We explore racism in our hearts: why it exists, how to recognize it and what to do about it.

Racism is a blatant contradiction to the vedic statement, aham brahmasmi, "I am spirit", and a manifestation of a lack of compassion. Compassion identifies and feels the pain of those who are mistreated/poorly represented. A compassionate person also becomes a voice for those people. Yet racism is found even in ISKCON because of the racial prejudices members brought with them to the movement. But new prejudices may be born after joining ISKCON due to misunderstanding scripture or reading sastra with personal agendas. Any racism that exists in our organization portrays a huge spiritual paradox that not only hurts our members/potential members, but entirely misrepresents the heart of Prabhupada. We need to recognize it, overcome it, and call it out when we see.