Tribalism Everywhere

Imagine a sporting event; since I live in Colorado we’ll imagine a Broncos football game. A long line of fans stands in line to buy their tickets to watch the game. Now zoom in a little, that’s right, to the man in the red jacket. He’s standing with a little boy.

Let’s take a snapshot of this man.

• He is Scots-Irish – a condition he has absolutely no control over. This is just the group of ancestors that led to him. The ancestors even determine that his skin is pale, his hair is reddish, and his eyes are hazel.
• He is a Campbell – again, a condition he has no control over. This was the family name of his parents when he was born. He has not chosen to change his birth name.
• He is a Broncos fan. He happens to be a Bronco fan because he lives in Denver and everyone in Denver is a Bronco fan. (Well at least 98.9% of the people who live in Denver are Broncos fans.)
• Therefore, he probably also lives in Denver. (However, there are many former Denver residents who are still Bronco fans. Ask them!)
• He also probably lives in Colorado, and is a citizen of the United States of America. He calls himself an American.
• He works as a maintenance supervisor at a hospital.
• He belongs to a church (you can choose which one) or a civic club (again, you choose) or an informal social club (beer drinking, auto polishing, hunting, you get the idea).
• He received a college degree so he is an alumnus of a state college, I’ll choose my favorite, Adams State College.

This man belongs to many groups. He feels a sense of belonging with all of them, even if he doesn’t like them much (such as the Campbells). He has chosen to belong to the club of Bronco fans, the alumni of ASC, the church or civic club or informal social club. He did not choose his family heritage, and apparently he is content with his family name because he did not choose to change it. People all over the world, if we look at a similar snapshot, are similar to this man.

Because this blog is about tribes, let’s name his groups ‘tribes’ and see what tribes he belongs to. He belongs to the tribe of Scots-Irish, Campbells, Broncos, Americans, Coloradoans, maintenance workers, supervisors, medical personnel, and college alumni. He may also belong to the tribe of Methodists or Catholics or Hasidic Jew; the tribe of Kiwanis, Rotary, Optimists, Lions, Elks, or Oddfellows; or the tribe of fellows who gather at that one corner bar to drink beer, or that meet at someone’s garage to discuss the latest auto polishing secrets, or that always plan that best hunting trip ever.

There he is, just standing in line, and he belongs to all these tribes! We all belong to multiple tribes. Every one of us in every corner of the planet.

My project about tribes started when I heard a news report about Africa. The reporter was explaining the terrible violence between two ‘tribes’, and there was an undertone of judgment: These poor folks just live in ‘tribes’, and we do not anymore. Clearly, if they were not in ‘tribes’, they would not be fighting like this. They would be civilized.

I thought, “That doesn’t seem fair; to judge these folks as ‘uncivilized’ just because they live in ‘tribes’ and to assume that we are ‘civilized’ and do not live in ‘tribes’.” Isn’t this a question of semantics? Why do those people live in ‘tribes’ but I live in a ‘nation’?

At that moment, an epiphany: We all, every single one of us, live in tribes.

Yes, every single one us: born to the breed, born to the race, born to the species. We live in tribes. We start in tribes, we thrive in tribes, we select tribes, we participate in tribal ceremonies. We are tribal creatures. Our bodies are wired for tribalism, our brains are wired for tribalism, our social fabric is wired for tribalism.

We sort ourselves into tribes. It’s behavior we can’t help. We want to be with others who are special, separate, different. We want to belong to a team and to be able to cheer for them. We want to join up with people who have similar interests to our own. Many times, the tribal boundaries are based on one simple element, such as a name or job description, or even a special product.

Now, let’s take a snapshot of this man’s son.

• He is Scots-Irish and Zulu – a condition he has absolutely no control over. This is just the group of ancestors that led to him. The ancestors even determine that his skin is light brown, his hair is reddish, and his eyes are hazel.
• He is a Campbell – again, a condition he has no control over. This was the family name of his parents when he was born. He has not chosen to change his birth name, and one would argue, as a child, he doesn’t really have the choice to change his name.
• He is a Broncos fan. He happens to be a Broncos fan because his father is a Broncos fan and the son enjoys being with his father.
• He probably lives in Denver and definitely with his parents, which makes being a Broncos fan pretty easy.
• He also lives in Colorado, and is a citizen of the United States of America. He calls himself an American.
• He goes to an elementary school in his neighborhood.
• He belongs to boy scouts and a soccer team.
• (He doesn’t tell anyone, but he also takes jazz dancing lessons.)

Again, the son belongs to as many groups as his father. (He doesn’t know that his dad was the best tap dancer in the 6^th grade, and this is why Dad did not object to jazz dancing lessons.)

List all the tribes you belong to. Then double the list. You’ll be surprised how tribal you are!