plus the other groups are directly competing with you for food.  So many animals are xenophobic to a degree, as many of them won't tolerate strangers or strange groups around them.

The racism is cultural, though.  There's no real reason to base "us vs. them" on skin color, and, in fact, we don't, naturally.  That's a product of hundreds of years of colonialism and slavery.  We took a basic trait and molded it culturally.

Answer 7

I think it's very natural for humans to be suspicious of people who are different and not members of their group, whatever that is.    That is something you see in the animal kingdom in a way - packs of animals having a territory and not taking kindly to outsiders, even if it's not based on the colour of the other animals.  

It's also natural for humans to do a whole lot of other things that are kinda dumb and not in our best interests.