Racist?

[Scott & Lai 12]

Those things are just cheap pot shots, name calling, whatever, it's not racism because, and here is the crucial part, there has never been any attempt to suggest that those of white skin are an inferior race and these words are never associated with a systematic attempt to belittle and demean white people in order to subjugate them.

Seems to me like some people really don't understand what racism actually is.

Sure, when you define racism that way, then only certain groups can be racist. Rather convenient definition if you aren't part of a group that is perceived as being in "power." I take a broader view: if you hate/have contempt for/demean/etc. someone else based simply on their being a different "race" than you, regardless of whether you are doing it systematically or whether you are in a majority group, then you are a racist. And as for there never having been an attempt to suggest that white people are inferior, you might want to do some research on some of the radical Black Power groups (like that of Louis Farrakhan, for example) or of similar "Brown Power" groups like MEChA.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Those things are just cheap pot shots, name calling, whatever, it's not racism because, and here is the crucial part, there has never been any attempt to suggest that those of white skin are an inferior race and these words are never associated with a systematic attempt to belittle and demean white people in order to subjugate them.

Seems to me like some people really don't understand what racism actually is.

Sure, when you define racism that way, then only certain groups can be racist. Rather convenient definition if you aren't part of a group that is perceived as being in "power." I take a broader view: if you hate/have contempt for/demean/etc. someone else based simply on their being a different "race" than you, regardless of whether you are doing it systematically or whether you are in a majority group, then you are a racist. And as for there never having been an attempt to suggest that white people are inferior, you might want to do some research on some of the radical Black Power groups (like that of Louis Farrakhan, for example) or of similar "Brown Power" groups like MEChA.

Well said.

[Peikko 1,575]

It's not a perception of being on power, it is a fact. Whining because you want to attribute something more into certain types of name calling is beyond stupid. The institutional racism that went on is what produced this legacy of demeaning stereotypes and unacceptable words because they promote and define the absolute inferiority that a group of people were held in for several centuries.

[Peikko 1,575]

Seriously, I can't believe that there are people here who feel there is some kind of comparable orchestrated attempt to demean white people. What a nonsense.

[Danno 1,228]

Who knew, Davy Crockett was really putting on a "racist hat" rather than a "Coonskin cap".

[Scott & Lai 12]

Seriously, I can't believe that there are people here who feel there is some kind of comparable orchestrated attempt to demean white people. What a nonsense.

I'm talking about the attitude that is in people's hearts. The question isn't whether someone is in a group that either historically or presently has "power," but what that person would do if they had it. Being in a minority group does not make it impossible for a person to have racist attitudes, nor does it excuse such attitudes. Hating someone because they are a different color/ethnicity than you is disgusting and reprehensible, regardless of what color/ethnicity either you or they happen to be.

[HAL 9000 96]

What he said.

Hatred is stupid any direction of center you look at it. Lets not fall into excusing people for real historical context... and lets definitely not forget real historical context either (something quite easily done in the name of scapegoating petty hate in order to play that bygones are bygones).

[Peikko 1,575]

I am not for one moment suggesting that one should ignore hatred, what I am saying is that there is no need for us to attach distorted meaning to words simply as some kind of kid pro quo gesture. There are associations that are born out of the historical context with regards to those racial slurs that we have rightly chosen to try to eliminate from common usage. That is the only reason why these words are specifically unacceptable, not simply because they demonstrate hatred per se.

Nothing can or should be gained by using hatred to further an agenda and those who seek to do so should really be rejected and their message spurned.

[HAL 9000 96]

What she said too.

[Shad and Dani 3]

####### dog is NOT a racist term. Unless you're using the dog to hunt Blacks...lol These black people are way too sensitive these days, especially since Hussein took office. I say stop your whining!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

There's some deliberate naivete being perpetuated in this topic.

[_Simpson_ 250]

Seriously, I can't believe that there are people here who feel there is some kind of comparable orchestrated attempt to demean white people. What a nonsense.

Madame Cleo you have forgotten about the holocaust.

Hal, well said.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I am not for one moment suggesting that one should ignore hatred, what I am saying is that there is no need for us to attach distorted meaning to words simply as some kind of kid pro quo gesture. There are associations that are born out of the historical context with regards to those racial slurs that we have rightly chosen to try to eliminate from common usage. That is the only reason why these words are specifically unacceptable, not simply because they demonstrate hatred per se.

Nothing can or should be gained by using hatred to further an agenda and those who seek to do so should really be rejected and their message spurned.

What I don't understand is this idea that the majority is somehow being "put upon" in language and that blacks enjoy favorable treatment as a result.

I mean.... its really no coincidence that in the English language there are many more racial epithets for blacks (and other minorities) than there are for whites, just as there are more derogatory words for women's genitals (from which most of our worst swear words are derived).

Ideologically at least - the english language reflects the biases of the prevailing culture (i.e. white and patriarchal). Its been accepted for at least 100 years that the english language is biased against women (which is actually something Virginia Woolf tried to rebel against in her experimental fiction), its not a great stretch of the imagination to accept the idea that our language might be biased against blacks as well.

When people ###### about why its so unfair that pictures can be circulated comparing GWB to a chimp and not show a black man the same way they fail completely to grasp the rudimentary fact that those images have established racist meanings when applied in specific contexts - meanings that were created by our racist ancestors who's language and symbolism we have inherited. For better or worse...

Edited February 22, 2009 by Paul Daniels

[Peikko 1,575]

####### dog is NOT a racist term. Unless you're using the dog to hunt Blacks...lol These black people are way too sensitive these days, especially since Hussein took office. I say stop your whining!

Um, quite.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

That's actually the same person who suggested that Al Sharpton was angry about the Chimp cartoon because it "could have been his cousin".

I read that yesterday and bit my tongue.