One of the questions that has been written about on this blog is the definition of racism. Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry. (Note, the editors of Wikipedia claim the entry may be biased and contains so-called weasel words.)
Are there other ways to define racism, or other ways to apply it to our experience?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Alright, I have gone through and read most of the comments on other posts and looked at the Wikipedia definition of race, and I have a lot of thoughts racing through my mind--no pun intended haha.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought is about race itself--what is it or how do we differentiate between them. In my intro to anthro class we talked about the "in your face" differences (i.e. skin color, hair texture, eyes, etc.) I agree with someone's comment that noticing these differences does not make you a racist, but racially aware. These differences were products of evolution in different climates and geographical settings, nothing more. There was an interesting video we watched in which students from all different races submitted DNA samples that were then compared to different people all over the world. It showed that one white kid with (example) French ancestry actually had more in common with someone in Africa. (Sorry if this is confusing, it was a while ago that I saw this...but I will try to get the video or something to further explain...)
This being said, I feel that the most important aspect in this whole debate is the meaning we put on these differences. Who started it? And why is it more common for a white person with brown eyes to be racist against an Indian person and not another white person with green eyes? What distinctions have become the "important" ones?
Race had to be introduced to me. I remember having a wide array of friends when I was little though admitedly most of my friends were white. I noticed the differences in my black friends as they were different from myself, but I also noticed the differences between me and my white friends (especially the one with bright red hair ;) ). I was raised in part by my grandparents who come from a different time. They had black foster children and friends, but they always make a distinction. In stories they would always comment when a person was different, but I have never heard them make sweeping negative statements about another race. Something that really stands out in my mind is when we were driving around the city in which they live, and we took a turn down a road that led into a different corner of the city. It looked the same as other places in the city to me, but my grandma felt the need to tell me that "this is where all the black people live in ____". That was all she said, and it didn't seem negative, but I was wondering why she told me that, why she felt like she had to. Was she being racist, or racially aware?
I promise I'll wrap up soon. Basically I feel that there are differences to be recognized in everyone no matter their race or ethnicity but I think it is fun to learn about these differences. I think that some have been conditioned and may actually think that they are better because they are one race or another, but whether they are in the majority or minority makes no difference to me. I feel that any time a person thinks they are superior only because they are of a certain skin color, would make them a racist. I feel like in America it is a bigger issue than in the rest of the world because we are a nation of many nations. We are faced with these differences in our everyday lives and it has become a part of our culture to survive and make it any way we can in this "new" country and we are "competing" with others to do so. Like competition between sports teams or the green and blue tables in grade school, but it has become especially negative. Maybe this is looking at it too lightly.
I am not trying to set my ideas in stone here. I am open to any comments or ideas or even critisisms. Thanks!
I definitely agree with what you say. Unfortunately, to some folks, anything that's different is "scary" or "wrong", particularly if you have grown up without much diversity or were raised with particular preconceived notions about other people. In other cases, some people might not have had much contact with others who look different, and might make a generalization about an entire group of people based on one or two experiences (as so often happens with humans). Many of the Chinese students here, for example, sadly generalize all black folks based on the DPS reports and the guys hanging out at the Metro station because they have little or no contact with blacks on campus or in different social circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI like your question about your grandmother being "racially aware" as well. Could this be a sort passive racism? I will admit that my awareness of race was noticeably heightened since my time living in Cameroon, Africa. Before living there, I attended a high school in my hometown with a 30 or 40% minority population (mostly blacks). I was used to interacting with different kinds of people, and never actively thought about the race of the person I was talking to. In Cameroon, I mainly interacted with non-whites, and most of my greatest friendships were with Cameroonians or with people from other parts of the world. However, being the minority and having experienced forms of racism there (being targeted by police to be fined for being white foreigners, and being yelled at by folks calling us "the whites") made me painfully aware of the differences between me and the people who were living there. In some cases, you had to think about who you were talking to to determine how to talk to them. Returning to the United States, then, I felt that I noticed people's race more; I began to take note of whether the person I was talking to was white, black, Asian, etc. I didn't act on these notes, nor did I keep them for long if I became friends with the person (these thoughts diminish over time as the relationship grows), but being "aware" and considering a person's race in the back of the mind while talking to someone definitely puts a damper on things.
I never thought that living in Africa would make me notice race more. I don't hold judgments based on these observations, but like I said, they remain a part of the description, and it makes me sad to think that I'm very aware of it (not as much as in Cameroon, perhaps, but still to some extent). Maybe this is a good thing, though; maybe I have avoided turning to colorblind racism by being more aware. Like Miranda says, the differences among human beings are extremely interesting; they are cause to celebrate I think (except in the manner of the Office's "Diversity Day" episode!). It's when these differences become generalized--and interpreted as negative--that true racism and discrimination occur.
Race as a personal definition to me:
ReplyDeleteRace is the catergorization of distinguishment between two subjects that can either be verbally, mentally, or physically used for abuse or segregation.
Race is portrayed as a positive and negative and can be hurtful as well as self proclamatory. Race itself does not distinguish how it is used we as people control what comes out of our mouths, minds, and gestures (action) and we also control how we take it (reaction).
Race is everywhere, it is in our scholarships, our grants, our applications, our housing, our car payments, the grocery store, decorations, movies, music, clothes, shoes, friends, and family. Its a worldly distinction between every person alive, dead, martyred, buried, and cremated. There is no way the world could work together without having an organizational categorization or distinction between people otherwise we would all be the same, think the same, act the same, wear the same things, and it would be a robotic world.
I think that racism as defined by Wikipedia is in a way too specific. I believe that racism encompasses much more than simply superiority. I think that Hartigan gives a better definition of racism: “the belief that racial identity is an inherent and inherited human characteristic, linked to innate capacities assumed to be permanent and common across a particular race” (8). The main part of Hartigan’s definition that I like is the assumption of certain innate capacities of a race. Although I do believe that racism involves superiority in some cases I also see racism being as simple as assumed innate characteristics about a race. Because there are these assumptions does not necessarily mean there is a desire for superiority. Therefore, unlike Herbert Blumer suggested, minority groups can be racist and participate in racism. Racism is not limited to racial groups or superiority.
ReplyDeleteI do however believe that Wikipedia’s incorporation of institutional racism is interesting. We usually see racism in terms of an individual acting in a particular racist way. However, we often look past institutional racism, which in fact is a large part in individualized racism. I believe this to be the case because race and racial ideas are derived from out culture. Institutions have a large part in influencing culture. Therefore, institutions impact individual ideas about race and racism through culture. However, this does not mean that individuals should not be held responsible for determining their own new and informed ideas about race.
In conclusion, I think that not one definition can encompass all the ideas and meanings racism caries. I believe that understanding and accepting differences in people whether they are physical or mental is challenging. However, racial ideas, like culture will change. It is important for us to strive for progressive change where people see race and accept it as a way to identify individualism rather than superiority or negative assumptions.