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[–] 106 points 11 months ago (12 children)

That seems like how it is in the US too.

"Racism is only a thing very bad evil people do. I'm not an very bad evil person. Thus I cannot have done racism."

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  • [–] 33 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    "what you said was kinda racist"

    "How dare you, I'm not a racist!"

    The unacknowledged shift from the adjective form "racist" to the noun form "racist" is the best indicator that someone doesn't really get what racism actually is in real life.

    As an example of why that's wrong, I can do something stupid without being a stupid.

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  • [+] -36 points 11 months ago (8 children)
  • [–] 46 points 11 months ago (5 children)

    Racism

    Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race or ethnicity over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against other people because they are of a different ethnic background.

    From Wikipedia

    a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race

    From Merriam-Webster

    harmful or unfair things that people say, do, or think based on the belief that their own race makes them more intelligent, good, moral, etc. than people of other races

    From Cambridge dictionary

    As for Woke

    chiefly US slang, disapproving : politically liberal or progressive (as in matters of racial and social justice) especially in a way that is considered unreasonable or extreme

    From Merriam-Webster

    a way of referring to the acts and opinions of people who are especially aware of social problems such as racism and inequality, used by people who think these acts and opinions have gone too far

    From Cambridge dictionary as "wokeism"/"wokery"

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  • [+] -12 points 11 months ago (4 children)

    The guy was obviously being a troll.

    But, there certainly isn't a consensus on racism. Some vocal elements demand that for for something to be racist, there also has to be a racial power imbalance working in the favor of the person being racist... and they'll use that distinction to explain how actions that would be evaluated as racist by the definitions you provided actually aren't if the target is in a position of racial privilege.

    And, personally, I think that definition was literally seeded as a wedge by state actors for the explicit purpose of sowing discord, but here we are.

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  • [–] 23 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    That's just misapplying an academic definition in a colloquial circumstance, which happens a lot in various disciplines. It's like the "what is a vegetable" question: it means different things to a botanist, chef, and tax collector.

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  • [+] -19 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Ah, the American Millennial: the generation that could've led us toward utopia if they cared more about actions than words.

    (yes I see the whole academic definitions thing as a specifically Millennial trait)

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  • [–] 9 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    So just dismiss everything the person tried to explain to you, because you've decided, with absolutely no proof that they're millennial? The fuck is wrong with you?

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  • [–] 18 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    Colloquially, racism means prejudice based on the perception of someone's "race" (ie: ancestry, physical characteristics such as skin tone).

    That covers things like assuming a black man knows about gangs and rap based only on their skin color.

    There's also the institutional level where individuals might not really think or feel anything about race, but it still is a factor. Stuff like closing polling places in predominantly black neighborhoods, or individual police officers who are given a quota and only assigned to black neighborhoods. Housing in the US has a long history intersecting with the idea of race. "The Color of Law" was a pretty good read on it.

    Wikipedia puts it nicely:

    Racism can also be said to describe a condition in society in which a dominant racial group benefits from the oppression of others, whether that group wants such benefits or not.

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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago*

    That covers things like assuming a black man knows about gangs and rap based only on their skin color.

    To a back person:

    "Hey! You're from Philly? I know a black guy from Philly, named Pete. Do you know him?"

    I've honestly heard people say stupid shit like that, multiple times in my life.

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