Can you help me understand what you all mean by active and passive racism? I'm not sure I get it. (This is a real question, not a rhetorical trick question -- seriously!)
A few posts have used those terms, and I want to understand how they are being used.
Do you all agree about their meaning?
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Well, the way I understand it is this:
ReplyDeleteactive racism is when a person knowingly uses racist slurs or commit racist acts. Any time somebody sees themself as superior to others because of their race (or even if race is a factor in this) and acts upon that, it is active.
Passive racism to me would be the example given in class where the white little boy called his friend the "n" word but did not realize it was bad. I think that people can act in a racist manner and not realize it because they have grown up in an environment that doesn't question it or what have you...but it doesn't make it right. These people need to be made aware that they are acting like racists even if they do not fully understand. Another example is segregation when whites and blacks had different drinking fountains or had to sit on different parts of the bus. Some whites might not be using this drinking fountain because they are thinking "I am white and I am better so I get to drink out of this fountain". They grew up in the time and most likely did not question it.
So for me, I guess the difference is whether or not a person knows that what they are doing is racist. But maybe I have the wrong idea.... Any clarity on this would be wonderful! :)
I agree with the things that Miranda wrote, but I also think that there is another dimension to passive racism. For me, people are also participating in passive racism when they know of a situation in which another individual or group of individuals is being discriminated against because of their race and allow the situation to continue to exist. Although, they may not personally be responsible for the discrimination and/or racist acts, they are not doing anything to stop or prevent the situation. Therefore, they are passively participating in racism.
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