Racism against white people doesn’t exist in America, and here’s why it never willAn_Old_Big_Tree OP wrote
Reply to comment by ziq in Racism against white people doesn’t exist in America, and here’s why it never will by An_Old_Big_Tree
I can't either; I think the writers were just being cautious.
Whiteness is global, same as capital.
JayGrym wrote
I agree mostly with the article. It did, however, feel like their definition of racism is a conglomerate of systemic racism and prejudice rather than a generalized definition. Once I realized what they defined as racism I had to agree. Do yourselves a favor and don't read the comments on that page, racists didn't like the article and guess what they resorted to! That's right! Hate speech! Big surprise.
An_Old_Big_Tree OP wrote
What would a generalised definition of racism be?
JayGrym wrote
Treating people differently because of their race would be a generalized definition. A more classic definition would be similar to patriotism (I dislike that definition too lol). Holding one's own race as superior to others (usually in the context of white supremacy), and other races as inferior.
From my perspective, us white people are genetically inferior to the groups of indigenous Hunter/gatherers but that's likely another conversation by itself.
An_Old_Big_Tree OP wrote
In a racist world, we should expect definitions like 'treating people differently because of their race' because it reduces racism to interactions between individuals and does not address the ways that racism most powerfully functions; as a power structure that expresses itself in many small ways continuously, including in interactions between individuals.
Which is to say, the generalised definition itself is racist because it obscures what is really bad about racism, and the reason it is the generalised definition is just because the world is racist, and not because that's what racism is.
JayGrym wrote
That actually makes more sense than the actual definitions. I've always thought about racism as either systemic or individual (likely because of definitions I'm familiar with). Is it safe to assume they should be considered the same?
An_Old_Big_Tree OP wrote
I'm not sure what you're asking me. I usually just say that racism is 'structural' to mean that it's built into society - this understands things in terms of systems and how they manifest at individual and other levels. e.g. In terms of laws, in terms of how far away people live from where they work, in terms of how likely they are to get loans, in terms of how seriously doctors take their complaints of pain, in terms of how likely they are to be apprehended by police, how likely artificial intelligence is to discriminate against them; endless things that aren't abstract systems or mere interactions between individuals.
JayGrym wrote
You've answered my question perfectly, thanks!
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