Racism by Ayn Rand

In Racism, Ayn Rand claims that any kind of prejudice for or against race is a form a racism, including a bill for civil rights.  Rand writes that racism takes away uniqueness about a person; to say that one belongs to a lineage or a race is wrong because it takes away the rational of the individual and that individual becomes lost in a sea of people.  "A genius is a genius, regardless of the number of morons who belong to the same race- and a moron is a moron, regardless of the number of geniuses who share his racial origin." (pg 127)  This is Rand's claim that everyone is unique, groups and race should not make an influence of whom one is.  If race makes one have a predisposition on an individual whether good or bad Rand would claim this to be racism.  The point Rand expresses in Racism is that one should never say they deserve a helpful hand in being hired for a job or is better than another race, because of their skin color. This is why Rand disapproves of the bill for "civil rights."

The idea Rand presents is an interesting one, but one I do not completely agree with because she claims that one must not have a preconceived idea of a person because of their race.  The idea is dream like, but there are statistics and history that makes Rand's point very hard to accept.  Blacks have been oppressed in the United States, meaning the percentage of blacks are more likely to be living in poverty compared to whites and the point Rand is trying to get across is "Hey lets pretend it never happened." This is the idea I do not completely agree with and think the government should help out the ones that were oppressed by the white society. However, there is a thin line of how helpful the government must be towards "civil rights."  How much help is too much?  When is it the time to stop helping?  When will everything become fair?  These are all question one should ask, but is there a thing such as fairness?   Humans are prone to the idea of fairness, but to be honest life is a game of chance.  One always wants to be in controlled, but how is one in control if one does not choose our environment that one is born in?  Is it fair for children to be starving in a third world country while one indulges in pleasantries in the United States?  The answer is no, this proves that life is not fair.  So may be Rand was right in saying that there should be no prejudice towards race whether good or bad, because life is not fair.