What constitutes racism?

[Japher]

don't pull a Robert Jordan

[Velociryx]

Who...me?

-=Vel=-

[Urban Ranger]

Racism is:

1. Negative
2. Thoughts or actions against an individual solely due to the "race"* he belongs to



* I hold that there's no such thing as a human race.

[Japher]

I don't agree with 2.

prejudism is different then racism

Racism is negative generalizations based on the appearance of the person that take the form action that would otherwise not be taken

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

I don't agree with either point (surprise surprise)

Racism is and has always been

Generalizations about a person's physical, mental or social traits depending solely on a person's race and is considered to be genetic in the genesis of those traits.

About the only thing I do agree with is that the concept of race is a false one.

All the rest is either bigotry or prejudice (especially if focused on negative stereotyping) but not racism.


edit- corrected spelling

[Caligastia]

As others have pointed out, the 'racism' accusation is way overused. Thanks to holier-than-thou types who like to throw it out there so often, the definition of 'racism' has become so broad that the word is almost meaningless.

Because 'racism' has such a negative connotation to it, I think it should have a very narrow definition. I would restrict it to mean vicious and hateful actions or words based on race.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Man, I can't say I blame you there. Far as I can tell, there are basically three "regions" in GA....

The beginnings of the Appalachian Trail (quite beautiful, and definitely worth seeing)

Swamp (seems to be at least 80% of the state, but this is prolly inaccurate)

Atlanta itself (too big for my liking, and too much traffic! 1.5 hour commute in the morning--alarm set for 4:30am, beating the rush in, and 2+ hours in the afternoon. Suckville. )

But yeah...so far, the writing has been going like gangbusters! Just putting the wraps on the next book! (first of what appears to be--at least--a trilogy...we'll see tho....

-=Vel=-

What books have you written besides the guide?

JM

[Japher]

I thought he had 2 books out.

[Velociryx]

SMAX Guide
"Guardians"
"Five Days in May"

"Darkness Falls" (first in the trilogy of novels set in the CB universe)

"Tapestry, Vol. I" (90% complete) - Collection of short fiction set in the CB universe

So many stories, so little time.

-=Vel=-

[Japher]

Don't use so many words

[Velociryx]

can't be helped. Sorta comes with the territory.

Of course, they're always hiring porn authors...pay sucks, but a book-length porn novel is 40k words or so.....could 'bang' one out in a week or less.

-=Vel=-

[Gibsie]

also don't use abbreviations- what's CB?

[Velociryx]

Candle'Bre...

-=Vel=-

[DaShi]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
I don't agree with either point (surprise surprise)

Racism is and has always been

Generalizations about a person's physical, mental or social traits depending solely on a person's race and is considered to be genetic in the genesis of those traits.

About the only thing I do agree with is that the concept of race is a false one.

All the rest is either bigotry or prejudice (especially if focused on negative stereotyping) but not racism.


edit- corrected spelling

Exactly. A truly racist remark would be something that indicates that a race is inferior in some manner to another (like saying that white people are gorillas). However, bigotry or prejudice (like saying all white people are lazy) can stem from racism (like saying all white people are crooked because they are too weak compete).

As for the accusation, I agree that it is often overused or misinterpreted. However, it's a serious charge that must be considered. Lest to not ignore cries of true racism lost in the false accusations.

[Zevico]

I don't know how you might define racism. Personally I've never "felt" racist or whatever. I've lived in a pretty multicultural community here in Aus, and seeing a different coloured person has never had an effect on me. Usually I was friends more with Asian kids in my primary than with the white Australians. Maybe at the age of 5 I was somewhat clueless on it, but really the difference between possible racism and tolerance is a 2 minute talk from your parents.
Maybe one could distinguish between a certain region's culture and their people. For example it's acknowledged that there is a lot of pressure on Japanese students to do well, which leads to their high suicide rate when failing. Saying that Japanese culture puts pressure on kids isn't racist. Likewise many Arab countries' media have a lot of openly disseminated propaganda. Saying that this may have an impact on how racist the citizens of these countries are isn't racist. But making some qualification, like: "All Arabs are racist" and "Japanese people hate all children" is probably racist. But in most cases I'd want to hear a person's line of thinking and justification before calling them a racist outright. There are people who may have views I find too extreme but that may not imply racism on their part.