Perhaps this is exactly what you are noting--that Black-White racism is way too simplistic. However, let us not use the racial complexity of our nation to deny the existence of strong prejudices against persons of different skin color (and other physical characteristics).
Jews are both of a religion and of a distinct people of Near Eastern origin. Is anti-Semitism a form of racism or religious bias? Are Jews White? European Jews seem to be. But, what of Jews of African and Asian descent?
I’ll pick on Jews to discuss tribalism. Jews have been highly tribalistic since biblical times. Often times, the only unity amongst Jews has been in their collective persecution. If you are knowledgable about Jews and Judaism, you will know of what I speak. Litvaks hate Galizianer Jews. The Mitnagdim are diametrically opposed to the Hasidim. Ashkenazi Jews often will not permit their children to marry Sephardi Jews, and vice versa. German Jews used to look down their noses at Polish Jews. And, many Polish Jews looked down their noses at their fellow Polish Jews from Chelm...the intra-Jewish prejudices are robust. Much of this has gone away in the US. But, let’s not kid ourselves. There are dozens and dozens of sects of "Orthodox" Jews. Many of these sects view the other sects with extreme disdain--trumped only by their attitudes towards Reform Jews, who often aren’t even considered Jews by the Orthodox. I could go on, but it would be extremely boring to non-Jews, so I will stop. This tribalism is matched everywhere else around the globe.
Muslims share a common faith. They unite under persecution, just as do the much smaller Jewish population. But, they are anything but united. Sunni and Shia Islam are the source of tremendous fighting and seemingly senseless killing. Many Muslims are Arabs, especially in the Middle East and in Northern Africa. But, then there are the Turks; and, there are the Iranians of Persian descent. And, there are the Afghani Pashtuns. There are hundreds of millions of Muslims in India and Pakistan. There are hundreds of millions of Muslims in Indonesia, Malaysia, and in other Southeast Asian nations. You will find talk of brotherhood in Muslim Scripture, just as you will find similar verses in Christian or Jewish Scripture. But, South Asian Muslim attitudes towards Arabs are arguably more negative than those of Europeans. Some of these differences are racial. Others are tribal. Tribalism dates back to ancient Arabia. Many tribal definitions continue today. Some of these tribal allegiances are arguably stronger than national ties in places like Gaza which is largely Arab or Afghanistan which is largely non-Arab.
I could go on. But, I won’t. So, in sum, I maintain that both racism and tribalism explain a lot of societal friction today, some of which is militant in nature. But, these two dimensions alone do not explain all of the tension around the world. There are many other factors, including those I enumerated above.
racism will never be eradicated from the world....
