What is Racism?

[RGCheek]

catholicapologetics.info/modernproblems/currenterrors/race.htm

***Racism is a doctrine ***which asserts that race is the essential and initial factor in man’s refinement and in the historical and cultural evolution of all peoples.1

What is condemned by traditional theologians is not the recognition of “psychic and morphological differences between races” but the idea that posits something other than Jesus Christ and His Church as the basis of human culture. Every person has a soul worth saving, and baptism puts us all on a level playing field as far as spiritual and moral potential are concerned. Therefore, by stripping the word “racism” of its contemporary emotional baggage,*** it becomes clear that this race-based outlook, in its strictest sense, means more than just crude bigotry. It is a fundamentally materialist view of creation***. Thus there cannot be a “good” form of racism any more than there can be a “benign” form of socialism.

This is referring to a system of ideas or ideology in which a persons value is based solely upon the race and nothing more.

As contrasted to bigotry, which is the practice of being a bigot which is: “: a person who strongly and unfairly dislikes other people, ideas, etc. : a bigoted person; especially : a person who hates or refuses to accept the members of a particular group (such as a racial or religious group.”

So a distinction would seem to be that while a white bigot might not want to live next door to a black family of Catholics and would prefer a white drug dealer’s crack house instead, but a white racist would agree and want to impose on the community a system of laws that discriminates by code against blacks and wont let them live near whites to begin with.

Am I far off?

Then I find this definition of racism by a ‘Catholic’ web site:
catholicismandracism.weebly.com/index.html

Racism is the belief that all members of specific group or race possess characteristics, abilities or qualites that can be seen as inferior to another group or race.
So in other words racism can be seen as having different views, practices and actions that reflect specific group’s beliefs and other races see them as less desirable and of less value.

Now that sounds to me more like bigotry being described here, and not racism.

Is it important to distinguish between ideological racism vrs ignorant bigotry?

It seem to me that there is as the ideology is more dangers and deserves to be stamped out ASAP while the bigotry is like the surf and has its own source of origin due to ignorance, which is a natural state for mankind absent higher powers of education and revelation.

Thoughts? I want to make a point next but I would like to nail this down first before I blunder on along.

 

[RGCheek]

My main point is this; while there are stupid bigoted ways of speaking and acting toward people, we shouldn’t get so down in the weeds that we miss the bigger picture.

What is down in the weeds regarding bigotry and racism? Things like the following:
examiner.com/article/discussing-ebola-american-revolution-on-list-of-things-liberals-see-as-racist

The items marked racist include talking about Ebola, the American Revolution and children’s books with white characters. Being half-white, opposing Barack Obama and supporting Herman Cain are also things the left has declared racist.

According to MSNBC, observing that Obama likes to play golf is considered racist. Saying “Obamacare” is also racist, according to the cable outlet known here as the official network of insane liberal hate. So too, is referring to Obama as “Obama,” according to Chris Matthews.

Criticizing liberals for constantly accusing people of racism is also racist according to Salon. Noting that white people sometimes use heroin is also racist, according to the liberal media outlet.

“Tom and Jerry” cartoons, cupcakes, and of course, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are all things that have been deemed racist. Vox claimed that describing the Hong Kong protests as “clean and orderly” can also be seen as racist.

A few things did not make Stiles’ list, like dry asparagus. “Constitution” and “Founding fathers” – words that Juan Williams once said are racial code – also did not make the list. Black stick figures did not make the list, nor did calling Juan Williams by his first name. That’s understandable, as Stiles said the list “has grown incomprehensibly long.”

Citing Salon, Stiles balanced the list with one item the liberal site did not see as racist. It seems that suing a fertility clinic after giving birth to a mixed race child you wish was white is not racist.

In an update, Stiles said his article was declared racist, citing a tweet by Daily Beast columnist Jamie Kirchick. “This @AndrewStilesUSA article is racist,” Kirchick wrote.

“Haven’t you figured it out?” one person asked Kirchick. “Embarrassing liberals is racist.”

“This tweet from me - the one you are reading right now - is racist,” another person wrote. Another Twitter user said Kirchick has a “surprising lack of self awareness.”

That has some bigotry in it, but most of it is harmless and the damnations of racism mostly fail to meet any kind of ‘system of thought’ that denies the dignity of blacks.

Now the following to me is real racism, in that it is killing tens of thousands of black babies year in and year out at disproportionate rates compared to whites.

cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/nyc-more-black-babies-killed-abortion-born

In 2012, there were more black babies killed by abortion (31,328) in New York City than were born there (24,758), and the black children killed comprised 42.4% of the total number of abortions in the Big Apple, according to a report by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

See the difference?

 

[Renarax]

Not intending to change the topic here, but would it be racism or bigotry to want to move to smaller cities to escape the Punjabi culture in my city?

One racial group is hardly multiculturalism. I like blacks, whites, south americans, east asians, middle easterners, but something about my childhood influences in Canada and India have shaped my views on India.

I don’t hate the people . . . I hate the pride they have in their country and their views. White food has no taste. White people are filthy . . . they use toilet paper instead of their hands. White people don’t bathe. White people roam around half naked. White teenage girls are always pregnant.

Is that racism?

And oh yes. I have indian origins (Though my ancestors came from greece or something so we are white.)

 

[RGCheek]

Not intending to change the topic here, but would it be racism or bigotry to want to move to smaller cities to escape the Punjabi culture in my city?

One racial group is hardly multiculturalism. I like blacks, whites, south americans, east asians, middle easterners, but something about my childhood influences in Canada and India have shaped my views on India.

I don’t hate the people . . . I hate the pride they have in their country and their views. White food has no taste. White people are filthy . . . they use toilet paper instead of their hands. White people don’t bathe. White people roam around half naked. White teenage girls are always pregnant.

Is that racism?

And oh yes. I have indian origins (Though my ancestors came from greece or something so we are white.)

I don’t know, so don’t take what I say here as anything more than my own opinion.

Whether you are racist or bigoted is not a very important question for me to try to answer; God judges the heart not someone on the other side of a keyboard.

More importantly, I think maybe God is challenging you to find something of value to love about Punjabis. Maybe there is something about you that makes you dislike them more than other ethnic groups and you need to address this about yourself? God loves them as much as anyone else and He has a purpose to their being here. Can you discover it for yourself and appreciate what that might be and love them for it?

Again, I am not asserting that this is the case, but God does often times teach us through those things we most dislike.

God be with you and us all.

 

[Exiled_Child]

Racism simply exists. The world is racist. Can anyone here honestly say they don’t take note of patterns of behavior? Jesus asks us to be loving, not stupid. Personally, I get along well with all races and most individuals, but that certainly doesn’t mean I’m oblivious to race. That would be foolish. I also think it’s foolish that we’re expected to lie about this.

 

[RGCheek]

Racism simply exists. The world is racist. Can anyone here honestly say they don’t take note of patterns of behavior?

I don’t think that merely taking note of a person race is ‘racism’, nor is it merely noticing patterns of behavior.

You just have to be fair about it. Just because Julio is Hispanic doesn’t mean that he necessarily like tacos, or works harder than John Smith.

Marketing is all about seeing the population in terms of patterns of behavior and pitching their advertising campaigns on ethnicities.

Racism is when you want to punish Julio for being Hispanic just because he is Hispanic.

 

[Exiled_Child]

I don’t think that merely taking note of a person race is ‘racism’, nor is it merely noticing patterns of behavior.

You just have to be fair about it. Just because Julio is Hispanic doesn’t mean that he necessarily like tacos, or works harder than John Smith.

Marketing is all about seeing the population in terms of patterns of behavior and pitching their advertising campaigns on ethnicities.

Racism is when you want to punish Julio for being Hispanic just because he is Hispanic.

Those are all good points. I think though, sometimes political correctness invades us to such a point that we become rigid and afraid of committing thought crimes just by looking at the world honestly. I differentiate “political correctness” from simply being a decent person, by the way. You know how it is, people accuse everyone of being racist all the time for the most absurd non-reasons. At least on the west coast that’s how it is; many people are just terrified of being considered “racist,” and so they timidly march in lock-step with the p.c. obsessives.

 

[styrgwillidar]

Well, in line with the examples you’ve given above, in the US racism is having any belief/value contrary to the far left progressives’ agenda.

 

[RGCheek]

Those are all good points. I think though, sometimes political correctness invades us to such a point that we become rigid and afraid of committing thought crimes just by looking at the world honestly. I differentiate “political correctness” from simply being a decent person, by the way. You know how it is, people accuse everyone of being racist all the time for the most absurd non-reasons. At least on the west coast that’s how it is; many people are just terrified of being considered “racist,” and so they timidly march in lock-step with the p.c. obsessives.

Agreed. The politically correct are abusing the use of the word, and they risk making it lose all real meaning to the broader public and the sting of being associated with it.

I fellow I know used to say ‘well we are all racists’ when ever the subject came up and that seems to be a growing attitude.

 

[Havard]

Not intending to change the topic here, but would it be racism or bigotry to want to move to smaller cities to escape the Punjabi culture in my city?

One racial group is hardly multiculturalism. I like blacks, whites, south americans, east asians, middle easterners, but something about my childhood influences in Canada and India have shaped my views on India.

I don’t hate the people . . . I hate the pride they have in their country and their views. White food has no taste. White people are filthy . . . they use toilet paper instead of their hands. White people don’t bathe. White people roam around half naked. White teenage girls are always pregnant.

Is that racism?

And oh yes. I have indian origins (Though my ancestors came from greece or something so we are white.)

Cultural differences should be looked at separately from race, IMO. Culture isn’t innate, and culture can even be objectively immoral. For example, I think there are aspects of my culture (U.S.) that are immoral, such as the increasing sexualization of everything, including children.

 

[Renarax]

Yes I agree, race and culture are mutually exclusive. Multiculturalism is my real problem I guess. ( I grew up in Toronto) and whenever I visited India I saw that whatever I heard about indians being the best people in the world and blacks being criminals, mexicans living in squalor and filthy, pakistanis needing to be vanquished, I found it all to be hypocritical of my relatives.
Needless to say, there is nothing indian about me now other than my parents (not even my name)

But whenever I told my mother she should not bring Indian culture to Canada, I was called a racist. If I was racist, I’d hate similarly coloured latinos (but I don’t)

The thing is this- if I wanted to visit England . . . I want to see medieval architecture, castles, farmland, weapons. I do not (as I was forced to) look at bhangra dances, loud bollywood music, and temples/ mosques (I know its for the inhabitants , but still. . .)

So maybe im a culturalist as opposed to racist?

 

[Potter]

Racism is organized race bigotry. When racism is in play, the mere instinct of distrusting those who are ‘different’ has become the starting point for an entire personal or even political ideology. The idea that “we are different, and they are bad” has been dwelt on to some degree, or least feelings of hostility allowed to grow unchecked. It can be as elementary as someone not being corrected about judging people by the group, or as insidious as a developed theory of race, the kind we saw in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.