Divide and conquer is a sociological and political concept where one group pits other groups against each other. So, how is it being used systemically?
I recently came across this video on Instagram that talked about the attacks on Asians that’s been happening since the start of the pandemic.
In it, the host brought up how some people claim that these attacks aren’t because of white supremacy (or colonialism) because, in many of them, it was black people who committed the crime. She said that this was a lazy way of looking at the problem and that the people who claim this don’t understand the larger structure of racism.
I admit -I was initially confused by this statement. But then I started to think about it. And I remembered this theory that I learned in a sociology class called “divide and conquer.”
What is Divide and Conquer?
Divide and conquer is a sociological and political concept. Merriam-Webster defines it as:
“To make a group of people disagree and fight with one another so that they will not join together against one.”
This is exactly what’s happening in America with the attacks against Asians by visible minorities. The institutions of society (corporate media and government, specifically in this case) are being used to pit minorities against each other through underrepresentation and/or false representation. This is being done so that they can’t team up and call out the wrongdoings of the people in power.
How This Tactic Is Used
Instead of calling out the lack of support by the government and going out and demanding that they do better, for instance, the social institutions are brainwashing and persuading minorities to blame each other for societal crises.
So, some ignorant black people go out and attack harmless Asian people instead of channelling that energy at the real problem, which is the government and their horrible handling of the situation. They target Asians because they are the people that are being blamed for the pandemic and are also stereotyped as passive and won’t fight back, so they’re perfect for bullying.
This type of shit has been happening for centuries. Even in 2020, when there were protests all over the world to condemn police assaults on black people, mainstream media tried to make it look like the protesters were rioting and destroying minority-owned businesses. They were trying to divide the communities up so that they couldn’t unite and attack the real issue (which, in this case, was institutional racism).
It’s all a game for the people in power. They don’t care about anything other than keeping the status quo and stuffing their wallets. They don’t really care about the citizens.
And that’s fucked up. It’s really messed up. But this is what they are doing.
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However, there is something that we can do. We can team up and dismantle the establishment by working together and supporting each other. We also have to not let these lies poison us and dictate our behaviours.
So, to prevent them from dividing us up and conquering us, we have to unite in solidarity.