People who believe in extraterrestrial life are sometimes referred to in a mocking manner. In the ‘X-Files’ TV-series Fox Mulder is often referred to as ‘Spooky,’ but according to a recent article, maybe he should be called ‘racist’– if Mulder believes that aliens built the pyramids in Africa.
The Quartz Media article, “Outlandish theories that aliens built the pyramids are rooted in racism,” by Julien Benoit is critical of those who believe the pyramids or other ancient structures were built by aliens.
Some may call this belief simply "odd," but Benoit just out and out labels it racist.
From the article:
Well, you may ask, so what? Who cares if relatively few people don’t believe the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids? What’s the harm? Actually, there is great harm: firstly, these people try to prove their theories by travelling the world and desecrating ancient artefacts. Secondly, they perpetuate and give air to the racist notion that only Europeans – white people – ever were and ever will be capable of such architectural feats.
Benoit says this racism branches out to Peru’s Nazca Lines, the stone circles of South Africa’s Mpumalanga province and other locations and cultures as well. Boiling it all down to “profound racism.”
From the article:
Why is it so hard for some to acknowledge that ancient non-European civilisations like the Aztecs, people from Easter Island, ancient Egyptians or Bantu-speakers from southern Africa could create intricate structures?
The answer is unfortunately as simple as it seems: it boils down to profound racism and a feeling of white superiority that emanates from the rotting corpse of colonialism.
If you watched Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull or any of the Transformers movies, you may have endorsed this racist idea for entertainment value. Or at least have endorsed this “feeling of white supremacy.”
Because it seems, under the right circumstances aliens from outer-space can even make you be a racist.