Here's the prompt:
What, exactly, is racism, anyway? I'm really getting the strong sense lately that, even though everybody uses the word like it has a fixed and universally accepted meaning, different people have different definitions. Which lead to bizarre conversational outcomes.And here's the discussion:
Michael I think it's any belief other than origins that humans are different for the sole reason of ethnicity.Sometimes, things go exactly the way I want them to go; other times, it's like I've got a tiger by the tail. Not today, though, today was good.
Ronald So, for you, it's an individual belief about the nature of other individuals.
Michael Correct. I don't think peoples actions are predestined by genetics.
Bill Yep! Racism is a terrible disease that afflicts all humans. Unfortunately, many use it as a crutch and it's a tragedy!
Ronald Question: how is it used as a crutch, do you think?
Bill Just listen to Al Sharpton every once in a while. It's absolutely absurd how hypocritical this situation is. About month or so after the terrible tragedy of Trayvon Martin, a US Marine was brutally murdered by four black individuals.
Where in the hell, and I rarely curse, but where in the hell was the media when this person was brutally murdered by four black men?
I love black people, Asians, Mexicans, Americans, and that even means white people. I wish this world would wake up and realize were all different but we should all strive for one purpose… work TOGETHER! It can be done.
Scott S It helps to narrow the field. That is, the term "racism" often seeks to place blame. I think it is helpful to understand racism as a system of power and then understand individual behavior as supporting or resisting that system of power. This is a fairly common sociological understanding of "isms." I thought it might be helpful in communicating with people who unknowingly support racist systems of power, but I find that white people are so defensive about their own racism that it is impossible to have a conversation.
Ronald Okay, but I see some interesting potential with the way you're looking at racism, as a system of power, when it comes to white defensiveness. That is, if we can somehow culturally de-couple the word "racism" from a concept of personal identity, while stressing that, even though people are oppressed by and benefit from racist power systems, we are not necessarily talking about individuals. I mean, okay, we're talking about individuals, of course, but I'm imagining a way of talking about racism that doesn't tend to create the sense of panic such discussion often evokes among whites.
I've read recently an assertion that one of the Civil Rights movement's failures is that the symbolic face of racism which came to dominate was one of a Klansman, or a lynch mob, which was definitely true enough at the time, but which also in the long run created a social understanding of racism that was expressed only in terms of the most obvious and egregious individual examples. On the other hand, it's difficult to symbolize systems of power in a concise and emotionally powerful way.
Scott S Right. Too many white people think that if they can refrain from actually hanging a black person, they have no responsibility for racial dynamics.
Scott P It can never die, so long as energetic and creative folks (and vested interests like Al Sharpton) keep it alive through new, infinitely more nuanced definitions of the word.
Ronald I think another impediment for whites understanding racism as a social power dynamic is that our nation generally does an incredibly bad job of educating people that there are even such things as power systems. Instead, we're taught the formal structure of government, and perhaps some rudimentary economics, with very strong doses of nationalism and American exceptionalism. So to even entertain the notion that things don't work in the ideal way in which we were taught is to attack one's very sense of connection to country.
Actually, I think this is why MLK lost his FBI detachment, which allowed his assassin such easy access: he started going after real power, instead of simply insisting on integration and civil rights--remember, he was in Memphis participating in a sanitation worker strike, and he had come out against the Vietnam War only a year earlier. To challenge seriously the dominant power structure is incredibly dangerous.
Ronald So, Scott, you're saying that there really isn't any racism anymore, and what we call "racism" is simply an intellectual and social construct pushed by activists? For fame? Glory? Money?
April Money and power
Ronald While I think that racism is definitely something real and oppressive in this country, it would be foolish to deny that, as with religion, there are definitely hucksters out there who want nothing more than your attention and your money. For instance, I'm not particularly fond of the New Black Panther Party, especially because, while far from perfect, the actual Black Panther Party had some principles and did some good. The distraction created by these types makes the waters all the more muddied.
Scott P No. Still exists. But will forever if the folks interested in handling it don't treat it as if it should die. The goal should be Dr. King's and Dr. Seuss's color blindness, not a permanent institutionalized quota/classification/double standard system.
Scott S One problem with a system of power is that they can be exploited. Most people who participate in them, which is everyone, aren't aware of their participation. And don't want to be.
Joshua "Racism still alive they just be concealing it"
Joshua I dont have no links or references, but i have experience..... Growing up black in highlands tx... Whew let me tell you..... It all comes down to up bringing..... Were all racist! I hate whites, i hate blacks i hate ignorant people. But you cant get made at someone cause they dont know better... You cant fix stupid
Chris What I've always understood *racism* to be is a form of *prejudice*. By that I mean a tendency to make generalizations about an entire group of people based on the characteristics of a few. And then applying those generalizations to each new member of the group as you encounter them. Whether the generalization is positive (Asians are math geniuses) or negative (blacks are lazy criminals), it does a disservice to the entire race. It's just easier to compartmentalize and categorize than it is to always get all the information possible. And unfortunately many humans want to avoid thinking wherever possible.
Chris I've always thought I was lucky. My ethnicity is unclear. Meaning, people never know what I am. So, I don't have any preconceptions to live up to or fall short of. The flip side of that is I have no "brothers", no support group. I've met maybe a couple guys in my life that could really identify with my background.
Chris But to your original point... I think there's a lot of people that truly believe they're not racist not realizing they are. A lot of white guys may not have a problem with: working alongside a black man, working FOR a black man, even (in the cases of soldiers or police) taking a bullet for a black man. But that same man may still have a problem with his daughter dating a black man. Still a racist. Sorry.
Ronald Josh, Highlands, at least when I was teaching in Baytown, had Klan activity, and even an Aryan Brotherhood presence. I can only imagine what it must have been like growing up there.
Joshua Adapt... It got me the un wanted title of the white black guy, all because i would rather learn instead of hustle
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