Look anywhere in the world and you see racial and group strife.
Millions being tortured, maimed, killed.
But why?
What is the underlying reason for a world filled with hate and killing?
I HATE YOU," is a powerful statement. It brings tears, sorrow, and disillusionment. It can also cause more hate, torture and all-out war.
Today, an "I-hate-you" attitude grips this earth. The hate is social, political, religious, cultural and linguistic. It forces groups to TAKE SIDES against each other. War — either local or international — is the usual result.
Our Mad, Mad, Mad World
But have you ever stopped to wonder WHY this world is filled with hate, killing and war? Why can't people get along? Why must skin color, religion, language, tribal affiliation, political ideology, personality differences create a barrier between two human beings?
The result of this hard-nosed hatred between groups and individuals is reflected in the strange, entangling alliances we see in this world.
The Soviet Union was our ally by circumstances during World War I, became an enemy between the wars, changed to an ally during World War II, now is considered by many to be our greatest military enemy.
On the other hand, two former enemies — Japan and Germany — are our allies. That is, except East Germany which finds herself allied with the Soviet Union and, therefore, against the United States.
In Asia, Chinese Communists oppose Chinese Nationalists living on the island of Formosa.
During World War II Germans and French — many of the same religion — fought each other. Meanwhile, Vichy French were against Free French.
Both the Soviet Union and Mainland China have the same political ideology — Communism. Yet, border disputes and general animosities periodically flare up between them.
In the Nigerian civil war, BLACK Ibo tribesman fought BLACK Hausa tribesman. Sometime before, black Congolese hired white mercenaries to fight other black Congolese.
Why? Why all this confusion? Why this hatred for other human beings?
The reason is, in unexpected ways, quite simple. It has to do with the phenomenon called "group instinct." It often manifests itself in what has become an explosive four-letter word: R-A-C-E. Not color, but race. Color is merely one aspect of race.
"Race" or "Group Instinct" involves many interrelated factors. These include birth, historical association, language, culture, political ideology, color, physiognomy, religion, economics — and many other factors.
Origin of Group or Race Hatred
But why must groups of people hate each other? Is group or race hatred inborn?
Actually, it is not. It is acquired or learned behavior. That is the definite conclusion of sociologist E. Franklin Frazier: ". . . studies of children have revealed that race prejudice is ACQUIRED BEHAVIOR" (Race and Culture Contacts in the Modern World, Boston, Beacon Press, 1957, page 275).
Recently, two sociologist/psychologists, Gustav Johada and Henri Tajfel, stated that they found the first thing most children learn about people of other nations is to DISLIKE them in some way.
Their declaration was presented to the 127th meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. It was based on a survey of Austrian, Belgian, Greek, Dutch and British children, ages 6 to 8.
The Johada-Tajfel conclusion was, "Emotional attitudes toward various foreign countries are, as it were, built into children before they have assimilated even the most elementary factual information about them." This built-in emotional attitude often leads to conflict on an internal or international scale.
Of all the explosive factors capable of igniting strife and war, "Color and race," said John Franklin, chairman of the Department of History at the University of Chicago, "are at once among the most important and most enigmatic" (Color and Race, edited by John H. Franklin, Boston, Houghton-Miffiin, 1968, page vii).
Racial strife, of course, is not limited to white and black as some Americans may think. For example, during the week of the 1965 Los Angeles black-white riot, brown men and yellow men were also slugging it out in Malaysia. And at that same time brown men and black men were slaughtering each other in the Sudan. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Africa, black men killed other black men.
Beyond Skin Color
"Color" as men define it, however, is capable of causing immediate reactions in some humans. Of all the racial characteristics that peg men, "skin color is the most glandular," says MIT Political Science professor Harold Isaacs (ibid. page 75).
Skin color immediately marks the identity of a man's group. But it is not the skin which is at fault. “Color is neutral," says Roger Bastide, professor of Sciences Humaines at the Sorbonne, "it is the MIND that gives it meaning" (ibid. page 34).
Blind people who have recognized the race of persons by their smell, skin texture, voice — immediately reveal their ATTITUDE toward the person being recognized. The point being there is no biological reason for color to incite hatred. The dislike stems from attitudes concerning skin color which were funneled into the minds of the people involved.
Skin color is merely the most easily observable characteristic of race. But there are others. Korean and Japanese people, who have about the same skin color, find other distinguishing characteristics to dislike about each other — physical, religious, educational, social, dietary, linguistic and cultural, to name a few.
In Nigeria, the most pronounced characteristic between the Hausas and the Ibos was their education, industriousness — and tribal affiliation.
During World War II Germans used political and group affiliations as a mark to pick out Jews and Gypsies.
America and Britain also have their "race" problems. However, neither Briton nor American has yet experienced RACE WAR to the degree that other nations in our times have. But we would be naive to think Britain and America are immune from guerrilla race war.
It would do us ALL good in America and Britain — white, black, brown, red, yellow — to pause and ask: Must we TOO have our cities and towns filled with the blood of millions of human beings in a horrendous race war?
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Wide World Photo
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To completely list all the wars, rebellions and conflicts in the world for the last 25 years would be nearly impossible. For example, one sociologist estimated that between 1946 and 1959 alone there were over 1200 "internal wars." Another source gives a weekly rundown of wars in progress. It will list up to 80 or more wars, conflicts and insurgencies at any one time. These areas of violence will be labeled any-where from "stable" to "serious" to "dangerous" to "out of control."
At the end of 1970, one estimate gave a total of more than one hundred wars, conflicts, insurgencies, civil wars and more violent incidents occurring since World War II.
The sixty wars listed below are by no means the only ones which have occurred. Some of the conflicts are broken down by others into two or more separate wars. In other cases, wars listed singly here, are else-where separated. Many of the wars are long-standing conflicts which oscillate from a "stable" to an "out of control" condition. Therefore, dates of a particular war may differ depending on interpretation of the degree of the conflict.
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INDONESIA 1945-47
Netherlands vs. guerrillas.
CHINA 1945-49
Nationalists vs. Communists.
MALAYA 1945-54
Britain vs. Communist.
INDO-CHINA 1945-54
France vs. Viet Minh.
GREECE 1946-49
Government vs. Elas rebels.
INDIA 1947-49
Hindus vs. Moslems.
KASHMIR 1947-49
India vs. Pakistan.
PHILIPPINES 1948-52
Government vs. Huks.
ISRAEL 1948-49
Israel vs. Arabs.
BURMA 1948-current
Government vs. Communists.
KOREA 1950-53
UN & S. Korea vs. China & N. Korea.
FORMOSA 1950-current
Nationalists vs. Communists.
TIBET 1950-59
Chinese Communists vs. Tibetans.
KENYA 1952-53
Britain vs. Mau Mau.
QUEMOY-MATSU 1954-58
Nationalists vs. Communists.
ALGERIA 1954-62
France vs. rebels.
SUDAN 1955-current
Arabs vs. Blacks.
CYPRUS 1955-59
Britain vs. EOKA rebels.
SINAI 1956
Israel vs. Egypt.
HUNGARY 1956
Russia vs. partisans.
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SUEZ 1956
Britain & France vs. Egypt.
LEBANON 1958
U. S. & Lebanese vs. Rebels.
CUBA 1958-59
Government vs. Castro rebels.
VIETNAM 1959-current
U.S. & S.Vietnam vs. Viet Cong & N.Vietnam.
HIMALAYAS 1959-62
India vs. Red China.
RWANDA-BURUNDI 1959-64
Watusi vs. Hutu.
LAOS 1959-current
Government vs. Pathet Lao.
CONGO 1960-67
Government & UN vs. Secessionists.
VENEZUELA 1960-67
Government vs. Communists.
COLOMBIA 1960-current
Government vs. Rebels.
CUBA 1961 (Bay of Pigs)
Cuban refugees & U.S. vs. Government.
GOA 1961
India vs. Portugal.
KUWAIT 1961
Britain vs. Iraq.
ANGOLA 1961-current
Portugal vs. Guerrillas.
YEMEN 1962-current
Royalists vs. Government & Egypt.
WEST NEW GUINEA 1962
Netherlands vs. Indonesia.
CUBA 1962
Russia & Cuba vs. U.S.
PORTUGUESE GUINEA 1962-current
Portugal vs. Guerrillas.
ALGERIA-MOROCCO 1963
Algeria vs. Morocco.
VENEZUELA 1963
Government vs. Rebels.
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MALAYSIA 1963-current
Britain & Malaysia vs. Indonesia.
ZANZIBAR 1964
Blacks vs. Arabs.
BRAZIL 1964-current
Government vs. Terrorists.
THAILAND. 1964-current
Government vs. Terrorists.
MOZAMBIQUE 1964-current
Portugal vs. Guerrillas.
DOMINICAN REP. 1965
Government vs. Rebels.
PERU 1965
Government vs. Rebels.
PAKISTAN-INDIA 1965
Pakistan vs. India.
INDONESIA 1965-66
Communists vs. Moslems & Government.
NIGERIA-BIAFRA 1966-70
Government vs. Secessionists.
ISRAEL 1967-current
Israel vs. Arabs.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1968
Soviet Union vs. Czechoslovakia.
MALAYSIA 1969
Malays vs. Chinese & Indians.
EL SALVADOR 1969
Honduras vs. El Salvador in "Soccer War."
CHAD 1969-current
France & Government vs. Rebels.
NORTHERN IRELAND 1969-current
Catholics vs. Protestants.
GUINEA 1970
Government vs. Invaders.
GUATEMALA 1970-current
Government vs. Terrorists.
OMAN 1970-current
Government vs. Rebels.
ETHIOPIA 1970-current
Government vs. Moslem rebels.
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