Once, the white man believed he was superior to all other races and it was fashionable.

Now, well, it hasn't changed that much, except it's his superiority towards other animals because he's got a soul while animals don't or at least a "more superior soul".

Those beliefs rest more in traditions , languages, than facts.
It's man's irrepressible need to reassure himself he's more than meat, water and a brain process.

The problem is such belief leads to abuses because it implies he's got more rights than other life forms. Of course, we eliminate mosquitoes that bother us, but we eliminate them not for the sake of eliminating them, but to preserve our quietness and our skin. That's the evolution process; there's a survival need for it.

Or, we can accept we don't understand what life is, exactly, we belong to Earth like numerous lifeforms rather than the Earth belonging to us, we accept there is still a lot to discover, we're part of a very narrow corridor in the universe. That's the first step into respecting each other and our planet and to have access to other corridors by learning about them.