Leafism—The Absurdity of Racism

“Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.” — Bahá’u’lláh 

Rarely do I pass a gutter full of multi-colored fall leaves without some hesitation and renewed attention to the ground around me. Add a slick of rain, a sheen of ice, or a pooling of water and I’ll stop and take a photo. 

The glory of leaves is irresistible. Even though I sometimes try and find the most photographic leaf, what will strike me is that it isn’t always the perfectly-formed leaf or the leaf in its prime that captures my attention. As with humans, each leaf is unique and each one contributes to the complexity of life forms.

If you look up the word “leafism” in a dictionary you won’t find it. But “racism” you will. For centuries now, humans have used their visual and mental capacities to define others by the color of their skin and then discriminate against them in an attempt to define who is superior and who is inferior. And yet, as in the quote above from the Bahá’i writings, we are like “leaves from one branch,” there is only one tree. We humans are many shades of color, but one unique category of living things.

“Leafism” — Belief in, adherence to, or advocacy of) the theory that all members, of each leaf (type) possess characteristics, abilities, qualities, etc. specific to that leaf, esp. distinguishing it as inferior or superior to another leaf or leaves: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism based on this.

Transposing the Oxford English Dictionary definition above of “racism” on to the word “leafism” (an imaginary form of racism among leaves) illustrates the absurdity of human's habit of niggling hate out of nuances of color.  

Us. Them. Identifying someone by the color of their skin is an easy human visual task. As we continue to evolve spiritually, it is now within our capacity to eliminate the prejudice that has accompanied that simple visual reading. The sentence in the Bahá’i writings which follows this one: “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.” is “Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship.” Leaves haven’t evolved to having this ability, but as a member of the human race, you have. 

Were you to shift your perception of people of color and look at them as a version of another lovely leaf on your branch, maybe you would find them to be more approachable, less unfamiliar, less “other.” 

This is only my interpretation of the writings of Bahá’i Faith, but I hope you find it useful. Racism is a scrounge due for extinction.