Ideological racism emerged precisely because Enlightenment values demand rationalizations for evil

Evidence

The question is sometimes asked: “How is it that racism and anti-Semitism flourished in Europe of all places—Europe of the enlightenment, of human rights and the rest?” My answer would be to say that it is precisely because of these that racism—that is to say, ideologically formulated hatred—flourished in Eu­ rope. In unenlightened times and places people are content to give way to their instincts; in some societies it is seen as normal, even as lawful, to enslave a defeated enemy and take his women as concubines. In enlightened times and places it is necessary to find rationalization and justification for such behavior. Individuals can do evil without compunction and without regret, but societies, civilizations, need to feel that what they are doing is right. If what they are doing is manifestly wrong they will find a justification for it. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1037

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the complaint that moral panics over dress/worth require justification — the same logic that civilization needs to feel it is doing right.
• DEEPTHINKING: The core insight that societies cannot do evil without self-justification — Enlightenment rationalism forces hatred to become ideological — resists a one-sentence summary and reframes how one reads modern racism.