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> the prejudiced shouldn't be vilified as somehow subhuman. When you do that, you're taking a simple token and using it to lay a reductive judgment on a complex
by mhurron 12y ago
> the prejudiced shouldn't be vilified as somehow subhuman. When you do that, you're taking a simple token and using it to lay a reductive judgment on a complex person.
I didn't say they were subhuman or monsters, I said they were assholes. And they are, they are no different than the guy who cuts you off on the way to work. And yes, they should be ridiculed for it.
> saying something racist over Thanksgiving dinner doesn't make them horrible people
Yes, it does. It is basically the definition of horrible people.
> you are engaging in a form of prejudice yourself.
Nope. A prejudice is "preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience." I called the author an asshole based on their writings and actions. I will call my FIL an racist asshole when he spouts racist remarks. I didn't say everyone in the US South is a racist.
- stcredzero 12y agoA prejudice is "preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience." I called the author an asshole based on their writings and actions. This is "technically correct" in a naive sense, if you assume groupings of people and attributes like "asshole" can be treated like mathematical sets. I find that the hair-trigger and reductive application of pejorative labels anti-intellectual, divisive, and counter productive. It takes very little cognition to do such simple pattern matching and it cuts off any involved discussion. Often, the real motivation is self-aggrandizing at the expense of others. It is one of the pernicious behaviors I've often seen in bigots, who will also argue their "technical correctness" and cite examples to assert that their labeling is based on "reason or actual experience." The real act of righteousness and courage is to live with people.