BEFORE YOU READ THINS YOU SHOULD TAKE A LOOK AT THAT ARTICLE AND THE COMMENTS IT PROVOKED.
Very interesting article.
Instead of trying to solve the race problem, maybe we should try to learn how to reduce it.
I think the next step to this movement is for everyone to start informing eachother.
What is racism? (looking for comments here)
If you can ask yourself what is racism, you can ask yourself, WHAT IS NOT RACISM?
People seem to be looking for racism and perhaps they are finding it because that it is what they are looking for.
The article said people are looking for racism and waiting to pull out their race card, so it makes me wonder... How many people are looking for racism on a day-to-day basis? My gut tells me this would have a profound increase on the very thing we are trying to eliminate.
With complex issue like racism, let us do what mathematicians do... Eliminate what it is not.
What do I think racism is not?.....
I don't think calling people that like trucks and guns "rednecks" is racist. They are just a group of kids that like guns and trucks... B.F.D... they are a group of friends with similar interests. Instead of taking offense, let us be careful about how we say things, but more importantly, let us be careful on how we interpret things. It does not mean that all people from a small town are "rednecks," or anything else. I just mean the person who wrote that comment noticed some people were potentially being racist. This comes back to what I was talking about with the symbols. What a symbol means to me may not mean the same thing to others, so we need to be aware of both sides of interpretations. Eliminating as much confusion/misunderstanding as possible will benefit us greatly.
I think that understanding what racism is not will reduce it as a whole. Not only that, but it will make this complex problem a little simpler. Once we can understand what racism is not, then we will all have a better idea on what it really is.
In other words, my approach is to minimize the definition of racism to the best of our ability. By doing this we will reduce it as a whole, increase our understanding and perhaps find a more practicle approach to eliminating racism once and for all. Maybe not in our life times, but maybe in our children's...
Does anyone know what I am talking about, or am I just crazy?
I would really appreciate your feedback.
What is racism?
What is not?
Is this a good idea or a bad one?
Please help!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think your questions are good ones. What is racism? What's not racism? It's all how people interpret it. Some people find racism in anything. ex. In the movie crash Ludacris's character says the waitress is racist because she didn't serve them coffee, even though they didn't want or ask for any. I believe there is racism on two levels. There is racism where you may call people certain names, use certain words or stereotypes. Then there is racism that isn't always verbal. It might be in your actions or body language. It may even be in facial expressions or tone of voice or attitude you may show towards someone of a different race. You may see a group of people and become scared or the stereotypes may run through your head but you don't say anything. This to me is still racist.
ReplyDeleteI hope this statement, alothough lengthy will help to understand how i have learned to feel about racism. We must learn to except the fact that most of us inherited prejudice we are usually taught or learn this by either our parents or our school years. I feel for people who experience this because personally i never have and wouldnt know how to deal with it.We have all called each other names you should not call any human being no matter what they call you or how mad they make you. Its taken me time to realize this as I got older and wiser in the working world you realize that there are so many different types of people that you could call all these people names for ever and never run out of them. I have worked and live in so many different types homes jobs and people that I can no keep count any more and one surprising thing that you learn when you work along side each other you realize that no matter who you are you all bleed the same color blood.
ReplyDeleteI have at least learned many things through out my life, no matter how hard you try to hate some one because they're different, no matter how hard you work at being prejudice you learn that you have more in common then you think usually you find that everybody no matter what color religion or sexual preference people all mostly want the same things out of life as you or I would that is to make enough money to working to have success at what you are doing no matter what type of job that hold we all want to find happiness with that special some one. We all want cars homes and children to carry on you heritage.We all want to give our families every thing that we never had. Success is some thing that we all have to work for some just harder then others. But the one thing that we don`t need to give them is our hatred and our prejudices that we learned when we were growing up. kids today need for us to take the next step in our lives and to put aside our difference`s for not only us but for everyones sake so that we once and for all stop this chain of bigotry that has went from generation to generation.
We all want respect, and i feel you have to give it to get it. No matter who you are, what you look like we all have to live in this country and the world together why don`t we all make an effort to change our thoughts, after all are we all American`s.
I think these are great questions for us all to consider. In my opinion, racism is when you look at someone and judge who they are by their skin color or things that you have heard from other people or the media and believe to be true. This will have an effect on the way you look at and sometimes even treat them. I believe that some people, no matter what you do, will call you racist. In the movie guess who, the father of the main actress takes his dauter's boyfriend to a hotel because he doesn't want them sleeping in the same house. When they arrive at the hotel and a busboy asks if he wants him to take hie bag he says no thank you. The father asks him why he didn't want him to take his bag. He told him that his father had been a busboy and had never stolen anything in his life. Then the boyfriend asked the busboy to take his bag for him and the father commented, "So now he's your servant?" I think that we should define what exactly racism is and find a way to get rid of it instead of tiptoeing around the issue.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately almost anything can be claimed to be racism. It all depends on the person. When it comes to racism, you need to look at what was said, how it was said and meant and who said it. There is so many people out there that are just lying in wait to raise the race card. I think that those that use it non-stop are using it because they want to continue to be seen as the victim of this or that. They don't want to move on because then they wouldn't be in the spot light anymore. If they don't move on from what happened they will be stuck in the past as the rest of the world moves forward into the future. What's happened in the past, is the past. Nothing that is done now in the present can change that. When people stop taking things as personal attacks, only then will racism start to go away.
ReplyDeletewhen i think of racism i think about judging a person based on their skin color and the negative things they associate with that skin color. i think many people out there hold negative viewpoints about other races but for the most part they don't express these viewpoints. the people who do express these viewpoints tend to be viewed as extreme even though they are just expressing their thoughts. i think no matter how you feel about a race you shouldn't try to change how others feel. i'm not saying to express your viewpoint but i don't think you should try to get others to agree with that viewpoint. i was wondering if it is still considered being racist if you are associating a certain race with a positive aspect of that certain race. this is what most people do except they are focusing on the negative aspects of a race without considering the positve.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of the above view points as in if you purpously make durogitory remarks towords someone just becuase of there race,as in calling someone inferior because of there skin coller which i have heard people do. I think the best way to help us over come this issue is to make sure people learn the history of our fellow pepole to help open there eyes. What I don't think should be called racisim is when you are have a debate or a conversation about the issue on an open disscution.
ReplyDeleteRace to me is a very touchy subject. I mean it seems like that no matter what we say can be taken as racism but that is just how i see it. As long as the things we say aren't directly degrading others just because of stereotypes that people make up on races everything will be fine. But, I agree with Jeremy that if people are haveing a discussion about race that you can't take things as racism, even though words can get tangled up and taken in ways that they weren't meant to be taken.
ReplyDeleteI believe racism is not having an open discussion with a person of the same or different race about race relations. I believe racism is not another persons curiosity about the history or background of a person or peoples race. I think today people are so scared to talk about what's on their minds when they have every right to speak (thank you first ammendment). Especially with such a diverse country, when fear is so installed in everything we do or don't do or people, places, and things, we as humans tend to put up a guard against that thing, group, etc. Unfortunately with media painting pictures of right and wrong and children growing up in homes where conversation about different races and history is limited..we are going to have a very undeducated people in this country, because eventually everyone will look to the media and their parents for information (not saying many people already don't) .
ReplyDeleteSo what do I think racism is? I think it's when a person jumps to conclusions about another person because of the color of their skin, therefore creating a false stereotype that leads that person to forever have a bad image of that certain race. Do I think we are all guilty of racism? It would be a swift generalization to say all but I believe through what I have seen especially living in the cities and in a small town, everyone is a critic, we are all imperfect, and sometimes it's easier to blame or point fingers at others because they already have a shadow on them. I would love to see racism lift away, unfortunately I think that would mean that the next generation would have to go through some serious education changes, and would have to be more informed about the history and culture of all races around the world to understand that although we come from different backgrounds, and look different, we all live here together so that's why treating eachother with respect and helping eachother through this life is more important than being ignorant and uninformed.