Back several years ago the cereal company that produces Cheerios ran a promotional ad that stirred the pot a bit: It portrayed an interracial couple with a young mixed-race daughter enjoying a breakfast of Cheerios. The ad brought a torrent of hateful and vile criticism against Cheerios from what I perceived to be the conservative right. In response to this hateful reaction the left came back with outrage and disbelief that such sentiment still existed in today’s world! The vile reactions were so unacceptable Facebook removed the response segment from the ad. I penned the following in response to both sides that were so seriously out of touch with today’s world.

Cheerios & Racism: Anthropology 101-Part I. The uproar from the ultra-right over the Cheerios TV ad is very interesting to me. First, their expression signals clearly that racism and hatred are alive and well in parts of our society. And secondly, from the left the profound indignation that such still exists is curious to me. It is not really a surprise that the Cheerios ad would elicit such hatred and vitriol, not if you’ve been paying attention since the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Not really. And it is disingenuous to “feign” surprised hurt and disbelief it still exists.

Here’s a point of view: Everyone has elements of “racism” in their personality and character. Everyone. It’s unavoidable because it’s a part of human nature. Here I mean something that dates back to our earliest beginnings when we stepped out of the forests onto the open Savannah. It was a freeing move, one that opened up vast horizons, both physical and metaphorical, a significant and major change from when we were in among the trees.

The move also opened up possibilities for danger, as it mattered what the intention was of that next person or group we met. It was at times a matter of life and death, of finding food or being eaten. The primary bit of consciousness here involved “perceiving differences” – Was this person friendly or a threat; was this animal prospective food, or did we need to be safe from its talons and teeth? Both instances required seeing differences and learning what those differences meant in terms of living to the end of the day. It was a survival mechanism that insured the continuation of life, and the enduring over time of a people. As a survival mechanism it’s what helped make us human, and that’s a good thing.

The way this racial mechanism works is in any given encounter the individual notices any “differences in the other” that sets them apart from us. Early on differences likely didn’t involve skin color as we were generally unwashed and all looked pretty much alike. We picked up on other clues, like the way someone carried a stick, the way they moved as a group through the landscape, the way their menfolk behaved toward their women and children, whether they worked together as a team, or maybe whether they groomed themselves or not. Little things could matter. And it all boiled down to these perceived differences helping to determine whether we needed to be on guard, or if we could extend an open hand signaling we held no weapon.

Today this survival mechanism still functions within each of us, mostly unconsciously, but sometimes just on the verge of our awareness. Seeing differences today in itself doesn’t mean a person is racist. It just means we are human.

The question of whether a person “is racist” in the way we mean it today has to do with what the individual does with the perceived differences, or whether she/he is even aware of it operating. Some of us were raised in families where the value base promoted the belief that race was not a bad thing, that it mattered what was on the inside, and we often dealt with it with the thoughts that “everyone is equal” and “everyone bleeds red.” Others were raised to believe that race was important, and in fact “our race” is superior to any not the same. This was often expressed as “You wouldn’t want your daughter to marry one…!”

The racial survival mechanism that makes us human has at times fed a hatred of “the other” because of perceived differences, and this educated base led to hateful acts. Our history as humans is replete with horrific examples.

Something to consider: While the basic principles involved are quite simple, because we’re dealing with humans it becomes a bit more complex on the playground. Tossing the term “racist” around as a general catchall does a disservice to any possible conversation about something like Cheerios’ ad. Belief systems are often so entrenched that discussion isn’t very likely, which is not a good thing. If we start with the realization that we all have this racial survival mechanism within us, it may help toward possible discussion and eventually one day a serious conversation about race.