tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post1940112163550567962..comments2024-03-18T02:22:56.392-04:00Comments on Disgusted Beyond Belief: What is the definition of racism?DBBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17805375811782552873noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-32078925841197355302007-08-03T00:48:00.000-04:002007-08-03T00:48:00.000-04:00The only thing that guy had right was that racism ...The only thing that guy had right was that racism has multiple layers. <BR/><BR/>Awesome refutation though.Ayeshiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00692899578830808903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-14873979684317984022007-08-02T22:57:00.000-04:002007-08-02T22:57:00.000-04:00Thanks Chickpea. I am somewhat disappointed I sti...Thanks Chickpea. I am somewhat disappointed I still haven't really seen a response to this from the champions of the "new" definition of racism. I'm really curious to see what any of them would say. Perhaps there's something I'm missing, but it just seems so unworkable and illogical. Not to mention the fact that it simply is not a definition used outside of a very narrow circle. <BR/><BR/>(Like if you saw someone accuse a politician of being a racist on TV based on that definition, well, I somehow don't think that is the definition any politician of any race would be able to use in a national dialogue).DBBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17805375811782552873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-50666425201809988632007-08-02T22:54:00.000-04:002007-08-02T22:54:00.000-04:00I think I took a test at Project implicit a year o...I think I took a test at Project implicit a year or two ago, but I don't remember what it was for - I vaguely recall it was politically related. The site looks different now, so they obviously added to it since then. <BR/><BR/>Another thing I've often wondered about that seems to be taken as a sign of racism or sexism or any-ism is the general human propensity to feel more comfortable with the familiar and more comfortable with people who are like us. Like I feel way more comfortable in a roomful of atheists than I do in a Church. But then that sort of thing obviously changes the more time you spend with someone or something - things that become familiar (assuming there is not a negative association) become comforting. Even though I'll never live in my parent's house again, the room there that I lived in for years still feels like my room whenever I visit and stay there. One could label such impulses as an 'ism' but I think that would be rather silly. It is just part of being human, and is something that will always be part of being human and it really isn't a negative. But I wonder if some people take the feeling of comfort with the familiar and discomfort with the unfamiliar as evidence of some form of internal innate 'ism' of one kind or another when it is nothing more than neurons being neurons, enjoying familiar patterns.DBBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17805375811782552873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-71510496950359089292007-08-01T15:54:00.000-04:002007-08-01T15:54:00.000-04:00There are some interesting activities you can comp...There are some interesting activities you can complete at <A HREF="https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/takeatest.html" REL="nofollow">Project Implicit</A>. While it's not really a "racist test," surveys attempt to measure a subject's associations with regards to age, race, gender, and other factors. I don't know that it resolves the "racism" question, but I think it demonstrates some of the implicit assumptions that underly racism.Erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03315849412290918217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-83793236120513873272007-08-01T11:53:00.000-04:002007-08-01T11:53:00.000-04:00Well said DBB. The logic in the "new" definitions ...Well said DBB. The logic in the "new" definitions are severely lacking. Anyone can be a racist, they don't have to be powerful or powerless. And unknowingly benefiting from the (perceived) racism of another does not necessarily make one a racist either. <BR/><BR/>For example, I'm brown (Arab/African American) and my boyfriend is Russian. While on a cruise last year, we stopped in Jamaica. When we returned to the port after an excursion, my boyfriend was stopped and thoroughly frisked and questioned. I was allowed to breeze through the security area, and was not even required to put my bags (I had 3 or 4) through the x-ray machines - I was told that I "was fine, no worries." Following the logic suggested, I am a racist because I benefited in this case.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com