Vegosiux said:
Now, um...I'm, not that big on the movie scene, so I can only lost a handful of black actors from the top of my head (and only a handful of white ones, at that) and I don't actually recall any of them to be restricted to villain roles.
Then again, there are actors who make entire careers on playing nothing but villains. And again, names escape me but there's that Slovenian-born guy who always plays some sort of an asshole psycho in TV series for example...
Thinking more of the lesser known actors, generally.
Another way of doing it, is to look at a movie, and see how many (and which) characters are black.
Now, there've been movies I've seen several times over many years, which I'd never noticed feature black people only as random minions of villains, until I stopped to look, because it's just one of those things.
Vareoth said:
I sometimes forget that people like that exist. I have a hard time understanding the likes of them. Though I am sure I have bouts of hypocrisy myself since I'm only human.
Eh, we all do, yeah...not many acknowledge it, though.
Vareoth said:
Ok, I understand. There are a myriad of places and people that could use a strong technique like Jane Elliott's. It's funny how easily people forget about the problems of others (especially if they are part of a very small group), or latch onto illogical hatred to explain the problems they face. Then again, if one looks at the current political climate in the EU one should perhaps not be as surprised. Some people will look for any dumb excuse to hate someone else. Awareness is key in battling such behaviour. I was just saying that her rough methods could have the opposite effect of inducing antagonistic feelings or a false nation of offence by the recipients. It might muddle the ultimately noble message.
Well, yes, but that leans close to the tone argument. There's no way to point out someone's prejudice in a way they will be happy hearing. The only way you can do that is by not calling pointing out the problem. Sugar coating it simply negates the message, which is often, I suspect, the point.
iseko said:
Interesting point. But that is a matter of perspective. Racism is not accepted by society as is clearly shown in this thread. Yet the individual is still racist as often is experienced in daily life. The fact that the USA has a black president shows that their society no longer accepts the statement that black people are inferior. Yet black people still have to deal with daily life problems like lower wages and hate/bigotry.
I disagree with that. Society, after all, is made up of these individuals.
Obama being PotUS is often cited as proof that the US is no longer racist. While it may be true that racism is a lesser issue than it was, large elements of US/western society are still openly racist, and there are still strong racist attitudes in those who aren't.
iseko said:
But if a black person calls "racism" and he gets media attention (society learns of it), then his aggressors are in for a heap of trouble. So who has the actual power in that scenario.
Yeah, don't really buy that. The vast majority of racist people don't get shamed in a big social campaign, and even if they are, there's no guarantee it'll affect them that much.
In this US again, Obama has been constantly racially attacked by his opponents, and his opponents haven't been shamed away because of it yet.
lacktheknack said:
Racism is wrong on a conceptual level, not a higher level. We should be attacking racism in any form and not focusing on subcategories.
All racism is wrong, certainly. Different forms work differently, and some are more pervasive and more powerful than others. The racism suffered by minorities is generally much more of a problem than that suffered by the majority.