wayneL
VIVA LA LIBERTAD, CARAJO!
- Joined
- 9 July 2004
- Posts
- 25,581
- Reactions
- 12,708
Going off at a tangent from the "Paki" thread.
What is racism?
Is racism any sort of mention or thought of differences in race/culture as seems to be in the PC brigade? (actually race is an obsolete concept, it does not exist)
Or is racism only a negative manifestation of the above.
For instance, consider these two statements:
1/ I find black women extremely attractive
2/ I think all black women are ugly
Is one or both statements racist?
For instance when I meet people for business or socially of different "races", I always think "Here is a middle eastern person", or "here is a black person"; whereas no such thought enters my head when I meet a white person... unless they have an accent, then the thought is "here is a German" or whatever.
Though I "notice" the difference, I make sure that it doesn't affect my judgement of them.
In one sense this is definitely racist, but on the other hand I really enjoy these people's company if they are nice people, and enjoy the differences in culture etc. It's positive.
In this sense I think everybody is racist (even though race doesn't exist) and I could name all sorts of scenarios like this to prove it.
Quite different to automatic discrimination/disadvantage due to how someone looks, ie negative racism, which of course is detestable.
It is also different to disliking certain cultures because of their customary practices eg Islam. Not liking Muslims, though often labeled as racism, is nothing to do with race at all. (in itself an irrational concept given the broad spectrum of Islamic ideology. Most Muslims I have met are perfectly charming and peaceful people)
Thoughts?
What is racism?
Is racism any sort of mention or thought of differences in race/culture as seems to be in the PC brigade? (actually race is an obsolete concept, it does not exist)
Or is racism only a negative manifestation of the above.
For instance, consider these two statements:
1/ I find black women extremely attractive
2/ I think all black women are ugly
Is one or both statements racist?
For instance when I meet people for business or socially of different "races", I always think "Here is a middle eastern person", or "here is a black person"; whereas no such thought enters my head when I meet a white person... unless they have an accent, then the thought is "here is a German" or whatever.
Though I "notice" the difference, I make sure that it doesn't affect my judgement of them.
In one sense this is definitely racist, but on the other hand I really enjoy these people's company if they are nice people, and enjoy the differences in culture etc. It's positive.
In this sense I think everybody is racist (even though race doesn't exist) and I could name all sorts of scenarios like this to prove it.
Quite different to automatic discrimination/disadvantage due to how someone looks, ie negative racism, which of course is detestable.
It is also different to disliking certain cultures because of their customary practices eg Islam. Not liking Muslims, though often labeled as racism, is nothing to do with race at all. (in itself an irrational concept given the broad spectrum of Islamic ideology. Most Muslims I have met are perfectly charming and peaceful people)
Thoughts?
