locutius wrote on Jan 9
th, 2009 at 10:05am:
mozzaok wrote on Jan 9
th, 2009 at 8:05am:
Grendel and I have been through all this before, where I proposed the same things Gaybriel does, that while his dictionary term is still valid, the actual use, and understanding of the word racism, has evolved to encompass the broader meaning of bigotry, because of social, and cultural differences, and does not strictly contain itself to the more specific racial definitions of 100 years ago.
I agree that I have seen "racism" being used in this broader sense but I think it is a mistake and dillutes the accuracy of what we are talking about. It makes it difficult because I personally am not racist, I do not believe in racial superiority based on skin colour, nor do I believe in racial purity or preservation of purity. I do an will discriminate culturally in that I will disapprove of or attack belief systems that I do not agree with. I do not believe in cultural or behavioural immunity. Now to label that as "racism" is inaccurate in my opinion, and gets in the way of getting at deeper issues.
Maybe it is just laziness because other terms may be awkward or not hold an automatic negative connotation. Then again being racist is a positive for some people because they DO believe in the value of racial purity. I don't shy away from the word because it is a naughty word, nor am I afraid to be called one because the claimant could not back up the accusation.
For instance, cultural dances, festivals and celebrations add flavour to a diverse society. They hold no interest for me. I don't have the ear to appreciate much of the worlds musical styles, and dances and costumes also hold no interest to me. But I appreciate that other enjoy these harmless activities and should rightly have freedom to do so. But if you think cultural tolerance extends to practices such as female circumcision, than no. And I will attack this practice very agressively without apology. That attack according to those standards would be racist. I disagree.
but I think the problem here is that the term racism is just being applied willy nilly.
disliking the fact that women and girls have their basic human rights violated by being forced to undergo a violent, dangerous and violating procedure is not racist.
I also don't think everyone has to be interested in being some learned multi-cultural god- my problem is when people just automatically dismiss what is different, or patronise other people because of it.
like the kind of smug arrogance that people hold when they believe that their culture is the only valid culture around, that other cultures are of little to no, or certainly lesser value, and therefore treat the people belonging to that accordingly.
I find that most people who are like this tend to just mock other cultures and deride them, despite not knowing anything about them. I'm talking about non-controversial things- like native dances, languages, lifestyles etc
I went to africa a little while ago, and before I went I had so many people "Africa? why would you want to go there?" I even had one woman perform a mock masai dance, jumping up and down chanting. wonderous.
I do agree with you, that some people can have the knee-jerk reaction where they just assume somebody's dislike for something is motivated by racism. And it makes calling anything racist a joke. personally, I think that the world went through a period of consciousness about race and racism- realising past sins, realising the error of our ways etc- and naturally the pendulum swung to the other extreme, people became really sensitive to the issue etc. now i think it's calming down a bit (although there will always be people who play the racism card when it's not relevant- just like you still have feminists who put everything down to gender).
I think that some people can have a legitimate opinion that is motivated by the fact they are racist, I think that people can have the same opinion and not be racist at all, and then there are the straight out racists and everything they say is coloured by that
I think my frustration with people of the first category is that they are always very willing to vehemently criticise the faults of others, but they refuse to do so with themselves, or other races/cultures they deem to be on their same level of superiority