Fundamentalism separates us as a community. It creates a wall between individuals that prevents them from experiencing the world through others' experiences. With such a unique and ever changing world it is virtually impossible for one person to create a complete point of view. Fundamentalism stops them from recognizing this and leads them to fill the void with assumptions. What makes these assumptions dangerous is that they aren’t seen as such. Fundamentalists do not separate assumption from fact. They assume that what they believe is based on 100% truth, and so they are justified to act on these assumptions, no matter how uninformed or incorrect. This can quickly spiral towards injustice, conflict and violence. To fundamentalists, there is no understanding. Only the last man standing.

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When it comes to race, this wall has long existed in the United States. Since the creation of the country fundamentalist language has dominated the conversation, and it still continues today. The National Museum of African American History and Culture points to the supreme court case of Dred Scott v. Sanford as an event that greatly affected cross-racial communications. On their website, they say that  “The court’s racist decision and affirmation that African descendants were mere property would severely harm the cause of black equality and contribute to anti-black sentiment for generations to come.” This is that wall being built: decisions based on fundamentalist language that had serious, lasting consequences. And now Americans are so caught up in the idea of race that they can't communicate beyond the wall. 

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What exactly are the consequences of this? In America, racism finds it holds on extremist groups that feel threatened. One of the most notable of these groups is white supremacists. While the rhetoric they follow is not new, the effects of it continue to worsen. White supremacist culture, as described by dRWorks, is “the idea (ideology) that white people and the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions of white people are superior to People of Color and their ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions.” What comes along with this is also beliefs that reinforce fundamentalism. These include perfectionism, believing that only one answer exists and an infallible belief in what they believe to be true. When this fundamentalism becomes ingrained in the culture over hundreds of years, after it is reinforced through all systems and institutions within the country, then the extremist groups that originate it are no longer the only ones it reaches. It spreads to everyone, whether they engage or agree with it, or whether they push back against it. 

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It isn't enough to just know about this wall. It has to be broken down by actively. But this isn't an easy task. The ideas and language that helped create it are old and longstanding. As David A. J. Richards puts it in his book about fundamentalism, “All these evils (anti-Semitism, racism, sexism, and homophobia) should be understood as instances of moral slavery: namely where a long-standing cultural tradition first abridges the basic human rights of whole classes of persons and then rationalizes that abridgment on the ground of cultural stereotypes that are not allowed to be reasonably contested either by those afflicted by them or by persons generally” (31). It is our belief that those afflicted by these injustices should contest them. And that those not affected also speak out and work against the systems that keep these injustices in place. Because eventually, fundamentalism will continue to divide and continue to build walls until human rights no longer apply to anyone outside of one group. This is an unacceptable outcome, for once it gets to this point no amount of understanding, no activism can tear down the wall or bridge the divide. 

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So now what? Knowing about the dangers of this rhetoric is a first step, but what do we expect of you now that you have this information? What you can do is almost limitless. Practice communicating or writing with pluralism. Tell your friends and family about what you think of both of these concepts and help them come to an educated understanding. But even if you don’t feel the need to go out and do these things, the least we can ask of you is to not fall into the trap of fundamentalist rhetoric. We ask you to recognize it when you see it and reject it. This alone represents a tremendous effort in the fight against fundamentalism. Severing its chain of influence is the first step towards pluralism. 

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Should you feel the desire to learn more, we recommend you take a look at The Pluralism Project. Created by Harvard University to help Americans learn more about the diverse religious landscape within our country, it compacts a large amount of information in a small space. While it doesn’t directly tie into cross racial fundamentalism, religion is another area where fundamental language is running rampant. By studying all types of fundamentalism and how it affects our fellow Americans, we as citizens can become more informed and more aware of oppression and discrimination. We also recommend you look at any number of the sources we pulled our information from. While collecting information we looked in a variety of places to try and find sources that represented as many viewpoints as possible. If you feel we were successful, or especially if you dont we encourage you to voice your opinion in the forum. Not only do we hope to help others understand, but we are constantly trying to evolve our own understanding. Engaging with the community, especially when they don't agree with you completely, is a great way to encourage pluralism and fight against fundamentalism.