If you see skin color, then you are racist. What is the point of all these groups: white lives matter, black lives matter. It is just the color of your skin, nothing more. We are all human underneath. I think it's ludicrous when people talk of themselves as being black, white, whatever it is, it's just the color of your skin! It is not who you are, it does not define what you do, what music you listen to, or what your home life is like. I understand that we have unconscious biases at play here, people can associate race with culture, but even that is not true; throughout history a lot of white and black people have been raised in the same culture.
So, if you see skin color - as a means to identify or categorize a human being as some kind of way, then you are racist. Talking to people of different races, they say that this is true -that the color of your skin is just the color of your skin, but it doesnt really matter because everyone in the world sees it differently. I call bullshit, and the argument of "this is just how things are in the world" is also bullshit. When you look at someone, does how "things in the world are" create your understanding of them, or do you think for yourself? This glaring revelation reveals how much of our self-perception is based upon others. When everyone was brought up into this world, we got the impression that we should do our best to align ourselves with "how this world is" to survive. But a lot of "how the world is" is based on ignorance, hate, and separation. This is why the media is so dangerous, people see things on the news and think "this is how the world is", instead of seeing that this is how different individuals act. We all stand on the same ground and the people in power aren't different from us. They are the same, they just put up an illusion of power to seem more superior.
As above, so below, in our daily lives we meet people, and a lot of people, and perhaps everyone thinks that they are better or more important than others. This "better" would not exist without a "worse". Many people who struggle with their self image feel the need to look better, to be better, to feel better than other people. Well, I have some news: it's all a game! A facade that we need not play. But we sure have been conditioned to play it, from our parents comparing us to others, to that dude with the Ferrari that everyone thinks is the shit, to those preppy kids in high school that would not talk to those that weren't "at their level". It is all fake. Status is a concept, and it only exists if you perceive it. None of us is better or worse than anyone else. Face it. If your happiness and self-worth are based in comparisons to others, then wake up. We are all the same, and you are faking your self. You are living within your head.
A lot of this is more pertinent when we consider our personal motivations. "If I sleep with this pretty girl, I will feel better about myself." Why? Because that other dude could not sleep with this girl, must reveal that I am better than him, hence more capable than him. It's all an illusion, and we are trapped in it. It makes us suffer. If I don't look as good as these other girls then that makes me ugly. This is absolutely not true. But, it will exist as part of of your perceptions if this is how you perceive it. Some people might say, well I think this too but obviously people treat that girl nicer than me because she is prettier so it has to be true. But it's not, these people around you are disillusioned, and you can escape it if you want to. Think for yourself.
When you do, you find a lot of unnecessary shit happening around you. Work is a good example. A lot of people think that work is stressful, so we go in to work with this disposition, and that is exactly what we encounter: stress at work. But it can be different. You can enjoy your time at work, regardless if your boss or coworkers are dicks. This is where things get a little tricky, because we have to become aware that our internal states are not based on how other people are acting. You may feel crazy if you don't match up your internal states to the things happening around you. But you are not, you are just more grounded. You are more conscious.
