4 ms·
>Homogenous, largely white, largely male, largely safe people are not going to detect the problems the author appears to be implying are going untreated. What
by ebcode 10y ago
>Homogenous, largely white, largely male, largely safe people are not going to detect the problems the author appears to be implying are going untreated.
What you said was both racist and sexist. You're saying that a group of people (based on race and sex) are "not going to ..." do something. Speaking in generalizations using these classifications is generally regarded by most folks as racist/sexist.
It can be tricky though. You might be right, but you'll still be called out for it. For example, the peoples of eastern asia are statistically less tall than their counterparts in western europe. Nevertheless, "asians are shorter than europeans", is still a racist statement.
Unless you can see, as well as explain, how the generalizations you're making benefit the conversation, it's probably best to avoid making those types of statements in the first place.
Racism itself might be "wrong", but that doesn't mean you can't be racist and still be "right" in your assertions. That's the tricky part.
- perrygeo 10y agoNo. There is nothing "racist" in that comment. That comment exhibits "prejudice". Prejudice may co-exist with discriminatory actions ("bigotry") or become institutionalized ("racism") but making comments about an ethnic group is not by itself racist. "Racism" (note the -ism to denote a system) requires a social, political and/or economic system by which a dominant group retains power over other groups. By that widely-held definition, it's literally impossible for a non-member of the dominant group to exhibit racism.
- mzw_mzw 10y agoNo, that's not the "widely-held definition," no matter you wish it was; it's not the dictionary definition, it's not the Wikipedia definition, it's not what most people are thinking when they hear that word. Rather, it's a definition carefully crafted by groups that want to express without consequence and write into law racist policies while claiming that they are anti-racists.
- ixtli 10y agoThanks. This is what I was going to try to explain but was too tired to bother. Also, as a member of the white male american engineer group, I will 100% cop to this sort of prejudice when dealing with generalizations as in the parent article.
- mzw_mzw 10y agoSorry, but you can't plead guilty on behalf of other people you don't even know. If you state that you are prejudiced, that's not evidence that other people with a similar skin color are prejudiced; it's only evidence that you, personally, are prejudiced.
- ixtli 10y agoI don't think you're responding to what I actually said. Perhaps it was poorly worded but what I intended to say was twofold: I am a member of the group (the privileged class in america) and that I exhibited prejudice. I made no further claims.