Groups and Race

After some reflection, it seems that race is but one more extension of a group. A group to which certain individuals attribute themselves, but, in the classical idea of  race, one cannot chose the group to which they belong, for we are born into it, and even worse, we cannot escape it. We bear the letters of our organization in the color of our skin, and we cannot remove them. In light of my recent applications to various summer programs that curtail to groups who are underrepresented in the field of law, I cannot help but wish I was not a white male. My group, that of the white male upper middle class, is over-represented, but this was no choice of mine, yet I remain discriminated against, albeit with justification. I want to offer a hand, but at the expense of myself? It is hard, given my absolute passion to enter a life dedicated to raising the moral and socio-economic quality of all peoples lives. Does this quest not grant me the same right that minorities receive? If my quest would end with the unprecedented development of all humanity, yet I have no means given the group I have been born into, does not this prejudice hinder the goals of humanity. I realize that, generally, it is held that my group has more opportunities, but the opportunity which I seek, I have almost no chance, and for that reason I wish to remove myself from my group.  (or wish that there was no racial prejudice but that is for another blog)

This tangent is meant only to prove the obvious possibility for desires to remove oneself from a group, followed by ones inability for the latter. In all other groups, groups we choose to become members of, we have the opportunity to leave the group or at least not identify ourselves, to others, as a member of that group. For this purpose, let us look into Greek life.  I am a member of PIKE, a fraternity on campus, and I identify with this group while trying to further our ideals. I do, however, have the ability to not wear my rush shirt or not put it on my application. I can remove the ability for others to discriminate against myself, but I can not remove my responsibility to my brothers, so long as I remain a member of the brotherhood. I have a bond with my brothers, and while I may dislike one particular brother, I still work towards furthering our fraternity. Likewise, all fraternities on campus have a common vested interest. We are all brothers of a fraternity, we are all parts of IFC (the council that regulates the different fraternities and also acts as a fraternal lobbyist group for the administration), and we are trying to get back spontaneous gatherings.  We must work together to make life better for all fraternity members here at Rhodes. This is the realization that America needs: yes we look different, yes our groups have differences, but for the betterment of humanity, we must work together. I dislike my roommate, another PIKE, he has low ethical standards, but I still strive with him to further of the ideals of our group. Our group must work with all other groups, whether or not they agree on all issues, to further the ideals of all groups. Think of yourself as your own group, you disagree with others but work together on common ground; groups are nothing but extensions of this principle.

Furthermore, we must not presume that any person belongs to a group based on their physical characteristics, because we cannot remove our color or gender. There are men who identify with  feminine ideals and white men who identify with black ideals. Our physical characteristics do not dictate our association to any group, only to other people who look the same but may or may not hold the same ideals. This is the problem, I both, wear the letters of PIKE, and identify with its ideals, but were I not able to choose, if my dad was a SAE, I may wear the letters of SAE while holding PIKE ideals. For this reason, when people identify themselves with a group, only then, may we judge them on characteristics of that group.

 Lastly, above all other ends, when we find a person or group which is at odds with our own person or group, realize that this is but one person or group of a much larger group. 

For example:

I am: masculine, libretarian, PIKE, American, Texan, Lynx Cat, Philosophy Major, ........., ........., ........, ........, human, living thing, a substance.

As the list goes on, our moral obligation to the group may be called into question, as I do not look to further the ideals of substances, but may or may not further the ideals of being in the group of living things. Note that as I do not have a choice in being human, I can either identify with dogs or some other animal, but otherwise is not the same as our inability to choose race, as there are feasible options that lead to groups with different ideals but can still comunicate, fornicate, etc.