Christopher Lucas,
United Kingdom
How complex has the world become?
Please review the thoughts and information below and after, I invite you to comment with the word “Agree” and submit your race/ethnicity – if you do agree.
Questions:
Culture, Ethnicity and Race can often be unnecessarily used in today’s world to a very negative effect. Are people who believe they are part of the problem actually just exasperating a problem that we allow to exist through our interpretations of “Racism” in today’s world?
Is it time for society to re-evaluate the issues that we take with one another?
Is Racism just part of being “human” for all people of all Races? and what defines or makes a person a Racist?
A conversation I recently had with someone caused me to deeply think about the real issues that exist in society with Race and Racism.
Racism for them, was where someone specifically and only forms stereotypes, negative opinions or has a precursor against a specific race in isolation and for no other reason than a person is “of a specific race”.
That is to say, they only pick on a specific race/races or people of specific cultural ethnicity which is outside of their own and in doing so – this makes them a “Racist”.
We define this person as Person 1 – a racist.
But, where:
A person take an issues against all races and may create racial stereotypes or subgroup commentary equally across the board to people of any race, including their own, branding them collectively in a negative manner (at times) perhaps for something that is more associated as a character trait of a particular race or ethnicity, then regardless of whether that opinion is negative, considered derogatory or is a generalised statement, then that does not make them a racist.
This person may be outspoken, flippant or unconsidered, but not a racist.
This is Person 2 – Not a racist.
Situation
Any comment in isolation can be perceived at the time it’s said and you being either Person 1 or Person 2, because you hold no knowledge of how that person actually views society or race. But if – you make an assumption that because of a specific comment, that person is Person 1, and you label them publicly or personally as a Racist, then are you not just being Judgemental? and no better than person 1 yourself?
This person went on to explain… that:
Person 1 – A Racist example is –
A black man that hates all white men, just because they have white skin or a white man that hates all black men, purely because they have black skin. (This example could be anything else specific and between any person of a single race in attack on another)
Person 2 – Not a Racist – is:
A Black man, who says ‘All white men have small dicks”
or a white man, who says “Black men are drug dealers”
Let’s expand and further that thought:
A Chinese man says… European white men are “fat”.
An Indian man says… Pakistani men are “crooks”
An African Caribbean Black man says… “white men are paedophiles”
These statements are collectively taken as statements that assume you are person 1, rather than person 2, but in fact they are said by person 2, who does not actually discriminate against any individual person of the race they are commenting on.
Are any of those statements, when made by person 2 – racist?
Are they all racist?
Are they all true when said of any race or ethnicity outside of the race being degraded?
His conclusion, was that actually – none of them were racist people.
This was because, regardless of which race you are, each race including the race being talked about, could look in isolation and state that despite being entirely stereotypical, and knowingly not being the case for every person of that race, they are seen as prevalent characteristics of groups of people within that race more-so than another.
The statements are all equally negative and can be said by each person of each race.
The issues in today’s society is that “what is being said” or “why” it is being said is not relevant. The very fact you’ve said “something” makes you a racist but the real issue lies in groups of people taking the actions of everyday “Person 2’s” and labelling them in ways they do not need to because of a comment or statement.
This issue happens for and against all of the races to and from each other.
Ethnic minorities in more developed countries and history where real racism and Person 1’s existed in larger numbers in previous centuries have inadvertently allowed a perpetual expectation of all people of all races to “call out” things that don’t need to be – in today’s world, they are just part of the evolutionary world we live in.
Each and every race that has a problem or negative connotation against people of a specific ethnicity within its communities can become like another at any given time and the opposite of all commonly recognised racially discriminating statements can be transferable across races.
Conclusion
People – should even where ill-considered in their choice of words to make statements even when flippant and generalised about an issue predominantly or more likely found or mainly attributable within a particular race or ethnicity.
They should be able to do that without people of that race or another person of their own race making assumptions that this means they have an entire racial issue against a specific race, or other races based on nothing other than their “race” or “skin colour”.
This isn’t to say, they don’t have the right to be offended, because they feel grouped themselves, but they need to acknowledge that a comment linked to race or ethnicity the same as theirs, isn’t directly about them.
If positive assertions are acceptable – then so should negative ones be.
Take peoples comments in isolation, don’t be unnecessarily offended by them, because their opinion or bias or viewpoint even if derogatory may not be depicting of their views of others as individuals.
There is nothing wrong with saying it as you see it.
Yours sincerely
A non-racist person, not offended by any comments that negatively depict people of my race.
Regardless of whether any comment means because of my race, I could be viewed as part of that group of people – or not.
