The root of all hate crime, racism, and bias stems from our tendency to label people. Due to the millions of years of human evolution our brain is trained to create and maintain two boxes inside our head. One is labeled, 'Us' and the other as 'them'. There are properties associated with each. So, as we meet someone or something new, our brain immediately does a calculation and categorizes it in one of those boxes and applies it's associated properties even though that may or may not hold good for the person concerned. Organized religions , our belief system and the society in general only allows to strengthen these two boxes.
Probably it can be traced back to this event(borrowed from Michael Shermer's The Believing Brain). Many many years ago when the alone caveman went out in the savannah to hunt for food, the fluttering of the tall grasses in the breeze made him to conclude that there is a dangerous animal lurking behind because if he had assumed it as no danger and it turned out to be a dangerous animal it could have cost his life. It was always better and made sense to assume the worst and be prepared for it.
We live our life as a slave to this evolutionary mindset. Hopefully, someday we can break free from this dichotomy and free our mind and spirit. So, effectively, the more you fill up your 'us' box, the more you are in someone else's 'them' box.
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