There are a$$holes and there are racists. Many racists are a$$holes. Some racists are closeted and hide their shallow misconceptions quite well. I could make a venn diagram of these groups if that would be of benefit.
There are a$$holes and there are racists. Many racists are a$$holes. Some racists are closeted and hide their shallow misconceptions quite well. I could make a venn diagram of these groups if that would be of benefit.
Thanks for completely missing my point. Lazy and hateful will go for whatever is the biggest target. Race, weight, complexion - it doesn’t matter. Some folks will call someone ‘Paki’ because they’re racist. Others will because it’s easy. I 100% believe this holds up to scrutiny.
It's not hard. A racist is someone who believes attributes are assignable by race and not by individual choices. Often, this leads folks to believing some races are superior or inferior to others. My personal opinion is that this is the refuge of intellectually lazy people or insecure people.
Let's go back to my example based on personal experience. Did the kids who called me Icabod Crane or Pizza face hate tall thin people with bad complexion? Or, were they just trying to cause hurt? How would these same kids attack an overweight person, or a brown person? I believe by grabbing whatever convenient attribute presented itself. Does that make them racist or just an all-around POS? Every one of us has negative interactions with losers. Personally, I think it would be reassuring to people of color to realize that some of their negative interactions were not due to their color but simply because the person causing them distress is just an all-around useless POS. Please note the word *some* in the previous sentence. It's critical to the point I'm re-re-making. Nowhere have I said racism does not exist. Simply that some people attribute racism to what is actually the general purpose a$$hole we've all had to deal with at times.
Thanks Mickel. but I don't accept your definition.
Being called a 'racist' is one of the worst pejoratives you can be called. Why?
There is nothing intrinsically evil in believing that some races are superior to other races in some physical metric. Science shows that to be true, as does the 'eye test' that white men are crap dancers compared to many other ethnicities, and that most basketball players are black. But I'm being flippant, but it's the stereotyping of "probably" to "definitely" that is the error.
The evil arises from falsely assigning bad characteristics such as *criminality* or intellectual ability as a stereotype to a particular race. Being afraid that Mexicans or Blacks (or whatever color immigrants) will take your jobs is *not* racist. It's a valid concern for any citizen of any nation facing immigrants. Believing that all Blacks or Mexicans are more criminal minded than whites, that is racist. It was the criminality aspect that created Hitler's fascism against the Jews (and Slavs, for that matter). Hitler, borrowing extensively from the philosopher Hegel, defined Aryans as 'ubermenschen' and Slavs as 'untermenschen' because he claimed that they would subvert 'good Germans'. Stories like "To Kill a Mockingbird" arose because blacks were considered unable to control their more primitive urges - completely false, even if statistics might show that more blacks were committing crimes than whites. The evil arises when that belief becomes coded in law, and justice is perverted and marginalization denies a race or ethnicity of human rights.
The actions of those boys calling you names was evil. Perverting justice is evil. Believing that there are differences between races should not affect the justice system which should be blind to race, but not to professions of intent like "Death to Jews".
I'm cool with your thoughtful response. Based on the details you provided, I'm less inclined to call kids who call other kids hurtful names racist. It implies too much thought and intent for something which, I believe, is mostly shallow, thoughtless, but contemptible behavior.
Now, I want a beer or whiskey as we discuss the issue. It's 1:30 and I have a zoom call in 30 minutes. I'll save that temptation for later in the day.
There are a$$holes and there are racists. Many racists are a$$holes. Some racists are closeted and hide their shallow misconceptions quite well. I could make a venn diagram of these groups if that would be of benefit.
Well, let's do the logic:
If you use "Paki", then you are racist. If you don't use "Paki", then you are not racist.
Not sure that holds to scrutiny,
Edit- quotation marks
Thanks for completely missing my point. Lazy and hateful will go for whatever is the biggest target. Race, weight, complexion - it doesn’t matter. Some folks will call someone ‘Paki’ because they’re racist. Others will because it’s easy. I 100% believe this holds up to scrutiny.
So define racist, please?
It's not hard. A racist is someone who believes attributes are assignable by race and not by individual choices. Often, this leads folks to believing some races are superior or inferior to others. My personal opinion is that this is the refuge of intellectually lazy people or insecure people.
Let's go back to my example based on personal experience. Did the kids who called me Icabod Crane or Pizza face hate tall thin people with bad complexion? Or, were they just trying to cause hurt? How would these same kids attack an overweight person, or a brown person? I believe by grabbing whatever convenient attribute presented itself. Does that make them racist or just an all-around POS? Every one of us has negative interactions with losers. Personally, I think it would be reassuring to people of color to realize that some of their negative interactions were not due to their color but simply because the person causing them distress is just an all-around useless POS. Please note the word *some* in the previous sentence. It's critical to the point I'm re-re-making. Nowhere have I said racism does not exist. Simply that some people attribute racism to what is actually the general purpose a$$hole we've all had to deal with at times.
Thanks Mickel. but I don't accept your definition.
Being called a 'racist' is one of the worst pejoratives you can be called. Why?
There is nothing intrinsically evil in believing that some races are superior to other races in some physical metric. Science shows that to be true, as does the 'eye test' that white men are crap dancers compared to many other ethnicities, and that most basketball players are black. But I'm being flippant, but it's the stereotyping of "probably" to "definitely" that is the error.
The evil arises from falsely assigning bad characteristics such as *criminality* or intellectual ability as a stereotype to a particular race. Being afraid that Mexicans or Blacks (or whatever color immigrants) will take your jobs is *not* racist. It's a valid concern for any citizen of any nation facing immigrants. Believing that all Blacks or Mexicans are more criminal minded than whites, that is racist. It was the criminality aspect that created Hitler's fascism against the Jews (and Slavs, for that matter). Hitler, borrowing extensively from the philosopher Hegel, defined Aryans as 'ubermenschen' and Slavs as 'untermenschen' because he claimed that they would subvert 'good Germans'. Stories like "To Kill a Mockingbird" arose because blacks were considered unable to control their more primitive urges - completely false, even if statistics might show that more blacks were committing crimes than whites. The evil arises when that belief becomes coded in law, and justice is perverted and marginalization denies a race or ethnicity of human rights.
The actions of those boys calling you names was evil. Perverting justice is evil. Believing that there are differences between races should not affect the justice system which should be blind to race, but not to professions of intent like "Death to Jews".
I'm cool with your thoughtful response. Based on the details you provided, I'm less inclined to call kids who call other kids hurtful names racist. It implies too much thought and intent for something which, I believe, is mostly shallow, thoughtless, but contemptible behavior.
Now, I want a beer or whiskey as we discuss the issue. It's 1:30 and I have a zoom call in 30 minutes. I'll save that temptation for later in the day.