A learned behavior is something that has been taught to someone, or a way of thinking that they did not come up with themseleves. Human nature is a deportment that was not taught to them, instead its a behavior that is embedded into someone's chemical makeup. It is human nature to become ethnocentric about one's own country, because their culture is a normal way of life to them and anything outside of that culture is considered weird and a threat. Ethnocentrism is the tendency to judge all other cultures by their habitual way of life and/ or their culture.
It is human nature for mankind to form groups based upon a common interest, heritage and/or geographic location. In early history those who worked well together could succeed better in there environment then those who could not. There is a tendency for people to be more comfortable with others who are not apart of their clique or group they will become uncomfortable being around them, which can lead to people associating negative feelings towards anyone outside of their own group, which can lead to racist feelings. It alsoo leads to a fear of others who are not like "us."One kind of group can be based upon characteristics that are attainable to anyone who tries.
A current evolutionary theory states that all humans, or homo sapiens have the same ancestral heritage. However, because some geographical isolation has occurred in our long history, distinctive racial traits have occurred. But, because of our common ancestry most traits are seen equally throughout the human race. Some racists, however believe that intelligence and behavior are not learned, but rather are racial traits, and they deny that we have any common ancestry with other races .
In conclusion, one could say that racism is a combination of both human nature and learned behavior. It is a learned behavior because of the violence and hatred it has created. Someone does not reasonable learn to hate on their own, it needs to be taught to them. It is human nature to fear people who are not like you, but it is arguable not human nature to hate and want to hurt people who are not like you. It is also human nature to want to form groups of people that are similar to you in some respect. If racism is actually a learned behavior it is reasonable to believe that it could be stopped,
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