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Racial Discrimination: An Anti-Mitsein, Anti-Face and Anti-Community

Social Philosophy

By: Kristoffer Lorenz L. Basbao

One of the social issues that was tackled in the movie Karol: A Man who became Pope was the

issue on Racism. Racism is a belief that ones own race is superior or inferior to others. It can be

Racism in Color(blacks and whites), Culture (way of life, thinking, speaking, doing), Physical Make-up

(face, structure), Religion (Islam, Catholics, Jew, etc.), and Knowledge. In the movie Karol, Germans

have Racial Discrimination to the Polish race and to the Jews. Many died during those times. Fr.

Tomasz said Jewish children are not children. German Children are clean, Jewish children are dirty.

German children have teeth,Jewish children dont have any teeth. German children sleep in mattresses,

Jewish children next to tables laid out with the dead. German children play, Jewish children in the

ghettos dont know how to play. They really are degenerate children. Theironly entertainment is to go

watch their parents, brothers and sisters being shot. Their only fun is watching their mothers being

murdered. With what Fr. Tomasz said, we can imagine how the Polish races and Jews suffered and died

due to the racial discrimination by the Germans. Racism is really evil. It is an intense anger, opposition

and discrimination to other races. It does not only remain with these. It is selfishness and pride on the part

of the racist which later leads to death (of other races or own race). History would tell us that millions

and millions of people died due to racial discrimination (even until now).

In this paper of mine, I would like to relate Heideggers Mitsein, Levinas Face, and

Schelers Person and Community in relation to the issue on Racism. The first philosopher and

philosophy which I can relate to the issue on racism is Heideggers Mitsein. Mitsein means being-

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with. To be with needs an Other. In being with the Other, relationship starts. We cannot achieve

Mitsein without the Other.As relational beings, it is our nature to be in relation with others. Without

others, surely we will die lonely. But how is it possible for racists to achieve Mitsein? They can

achieve being-with but only to their race. Because racists would discriminate and oppose other races,

they dont want to be-with them. They would rather choose death than to live with them (other races).

That is why I can say that racism is an Anti-Mitsein, Anti-Being-With and Anti-Relationship. It

does not promote relationship with other races. It promotes war, hatred, anger and death. It moves

against our nature as relational beings. It is more of division, separation and isolation of other races.

The second philosopher and philosophy which I can relate to the issue on racism is Levinas

Face. Face is a structure of relationship which happens at the time of contact (the facing). It is the

totality of our Being and the Being of the Other. All of us have a face. This face would beg to others

as if saying to them be for me! The answer would only be between for him/her which affirms our

being relational and makes us more social, and not for him/her which mean denying our very nature as

relational beings. Because face is a structure of relationship, and every relationship comes

responsibility, there enters what we call Infinite Responsibility of the Other. All of us have Infinite

Responsibility of the Other. Nobody is exempted. Because our very nature is to be-with and to be in

relation to others, we are infinitely responsible of whatever will happen to them. But where is Infinite

Responsibility of the Other in the part of racists if on the first place they cannot accept other races face,

that they are not for them? For racists, one of the reasons why they discriminate other races is because

of their different face (other races). Because of having a different face on the part of other races, they

deny their responsibility to them. That is why instead of being responsible to them and be for them,

they would even make them more and more suffer and kill them which means they are not responsible

and have no-care to other Beings. With these, I can say that racists are Anti-Face and Anti-

Relationship.

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The last philosopher and philosophy which I can relate to racism is Schelers Person hood and

Community. Person is a relational term for ego and monad. It is monad with windows. This

monad with windows leads to relationship and relationship leads to sociality. This sociality

means being communal. Once we reach this level, we can be called a person a man of communion.

If many persons would commune, we can already call it a Community. Person is the thickest

constitution. It is revealed through the acts. But the question is where is Personhood and

Community in racism? Can they (Personhood and Community) be achieved? For racists, they would

only achieve personhood on their own race. They are not persons in dealing with other races.

Community is also possible for them but they achieve this in their own race. Their

personhood and community are limited to their own race. It is like a Community that is choosy.

Their community is only limited for their own race. With these, I can say they become monads and

egos not capable of eduction with other races. Their community is small. Their community is an

Anti-Community to other races.

Differences on color, culture, physical make-up, religion and knowledge are the reasons of

racism. Being-not-for-other-face (Anti-Face) means Being-not-with-them (Anti-Mitsein). Anti-

Face and Anti-Mitsein means denying our Infinite Responsibility to others. If this is so, Racism is

Anti-Relationship to other races. With this, we cannot achieve communion with otherraces. That is

why, for me, being a racist is really crazy. It is really going out of our very nature as persons. I dont

understand why racists would condemn other races due to differences of features especially on face, way

of life and beliefs. On the first place, before we were born, we cannot choose our skin color, culture,

physical make-up, and religion. They are out of our control. We can only change these when we grow up

(if we choose to). Usually, if we were born the way we are (features, way of life, culture, religion), we

dont change them when we grow up because it is our identity.I am born a Filipino (with flat nose

and Imnot ashamed of it) and a Catholic and I will die as a Filipino and a Catholic. And so, the only

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key to stop racism is through tolerance and respect to other races. We are born the way we are and

others are also born the way they are. Because the born the way we are and the born the way they

are are not on our control, we have to tolerate these differences in us and respect them. Because our

being in what race is out of our control, we have no reasons to condemn, destroy and discriminate other

races.

As conclusion, racism is Anti-Mitsein, Anti-Face and Anti-Community. It goes against our

very nature as relational beings. Through racial discrimination, there will always be division,

outcasting of other races, intense anger and oppositions to other races. It will only cause harm and even

death. In order for us to stop racism, we can achieve it through tolerance and respect. In life, there

are things and situations wherein we cannot control. To be born on a certain race is never in our control.

It is the choice of the One who is controlling us when we were still not capable of choosing (God-

choosing our face, parents, Parents- choosing our religion). We cannot blame other persons in other races

for being in that race because they were born that way. Because they were born the way they are, we

must not blame and discriminate them. We must tolerate the differences on races because we did not

choose what our race would be. We must also give respect to other races because they need it as human

beings like us. If we apply tolerance and respectin the differences of races, we will also learn to

love, care and acceptother races. If we can already accept them and be for them, it means that we are

really responsible to them. In our being infinitely responsible to them, we achieve a Thicker

Personhood and a Bigger Community.