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I don't buy into this big-R, little-r racism but "well if they'd just work harder, or get a better job," and "they" refers to black people, that's racism. > Ra
by extra88 9y ago
I don't buy into this big-R, little-r racism but "well if they'd just work harder, or get a better job," and "they" refers to black people, that's racism.
> Racism is very much a matter of intent.
No. Unconscious bias, which by definition does not include intent, can still be a form of racism.
I do agree that sometimes other forms of bias or prejudice is taken for racism. Many times it's a class issue; many richer people want to avoid poor people but if people of color are far more likely to be poor, they're more likely to be avoided.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- humanrebar 9y ago> Unconscious bias, which by definition does not include intent, can still be a form of racism. I think there's little utility to this version of racism outside of discussions about sociology. In particular, there's no real way to show someone is not racist given this definition. So if someone was determined to be unconsciously racist, there's nothing really to do be done about it since there's no way to get a "clean bill of psyche".
- extra88 9y agoAh, but there is something that can be done. When one is made aware of their unconscious biases, they can make conscious decisions to counteract them. The point is not to label people as racist, but thoughts, beliefs, and actions as racist.
- humanrebar 9y agoI think you're missing my point, which is that without an objective way to identify "racism", it becomes an exercise in exerting power more than an impartial pursuit of fairness and equality.