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Is any discussion about skin color racist? If I see a picture of someone and then see them in real-life where they look different, I'd comment if it was about t
by dx034 6y ago
Is any discussion about skin color racist? If I see a picture of someone and then see them in real-life where they look different, I'd comment if it was about the color of their hair. Is it not ok to comment if it's about the color of their skin instead?
As long as it has nothing to do with work performance or other character traits, I don't see racism here. Otherwise you'd need to ban any discussion about appearances at the work place.
- ilikeerp 6y agoJust avoid comments about peoples personal appearance all together. Maybe somebody doesn't want to be told they're short or dark or whatever. I was introduced to a guy via email and spoke to him on IRC for nearly a year before he came to the office, when he arrived he was wearing a dress and carrying a handbag - I decided to not comment on his appearance. Try it...
- ben509 6y agoBut then you're essentially defining racism as "anything that gets you in trouble." It's perfectly reasonable to adjust coming anywhere close to discussing race as a strategy to avoid getting fired, but it's insane to redefine racism based on that. We're doing that, and it results in a constantly expanding definition of racism, to where there are now "microaggressions." Keep in mind, if you're white, you don't care: as you suggested, you just avoid talking about certain topics and carry on. If you're a minority group, all these white people are, against their own apparent interests, agreeing that there's pervasive racism everywhere. The minority person has to live believing that all this is true. We ought to have empathy and get this right so we don't contribute to a pervasive falsehood that makes people's lives seem worse than they really are. What's no big deal for us can be a ton of stress for others.