Racism: A Bogus Definition

I have often wondered why we call racism, racism when it has little to do with race. How do we even define race to begin with?

Sure there are a few zeros out there hating others purely for race but my guess is if we called it culturalism or something akin to it, it would be closer to the mark for the situation today as well as what humans have faced for centuries. Think about it. If you have a problem with someone who happens to be another race, is it simply their genetic make up which is the problem or is it how they act or the things they do? Nature versus nurture? 99.9% of the time it is the latter. So why blame race?

If I wrong you and we are different "races", how does it get resolved when most people immediately default to the difference in race as the underlying issue? It would seem, as it stands today, the definition of racism, or at least our common understanding of it, lends to more problems than it addresses by allowing all to overlook true grievances (and therefore true resolution) in favor of a formulaic script with predetermined outcomes.

There are some who will read this and call me a racist because I am not drinking the Kool Aid with an accepted level of vigor.

Ive thought the same thing before. Come to find out theres lot and lots of words, and important ones, that are commonly misused in the american language. I suspect that mainstream practice of the word racism to describe any number of similar but slightly different meanings like you described in your post is because it most directly causes a more effective illusion of separation, and in turn individualism, ego, and the opposite of love. This is why we should feel free to choose our words wisely and if necessary make up new words. This is how language evolves, through metaphors. Maybe a good thing would be to make new words more oriented toward unity and being whole.

reply to post by ABNARTY


I don't believe that race is a biological concept, but just a social construct. Of course I'll get bashed by some people for saying this. But people don't realize that our environment influences us a great deal. We are all products of our environment and culture is learned, not inherited through genes.

For example, if I was to take an African baby from Mali, West Africa and place that baby in, say, Tokyo, Japan, that child would grow up in relation to the respective society's culture. That child will speak, think and behave differently, when compared to a child who was raised in Mali, West Africa.

Have you ever gone in a public place and seen a sign -- whites only? Whites only water fountains whites only bathrooms. Have you ever been to a forth of July parade with a proudly marching KKK group - full regalia.

Would you call that racism -- I would and I remember these things -they were real. They were bad, very bad.

PC multiculturalism was designed to collapse the Western world and 'racism' was carefully designed as a 'thought crime' by the cultural marxists in order to criminalise anyone protesting about the destruction of the traditional cultural framework that made Western society tick - but also prevented the acceptance of marxist ideas amongst the masses - and idea first put foward by Grammsci in his 'long march through the institutions' and later systematically put into practise by the Frankfurt School.

i think culture has to do more than race. look at herman cain, he's accepted because he fit's the definition of " a good black."

take a look at the audience of the republican debates. do you think those people would allow a black man to lead them unless they were sure they had 100% control over him.

do you think they'd support herman cain if he was hanging around jay-z.

maybe herman cain was getting to big in his head and they deflated him a little with the sexual harassment scandal.

this thread is funny. you all talk about racism as if it meant something else. To clarify Racism is institutional power and prejudice. In other words if you dont like someone for his colour or culture etc and are in a position of power then you are a racist. If you dont have the power but are prejudice that just means you are an idiot

Reply to post by ABNARTY

I think your post makes sense but you are kind of missing the mark. What usually happens is this for example: Black people are just innatetly violent and prone to crime. Statements like that are the norm among what I would consider a racist statement. The same as mexicans are lazy or asians are smart. These beliefs exist outside of culture and is usually applied to the entire race in general. For this to be just a cultural thing it would need be a cultural critque which would not be applied to people of the same race living in different areas. For example, if someone was to say 'soul food is so unhealthy black people should eat better.' That is a cultural thing, you would not expect black africans to eat soul food because soul food is an african american creation. And so it wouldnt be applied to the race as a whole.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by ABNARTY


I went into detail regard this -- sorta. ATS: Misuse of a Powerful Word..

The misuse of a word or words has always occurred but no one cares anymore.

Racism stirs up strong emotions because it is accusing somebody of disliking or discriminating against somebody else based on things the victim has no control over (eg. their race, colour of their skin, country of birth). These days, the word is often misused in order to silence debate, deny facts and downplay strong correlations. Either way, I agree that most of today's complaints are actually based more on cultural-induced behaviour than on actual racism. It's a shame that one has to be so self-conscious of what they say out of fear of being hit with the RACIST tag.

Originally posted by Aletheia007

this thread is funny. you all talk about racism as if it meant something else. To clarify Racism is institutional power and prejudice. In other words if you dont like someone for his colour or culture etc and are in a position of power then you are a racist. If you dont have the power but are prejudice that just means you are an idiot

edit on 15-11-2011 by Aletheia007 because: (no reason given)

What? Please justify why racist is suddenly not racist when he is not in "position of power".

I agree with the OP. Racism word is so overused nowadays it has lost its true meaning. Criticising other groups of people on behalf of their culture or behaviour is not racist. Racial supremacism is not cultural supremacism.
I am not a racial supremacist, but I am sort of a cultural supremacist. I have nothing against multiethnicism (if its really mutiethnicism, and not replacement of white race by others, and not the other way around), but I have many things against current version of multiculturalism.

reply to post by spyder550


I do not deny hatred or misguided policy. My concern is the the term defining the action versus the other way around.

reply to post by ownbestenemy


Thanks for the link. Good post.

reply to post by Aletheia007


I am unclear what the position of power has to do with the definition. Perhaps if we took this discussion off on a tangent there may be something there but as is, it is rather irrelevant.

reply to post by ABNARTY


cant you? a headmaster of a school turns away people because of either their culture or race. Thats racism Because you are in a postion of power to do it.
Now a person who has no institutional power but has a prejedice against a race or culture. He has no position to force his prejudice and therefore isnt racist as his views dont affect policies or any establishment.. All he can do is shout scream make Blogs telling everyone how he feels and make an idiot out of himself.

its quite simple really.....

reply to post by Aletheia007


Maintaining a racist attitude while not being in a position of power still has the potential to negatively impact lives. For example, continually bullying somebody about their race can lead them to drop out of school, leave their job or even commit suicide.

I also hold the view that most race-based prejudice is more down to ''culturalism'', rather than race.

For example, those who are racist against black people generally tend to form their prejudice based upon the black, urban counterculture of guns, drugs, violence, gangsta rap, etc.

It's highly doubtful that most of these people are similarly prejudiced against a 40-year-old black businessman who, in all intents and purposes, is a white man with black skin.

reply to post by Aletheia007


You still have not justified why racist not in a position of power is not racist at all, and not simply that - racist not in a position of power, but still racist.

Its like saying you cannot be communist when you dont have a position to actually enforce communism, which is absurd.

Originally posted by IEtherianSoul9
reply to post by ABNARTY

 

I don't believe that race is a biological concept, but just a social construct. Of course I'll get bashed by some people for saying this.

You shouldn't. It's fact. There is no such thing as race. There is one species. Homo Sapien. There are no sub species of Homo Sapien. No race.

We may look different. But we are Human. Read any sociology book that discusses such things. Talk to any scientist. Race is in fact, a social construct, created by people...