Member-only story
Has Racism Reached Herd Immunity?
Are So Many People Infected It Can’t Be Cured?
“Herd immunity is a form of indirect protection from infectious diseases that can occur with some diseases when a sufficient percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, whether through vaccination or previous infections, thereby reducing the likelihood of infection for individuals who lack immunity.”
You most likely have heard of herd immunity associated with COVID-19 regarding the point at which enough of the population has become immune, whether by infection or vaccination, as defined above. I ask you to consider whether racism has become invulnerable to eradication because too high a percentage of the population has been infected?
It’s reasonable to assume that people aren’t born racist. No matter the parents' beliefs, children begin with a fresh slate until imprinted by the beliefs of others, hopefully, offset at some point by their own reasoning. It used to be that it was considered wrong to be racist. People did their best to avoid the label, which brought public shame. In the current era, racism is sort of frowned upon as a concept, but we’ve reached the point where nothing specific is deemed racist, and a large segment of the media is ready to defend any racist act and call the accuser the real racist. In some circles, if you aren’t…
