User:Antidiskriminator/Drafts of articles/Myth of ethnic purity

The Myth of ethnic purity is the most common myth of the racism doctrine. The myth of pure national character is fundamental in Herderian concept of nation, where purity can also be expressed as "authenticity", "essence" and "genuinnes".

Both in Western and Eastern Europe it is widely percieved that individual and collective identity is based on the specific combination of territory, ethnicity and nationality.

Albania
In Albanias textbooks the myth of ethnic purity is interwined with myth of vertical continuity based on forged alternative historical timeline tracing direct line between Illyrians to modern Albanians. The myth of ethnic purity in Albania is based on gross oversimplification of medieval history of Albanians which presents Albanians as ethnic entity untouched by any outside ifnluence.

Ex-Yugoslavia
In ex-Yugoslavia the myth of ethnic purity together with trritorial vindication are entangled binominal of various "ethnic philosophies". Besides myth of "golden" pre-Ottoman times, Myth of Kosovo, Myth of the Turkish Yoke, the Hajduk Myth and Victimisation Myth the Myth of ethnic purity is one of the most important myths in the Balkans.

Greece
The Greek myth of ethnic purity insists on the ethnic purity of Greek nation in continuity since the Ancient Greece, inspite of substantial population of Greeks of Slavic, Turkish, Bulgarian, Albanan, Aromanian, Jew or Romani origin.

Consequences
According to Noël O'Sullivan, the myth of ethnic purity still continues to create the basis for campaigns of separatisms and ethnic cleansing even today.

The myth of ethnic purity is contradicted by the reality of ethnic intermixing, which makes difficult for nationalists to determine how to define belonging to the nation. Jacqueline Rose emphasizes that notion of separate national, religious or racial identity leads to war. Franco Fornari underlines that love between individual members within such groups is contrasted by the necessity of hate between different groups, because he believes that "hate toward a common enemy is a group's form of love", explaining why group psychology disposes people toward war.