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Lots of racism emerges partially as a result of some statistical basis in current social or economic situations that for whatever reason correlate to an ethnic

Lots of racism emerges partially as a result of some statistical basis in current social or economic situations that for whatever reason correlate to an ethnic group or nation of origin. (And racism is not solely about ethnic groups, it's also about nations of origin -- ethnic groups are just one of the classifications of humans that are considered "race", geographic ancestry is another.) It's not racism to recognize these statistical facts. Racism is when we have prejudice based on them. It's when we slander an entire ethnic group or nation of origin based on the actions of a few of them. This is not justified just because there is more cybercrime in Russia than elsewhere: there is cybercrime everywhere, and the vast majority of Russians are not cybercriminals. It's racism to say we "run the risk of russians" when we mean we run the risk of malevolant cybercriminals. The two terms are not interchangeable. We don't say you "run the risk of blacks" when we mean you might get mugged in downtown LA even if we believe that more muggings in downtown LA come from blacks than other ethnic groups, nor do we say you "run the risk of whites" when we mean you might get killed by a serial killer as you're walking to your car in an empty garage at night, even if we think perpetrators of such crimes are more likely white than anything else.

icebraining 15y ago
I think it depends on what one attributes the statistical fact to; it's only racism if we consider it inherent to the group. If we consider that to be a result of a particular condition that happens to be affect certain group at this point in time, and that any other group would have the same problem if subject to the same condition, I don't see how is that racism. I think your examples are clear prejudice (and no, I wouldn't say them), but they may or may not be racism.
- furyofantares 15y ago
  I suppose I just don't see what would motivate someone to slander an entire group of people based on the actions of a few. If someone is worried about cybercrime, they should say so rather than substituting "Russian" as a synonym for cybercriminal. To me that implies that cybercrime is an inherently Russian activity. Perhaps I am too quick to read racism against Russians into such an inflammatory use of the word "Russian" due to the amount of racial discrimination I have seen against Russian users while working in the game industry, where it is not uncommon to dismiss Russian gamers as probably a pirate or probably a hacker and to refuse them a level of support that would be provided to a person with a different accent or last name.

icebraining 15y ago

I think it depends on what one attributes the statistical fact to; it's only racism if we consider it inherent to the group. If we consider that to be a result of a particular condition that happens to be affect certain group at this point in time, and that any other group would have the same problem if subject to the same condition, I don't see how is that racism. I think your examples are clear prejudice (and no, I wouldn't say them), but they may or may not be racism.

furyofantares 15y ago
I suppose I just don't see what would motivate someone to slander an entire group of people based on the actions of a few. If someone is worried about cybercrime, they should say so rather than substituting "Russian" as a synonym for cybercriminal. To me that implies that cybercrime is an inherently Russian activity. Perhaps I am too quick to read racism against Russians into such an inflammatory use of the word "Russian" due to the amount of racial discrimination I have seen against Russian users while working in the game industry, where it is not uncommon to dismiss Russian gamers as probably a pirate or probably a hacker and to refuse them a level of support that would be provided to a person with a different accent or last name.