There are different racist levels, ranging from the very vocal hate spewing to the “I am not a racist” people. My brother claims he is definitely not a racist but went on to tell me in that same conversation that he informed both his daughters that he never wanted to see them bring home a black boyfriend. I then informed him that my daughter was dating a African American boy. He did not say a word, he loves my daughter and respects her. But to this day, in his opinion, he is not a racist. People are woefully blind to what constitutes racism.
^^ The African American personal trainer I mentioned in post #62 prohibited her four kids to date whites, and she would hate to see them bring home a white GF/BF. She and I are very close to each other, like each other a lot, and can always speak openly about race issues. She never felt that she needs to hide her views or apologize for them. Is she a racist? I’d say absolutely not!
I beg to differ. People are people and should be judged on the merits of who they are and not what they look like or what religion they are. It is ok to make personal judgements of what and who you want to date or associate with but when you tell someone else who they can date or who they can be friends with, that to me is racism in some fashion. It is not limited to Caucasians.
Seriously? Of course she is.
Racism, misogyny, xenophobia and all the rest are present in heaping helpings in all racial, ethnic or other groupings.
Agreed, except she is none of those. She likes me and my kids and she cares about them, but she would hate to welcome them into her family. Motivation matters. She has enormously rich cultural history and heritage, and she feels obligated to protect it. I respect this. And she is truly an amazing person who enriched my life, and I hope I enriched hers (at least she says so).
A nice racist then.
^So right, sorghum.
And here we see one of the big problems with all this racism discussion…
Re #260, #261
Yes, they are racist, although if their racism is not applied to anyone beyond their immediate family, it is less of a concern to others than if it is applied elsewhere. Obviously, their immediate family is stuck with the problem. It is also possible that they may be subconsciously racist beyond their immediate family, so they could actually apply racism in ways that are a concern to others.
There are people who are not racist in any other way, but certainly are when it comes to marriage and children. They think they are protecting their culture, continuing their family way, etc., but it is still racism. It is usually the last racial barrier to fall - far more personal than sharing a water fountain or a work place.
I can be glad that they’re not racist in any other way but still be sorry that they don’t go the final step. And even sorrier if they are lying to themselves about it.
http://www.dailydot.com/via/reverse-racism-doesnt-exist/
http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/07/8-things-white-people-race/
What pejorative will become the social mace of choice when this one dies from overuse?
The point to the story of the boy who cried wolf was that there really was a wolf but nobody cared anymore. Keep beating people over the head with this particular cudgel, particularly with the zeal of Eugene McCathy, and when something really onerous rises up, no one will answer. Racism exists, and it isn’t the exclusive domain of any particular race.
Read the links. Come on now.
Ok, let’s call it racially based discrimination then. Neither is good.
It’s false equivalence to suggest that hundreds of years of institutionalized racism against ethnic minorities is somehow no different from individual racist choices, or that the latter without the former is somehow the same as the two combined. No question about it; equating the two is misleading and flawed both logically and ethically.
In fact, to the OP’s “Positive steps I can take to fight racism,” it’s probably a good start to learn the difference and come to the understanding of that false equivalence.
Who here is equating??
Both suck. No one that I see has said the two are EQUAL. Both are forms of discrimination, however. I’d say to pretend otherwise is “flawed both logically and ethically”.
Sure, but only one is a serious national problem that disadvantages literally millions of people. When we say “they’re both bad,” we’re waving that away–intentionally or otherwise.
No we’re not. We’re smart people who can think about different things at different levels at the same time. I think we can handle the complexity of it. Nobody owns all the bad stuff. It’s these blanket statements that are counterproductive in my opinion.
And if we’re interested in fighting racism–as the OP suggests–then worrying about some African-American lady who doesn’t want her daughters dating white guys is hardly a useful place to put our energy, especially when there’s large-scale, systemic, institutionalized racism and white supremacy in plain sight.
Well, it matters to those it directly affects, right?
And again, who says commenting on it or discussing it detracts from being concerned about “large-scale, systemic, institutionalized racism and white supremacy in plain sight”. That’s oversimplifying again and underestimating human caring and intelligence.
Guess what? I can also care about and take action for women’s rights, climate change, food security and other issues I care about while abhorring and expressing concern and even taking a stand against “large-scale, systemic, institutionalized racism and white supremacy in plain sight”. Believe me, they are all HUGE concerns of mine.