The race paradox is this: at the personal level it is natural and appropriate to play down or deny the importance of race and ethnicity, an individual's person and character being far more important than the colour of their skin, i.e. ethnic origin.
At the political level, however, where we are dealing with large numbers of people, the vast majority of whom are and will always remain strangers, race and ethnicity do matter, because of their natural role (when not suppressed, as it currently is, by massive social and political taboos) in determining a deep and healthy sense of personal and group (e.g. national) identity.
The reason why the central, though not sole, role of race and ethnicity in determining national identity is suppressed is clear: it would undermine the legitimacy and authority of the STATE, as currently structured, and with it, deeply rooted ideological assumptions, emotional attachments and vested self-interests (e.g. claims to the established "moral high ground") right across the political spectrum.
At the political level, however, where we are dealing with large numbers of people, the vast majority of whom are and will always remain strangers, race and ethnicity do matter, because of their natural role (when not suppressed, as it currently is, by massive social and political taboos) in determining a deep and healthy sense of personal and group (e.g. national) identity.
The reason why the central, though not sole, role of race and ethnicity in determining national identity is suppressed is clear: it would undermine the legitimacy and authority of the STATE, as currently structured, and with it, deeply rooted ideological assumptions, emotional attachments and vested self-interests (e.g. claims to the established "moral high ground") right across the political spectrum.
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