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These comments, particularly those about toilet habits don't really look too different from the comments I was reading 5 years about about the behaviour of Chin
by Angostura 8y ago
These comments, particularly those about toilet habits don't really look too different from the comments I was reading 5 years about about the behaviour of Chinese tourists, so I'm not sure what to think about this.
If you took a contemporary Chinese sophisticate and transported him or her back to 1920s China, what would his or her comments be like?
- the_af 8y agoShock at different toilet habits is actually the least racist and more understandable reaction. But some of his assertions are indefensible: > “I noticed how little difference there is between men and women; I don’t understand what kind of fatal attraction Chinese women possess which enthrals the corresponding men to such an extent that they are incapable of defending themselves against the formidable blessing of offspring” and > “It would be a pity if these Chinese supplant all other races. For the likes of us the mere thought is unspeakably dreary.” White supremacists could easily hold these views as well.
- mooseburger 8y agoThose statements boil down to "I think Chinese people are ugly". Do men have a moral obligation to find women of all races beautiful?
- the_af 8y agoI can say "I don't find most Chinese women attractive". Or I can say "Chinese women are so ugly, I cannot understand how people manage to reproduce in China". Do you see the difference? One statement is not racist and the other is.
- 13years 8y agoSo you are saying racism is defined by the degree of some dislike vs. collectivist categorizations? Otherwise, they do seem to be the same.
- coldtea 8y agoActually both are not racist. Both are subjective statements. One needs not explicitly add "I, personally" to his personal correspondence. "Chinese women are so ugly, I cannot understand how people manage to reproduce in China" should be read as: "I find Chinese women so ugly, that I cannot understand how people manage to reproduce in China".
- the_af 8y agoI don't understand your point. It's understood that in personal correspondence everything stated is the opinion of the author. Both my fictional examples were written from a personal point of view. The actual difference was that one expressed a personal preference without being offensive; the other called a vast group of people "ugly", which is offensive, and expressed incredulity that they even managed to find each other sexually attractive enough to reproduce (which is naive as well as offensive). Racism is primarily subjective, so that's no excuse either. Rational justifications for racism are more often than not a posteriori justifications.
- true_religion 8y agoIf racism were subjective, we wouldn't ban it in the public scope as there would be no clear standard for anyone to follow in their self-censorship. Racism should reflect an attribute that can be factually proven---intelligence, strength, moral character at birth, etc. It should not reflect a totally subjective physical attribute like beauty.
- the_af 8y agoI've never heard your definition of racism ("attributes that can be factually proven"?). In my experience, racism is subjective and every rationalization is done afterwards. How often have you heard of someone convincing an avowed racist of anything based on arguments? "I've always thought <class of people> were dumb, weak, morally bankrupt, and have brought decadence to our country, but now that I look at this scientific study I'm convinced otherwise".
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- no_one_ever 8y ago> "It would be a pity if these Chinese supplant all other races. For the likes of us the mere thought is unspeakably dreary." What if he is just implying that the loss of global racial diversity would be dismal, given that Chinese dwarf all other races in the world by a large margin? FWIW I know this is unlikely given the context of this post.