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Before you crack open a dictionary, hear me out.
Racism is something bandied about commonly in public discourse, at least in the United States. It risks, however, being the "new Fascism." To quote Orwell (from his much read essay "Politics and the English Language"),
In this light, I'd like to see what people think, exactly, racism means. There are two general "camps" I'm aware of, and they are not neccessarily mutually exclusive. One emphasizes racism in thought - "white people are smarter than black people." Some of these are often considered "innocuous" enough to be non-confrontational, or just humorous by some - "black people can jump higher than white people." I haven't done the research, but I'm willing to bet this isn't true - but how racist is it? Even if it is racist, does calling such things racist "cheapen" the term to the point where it's no longer clear what a fight against racism is fighting against?
The other consideration of "thought as racism" is, "how conscious must it be?" Here lies the blurry line between racism and "prejudice." I'll be honest; I almost certainly have unconscious prejudice against different peoples. Is that racist?
After this there is the racism in action argument. Discrimination based on race, of course, is racist. I had a teacher in high school who, during "diversity training," (I know someone's going to laugh at that, but there you have it) told us that racism was the combination of prejudice against a "racial" group and the power to make that prejudice into reality. This directly contradicts the "thought" view of racism as mere prejudice, and it also raises the question of whether minorities can be truly racist - one would think yes, but if a minority lacks power in a social structure, they don't qualify for the "prejudice plus power" formulation of racism.
Another definition I heard, later on in high school, brings me to my final question. I was told after a history class by other students that the "new definition" of racism was if you, by virtue of race and birth, inherit privilege (which I, as an upper middle class white man, will readily admit), by even so much as having that privilege you are a "tacit racist," racist by default as a white man (or woman) because you benefit from a racist culture, or at the very least a culture with a racist history. I not only denied this to be true - being called a racist hurts, at least for most people - but I questioned their ability to "redefine" the term to suit what appeared to me to be narrow "hip" political aims. So then - whose job is it to define racism? At what point to all these things blur together and become the meaningless insult that Orwell described Fascism as?
I pose to you, Apolyton, that - if only just this once - you are the arbiters of the definition of racism. What, exactly, is racism, who is a racist, what is the difference between racism and prejudice, and when you step into the real world and don't control the definition anymore - who does? Who should?
Racism is something bandied about commonly in public discourse, at least in the United States. It risks, however, being the "new Fascism." To quote Orwell (from his much read essay "Politics and the English Language"),
The word Fascism has now no meaning except insofar as it signifies "something not desirable."
...
Since you don't know what Fascism is, how can you struggle against Fascism?
...
Since you don't know what Fascism is, how can you struggle against Fascism?
In this light, I'd like to see what people think, exactly, racism means. There are two general "camps" I'm aware of, and they are not neccessarily mutually exclusive. One emphasizes racism in thought - "white people are smarter than black people." Some of these are often considered "innocuous" enough to be non-confrontational, or just humorous by some - "black people can jump higher than white people." I haven't done the research, but I'm willing to bet this isn't true - but how racist is it? Even if it is racist, does calling such things racist "cheapen" the term to the point where it's no longer clear what a fight against racism is fighting against?
The other consideration of "thought as racism" is, "how conscious must it be?" Here lies the blurry line between racism and "prejudice." I'll be honest; I almost certainly have unconscious prejudice against different peoples. Is that racist?
After this there is the racism in action argument. Discrimination based on race, of course, is racist. I had a teacher in high school who, during "diversity training," (I know someone's going to laugh at that, but there you have it) told us that racism was the combination of prejudice against a "racial" group and the power to make that prejudice into reality. This directly contradicts the "thought" view of racism as mere prejudice, and it also raises the question of whether minorities can be truly racist - one would think yes, but if a minority lacks power in a social structure, they don't qualify for the "prejudice plus power" formulation of racism.
Another definition I heard, later on in high school, brings me to my final question. I was told after a history class by other students that the "new definition" of racism was if you, by virtue of race and birth, inherit privilege (which I, as an upper middle class white man, will readily admit), by even so much as having that privilege you are a "tacit racist," racist by default as a white man (or woman) because you benefit from a racist culture, or at the very least a culture with a racist history. I not only denied this to be true - being called a racist hurts, at least for most people - but I questioned their ability to "redefine" the term to suit what appeared to me to be narrow "hip" political aims. So then - whose job is it to define racism? At what point to all these things blur together and become the meaningless insult that Orwell described Fascism as?
I pose to you, Apolyton, that - if only just this once - you are the arbiters of the definition of racism. What, exactly, is racism, who is a racist, what is the difference between racism and prejudice, and when you step into the real world and don't control the definition anymore - who does? Who should?
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