It’s been scientifically proven that the idea of race is unscientific. Even when we talk about the “human race,” what we are actually referring to is “species.” (The definition of a species is a population of organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.) With the influence of global media, people around the world can share common experiences and exchange ideas. The pursuit of technological advances in all disciplines cause the walls of bigotry, violence, poverty, and despotism to come crumbling down.
Our collective enlightenment motivates us to seek kindred spirits, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, and gender. Instead, what has begun to emerge is a redefinition of “tribe.” Traditionally, tribes have been thought of as closely genetic-related people who share the same customs, yet even within blood-related family members, we witness such a difference of lifestyle, politics and beliefs, the only common denominator is common ancestors. A popular belief is that you choose your friends, but you cannot choose your family. As experience and innumerable examples have shown, just because two people are very genetically similar, does not mean that they are going to get along.
It’s natural for people to gravitate toward like-minded individuals and become friends. For every hobby, political outlook, or passion, there is at least one social group where someone can periodically congregate. The more often the group meets, the more time individuals have an opportunity to participate in group-think. This is the grassroots of tribe formation.
Depending on the tribe, a lot of diversity, in terms of how groups of people used to be categorized and artificially separated, can be reflected among the members. With this phenomenon in mind, I reflect on the many tribes I belong to. I am a member of my family tribe, a tribe of educators, a tribe of writers, a tribe of dancers, a tribe of capoeiristas, a tribe of college-educated people, a tribe of heterosexual women.
Now some may argue, why should I say “a tribe of writers” rather than “a tribe of artists”? Or why should I include the adjective “heterosexual” rather than simply say that I belong to “a tribe of women”? I welcome such questions since, they reflect the very reason why “race” became unscientific concept. Depending upon the criteria, the outcome will be different! I can comfortably belong to the tribe of women as long as there is no criterion of being either married or a mother. Some languages, such as Swahili, reflect this girl/woman bias since the title for a “woman” is “mama” and the word for “girl” reflects having an unbroken hymen.
I like the idea of social tribes because of its flexibility, given the situation. It also shows that people can change tribes in order to reflect who they happen to be at the moment in their lives. Such fluidity would lead us to explore other avenues, knowing that knowledge and experience is not confined to blood relations or geopolitical borders. The proliferation of social tribes encourages a continuous exercise of critical thinking and reading.
As humankind advances, the social tribes will emerge and survive as the result of enlightenment and cooperation.