Chairman Miaow said:
ratzofftoya said:
Helmholtz Watson said:
ratzofftoya said:
I gave you the definition of racism. You have it. Can you explain to me how it's inaccurate?
Its inaccurate because you seem to be under the false idea that racism involves a White person inflicting some form of harm towards a "person of color" purely because of the "person of colors" skin color/bone structure. Its not. When the Mexican mafia orders for their member to target innocent Black people, that is racism despite there being no White people involved.
Sorry, I didn't mean to give that impression. In the instance you mentioned, prejudice (based on race) is being levied against a disempowered community. It is, therefore, racism. The instance where it wouldn't be "racism" is a Mexican mafioso ordering a hit against white people because of their race. Though it WOULD be prejudiced, and it WOULD unquestionably be a shitty, horrible thing to do.
Please, go away, you are just ruining this thread for everybody. If you don't like the discussion, don't join in. We think we are not being racist. You think we are. It is obvious nobody is changing their minds, so don't waste your time and derail the thread while you are at it. If anything I have said now or previously has caused harm, I will gladly apologise for it, and the last thing I want, is to cause harm. If you want to have a discussion about the definitions of race and racism, go start your own thread, although it will no doubt descend into flame wars in seconds.
I'll go away. Sorry for ruining your really funny racism thread by bringing the perspective of a minority in. I'll be quiet, massa. Let me just end with this: Prejudice by itself does not constitute racism. Neither does power by itself. But when people use their position of power, be it political or institutional, to reinforce their prejudices and to enforce them so that as a result of their racial prejudices the life chances, rights and opportunities of others are limited, the result is racism. Thus, the simplest definition of racism then is: racism is prejudice plus power. On the basis of this definition, while all people can be prejudiced, only those who have power are really racist. African Americans, Latinos, Asians and American Indians--the powerless in American society--can be and often are most prejudiced toward Whites on an individual basis, but they are not racists at the structural, institutional level. Within this understanding of racism, to be a racist you have to possess two things: 1) socioeconomic power to force others to do what you desire even if they don't want to, and 2), the justification of this power abuse by an ideology of biological supremacy. Keep in mind that what often is described as racism in society today, is really nothing more than prejudice and discrimination. While a Black or Latino person, through the use of a gun and/or intimidation, can force a White person to do as he, as an individual, desires, this is an individual act of aggression, not a socially structured power arrangement. At present, however, only Whites have that kind of power, reinforced by a belief in an ideology of supremacy, both of which constitute the basis of racism in America today.
PoC (people of color) can?t be racist, because they don?t have any reinforcement from that institutionalized power. We may hold individual racist ideas and thoughts, but we only have the power to do damage with our actions in the rare, brief contexts where our other privileges temporarily override color privilege. A relative of mine may say racist things about black or white people in her own home, but when she engages with the wider world, as she must do daily, she?s just another brown girl, and is therefore at risk.
