Dictionary.com defines racism as "a belief that inherent differences among various human races determine cultural or individual achievement". According to the definition, people who admit to being racist are those who believe their race is somehow superior to another. I wonder if I had posed the question on facebook- Does everyone think their own race is superior? I'm willing to bet that my responses would have been dramatically different. Herein lies the problem with our facebook experiment. People use the term racist in vastly different ways. Some used it to mean active and cruel discrimination while others used it as gently as simple misunderstanding.
My favorite response was a friend who decided to take the stand that everyone is NOT a little bit racist. He was in the minority of the facebook posts, but made sound arguments for his position. He started by saying that "judgement/assumptions based on the immediately discernible appearance of a person, such as apparent ethnicity or race, I do not believe is inherently racist; even if those assumptions are made from cultural misunderstandings or misrepresentations." His whole argument was based on the fact that "we should not misdiagnose ourselves or others as being racist when they are actually just unfamiliar, uninformed, or even making completely appropriate assumptions. A mis-diagnosis means mis-treatment and it might actually make the problem worse, and add new problems. So we can't assign the term 'racist' so generously. It creates more hate than actually present, and leaves the real problems masked." As I internalized this statement I realized that after pondering the question more fully myself, I agree with the conclusion. Sometimes I might feel uncomfortable around a race that I'm unfamiliar with, but I don't remember elevating my race above theirs, which is the definition of racism. We should help others see the harshness in the term racist, and assign it only to those who actually fulfill the criteria.
This was the last comment on my post--Be careful, tell an ignorant man he's racist and he may actually believe you. So, I am posing the question again. Only this time, I want to word it differently. Do you believe everyone thinks their race is superior to another?
7 comments:
Thank you for posting that guy's facebook post I found it to be the first person who said "no" they weren't racist to have a sound argument. Most of the people I heard from who said no, I in my judgment, thought them ignorant. And I agree "racist" was hard for everyone to define.
I loved this. I mean really, how can we throw around the term "racist" so loosely and just assume that people will know what it truly means? This assignment wasn't as eye opening as it probably could have been if we had worded it better. I don't think people feel superior because of race.
I think it goes a little past being "unfamiliar" when we can all say the same exact three categories in that class activity about writing the first word you think of. We all have the same associations.
So interesting! I agree that the word "racist" is a term not to be thrown around carelessly. It carries a lot of weight (and hate) and it's wrongly used too often in the media when another word would be more appropriate.
i agree when you said your friend thinks it's not inherent to be prejudice. i loved this. awesome job.
I like the way this is stated. I feel some do. I know I don't believe my race is superior towards another in all things. But I believe some of us feel that some races are superior in certain areas than others. Take the World Cup when do you think the USA will win?
I agree with this as well. I think that the term used makes a world of difference. That said, over the years I have run into people who for whatever reasons choose to hold onto their stereotypes. In one situation, I was talking with my roommates and I said that discrimination of anyone against anyone is wrong. One of my roommates agreed but then added that she made an exception for Mexicans. She went on to say that she grew up in California and that the Mexican construction workers would whistle at her and so she felt justified in not liking Mexicans. I think it's sad the extremes that people go to in order to maintain their current prejudices.
Post a Comment