4 ms·

You cannot solve racism through racism.

by local_crmdgeon 3y ago

A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago
But if affirmative action is racism, then you can't solve racism at all.
- goatlover 3y ago
  What kind of reasoning is that? To the extent racism is solvable, that's done on the cultural level. My own view is that continuing to focus on race instead of moving past racial categories keeps it going. Ethnicities are real, but racial categories are social constructs (of varying ethnicities or ancestries over time) that only have cultural currency because we continue to allow them to.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago
    << What kind of reasoning is that? It is not my intention to sound confrontational, but it is merely logical reasoning. The moment the decision is made based on race, the policy is racist. Just because it may benefit some groups over others based on race makes it racist. In other words, using logic of the parent, you cannot solve racism with more racism. << To the extent racism is solvable, that's done on the cultural level. I am willing to agree. Personally, I did not think racism really existed until I came to US. I was aware of ethnic prejudices though. << My own view is that continuing to focus on race instead of moving past racial categories keeps it going. Zero disagreement. << Ethnicities are real, but racial categories are social constructs (of varying ethnicities or ancestries over time) that only have cultural currency because we continue to allow them to. Eh. Good luck having that conversation on most public fora or even with an average person. Merely suggesting along something the lines puts into question years of programming and to many it is a very uncomfortable conversation. And this does not even touch recent attempts to rewrite language to further confuse the matters ( 'race is a social construct', 'race isn't real, but racism is' ). And just to confuse the matters further, allow me to throw another wrench into the mix. Ethnicity is real, but ethnicity itself is a spectrum. At best, it is a common range of genetic variables and there well may be uncommon ones. Still, my original point is that it is all rather unnecessary distraction. Most people want effectively the same things. If you spend more than a 15 minutes reflecting on this, actual racism is a silly proposition. Problem is: everything is racism these days. It makes things complicated as it is merely a social construct.

You cannot solve racism through racism.

A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago

But if affirmative action is racism, then you can't solve racism at all.

goatlover 3y ago
What kind of reasoning is that? To the extent racism is solvable, that's done on the cultural level. My own view is that continuing to focus on race instead of moving past racial categories keeps it going. Ethnicities are real, but racial categories are social constructs (of varying ethnicities or ancestries over time) that only have cultural currency because we continue to allow them to.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago
  << What kind of reasoning is that? It is not my intention to sound confrontational, but it is merely logical reasoning. The moment the decision is made based on race, the policy is racist. Just because it may benefit some groups over others based on race makes it racist. In other words, using logic of the parent, you cannot solve racism with more racism. << To the extent racism is solvable, that's done on the cultural level. I am willing to agree. Personally, I did not think racism really existed until I came to US. I was aware of ethnic prejudices though. << My own view is that continuing to focus on race instead of moving past racial categories keeps it going. Zero disagreement. << Ethnicities are real, but racial categories are social constructs (of varying ethnicities or ancestries over time) that only have cultural currency because we continue to allow them to. Eh. Good luck having that conversation on most public fora or even with an average person. Merely suggesting along something the lines puts into question years of programming and to many it is a very uncomfortable conversation. And this does not even touch recent attempts to rewrite language to further confuse the matters ( 'race is a social construct', 'race isn't real, but racism is' ). And just to confuse the matters further, allow me to throw another wrench into the mix. Ethnicity is real, but ethnicity itself is a spectrum. At best, it is a common range of genetic variables and there well may be uncommon ones. Still, my original point is that it is all rather unnecessary distraction. Most people want effectively the same things. If you spend more than a 15 minutes reflecting on this, actual racism is a silly proposition. Problem is: everything is racism these days. It makes things complicated as it is merely a social construct.