What's your definition of Racism?

[JanMichael]

Off the top of your head, not a c & p from the APA.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Bigotry which is spurred by a feeling that one is genetically

superior

[KittyWampus]

2. Divisiveness Based On Percieved Racial Differences

what's your definition Jan Micheal?

:think:

[TexasProgresive]

3. It's not just racial hatred

but to have the power to suppress a group of people, preventing them from exercising their God give rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Racism rears its ugly head in the Indian caste system, in Latin America, Northern Ireland and the USA. The underdogs may hate the overlords but that doesn't consitute racism because they have no power. All they can do is hate or not, and it doesn't change a thing in their lives except if the continue to hate they lose what little humanity they have. Well you asked!

[Sporadicus]

4. I Define it as a System

that oppresses a race by economic means. I don't consider hatred by itself racism; that's prejudice.

[Tim4319]

5. Ignorance of another's race.

Then because of that ignorance, constantly try and hold that race down.

[Eloriel]

6. The dictionary says

the belief that a race is inferior.

However, that doesn't reflect what the effects and reality of racism are, which requires a sociological analysis. I say that because there are people like Neal Boortz who will say the most racist things (usually stereotypical jabs), and then when called on it haul out the dictionary definition and protest, "Did you see anything in my statement that showed I believe black people are inferior? No. You didn't. It's not in there."

Racism has to be understood as a system of institutionalized oppression against certain classes of people. As a "system," there are many facets and tentacles to it, many very subtle and difficult to even identify as such. Because it is against certain classes of people BY the dominant group or culture, it's not possible for members of the negatively affected classes to have racist attitudes against the dominant culture -- bigoted, yes; racist, no. There IS no such thing as "reverse racism" (or sexism) there's only the bigotry that members of the oppressed classes may feel towards their oppressors, justifiably or not.

[kiahzero]

16. Bullshit

There IS no such thing as "reverse racism" (or sexism) there's only the bigotry that members of the oppressed classes may feel towards their oppressors, justifiably or not.

Any time you're stigmatizing another person because of their race, that's racism. Any time you're stigmatizing another person because of their sex, that's sexism. It's just that simple.

Following your logic, you would have us believe that there's no way for a woman to rape a man, because women are an oppressed class.

Here's a thought: let's condemn bigotry universally, rather than picking and choosing between which varieties are acceptable and which aren't.

[Eloriel]

18. Rape is a physical assault

there's no equivalency there, no flawed logic. Sorry, bud.

Here's a thought: let's condemn bigotry universally, rather than picking and choosing between which varieties are acceptable and which aren't.

Uh, just so you know, I didn't say ANY forms are acceptable. But did it ever occur to you that there's a reason we have the terms "racism" and "sexism" and "homophobia" instead of merely chalking it all up to "bigotry"?

[kiahzero]

20. So, if a black person were to assault a white person

Assume that it could be demonstrated that the attack were purely based on the race of the victim. I think that can, and should, accurately be described as racism.

Uh, just so you know, I didn't say ANY forms are acceptable. But did it ever occur to you that there's a reason we have the terms "racism" and "sexism" and "homophobia" instead of merely chalking it all up to "bigotry"?

Yes, there is a reason; to identify what prejudice lead to the bigotry in question. Each of those terms give extra information, and are not diluted in meaning by including all examples of that prejudice, not merely the examples in which a "oppressor" group is bigoted towards a "oppressed" group.

[Just Me]

7. Off the top of my head,...who the f*ck defined something that needn't be?

Not me.

[Cleita]

8. It's about those others, whom we fear will marry into the family..

I used to think racism was about elitism, but I really found out it was about fear of intermarriage. As a Hispanic I ran across racism about skin color and language, but when I was in school after WWII, we started getting a lot of immigrant families from Eastern Europe in my little California town.

Up until then the racial divide was Anglos against Mexicans. Then we got Poles, Yugoslavians, Czechoslovakians and Hungarians enrolling in our school (parochial school). They all hated each other. Within the Yugos and Czechs they hated each other within their countries. The rest of us sat back in amazement. Here was a bunch of white people, who in our eyes, all looked and sounded alike, who couldn't stand each other.

A few years passed and we all went to High School. By that time we had pretty much all become friends, as long as you were friends of the same sex, because the parents had never become friends and no intermarriages would be tolerated.

Well, mother nature will have her way, and pretty much everyone eventually intermarried, got disowned, and when the grandchildren arrived reconciled. Silly, isn't it?

[shanti]

13. that's california for you!

don't you love it:-)?

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Personally, I don't really have one...

except that I don't believe there is any signicance to one's "race" and anyone who thinks "race" means anything at all is quite likely a racist.

That's not to say that the many people who have suffered or been persecuted over this ridiculous notion of "race" don't have a hell of a lot to bitch about.

[Only Me]

10. Off the top of my head....It's anyone that I would be ashamed...

of, or, feel uncomfortable with because of their appearance or belief.


edited to add a word I left out

[boobooday]

11. I know this one!

Here is racism -- when anything that any individual does is interpreted as a "reflection" of their race.

Does anybody fret about the image Timothy McVeigh gave people of the white race?

It is also a calculated strategy by the ruling classes.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Eloriel]

19. That's very apt

I'd call it one manifestation of racism (rather than the whole definition of). Here's a good quote that illustrates your point:

A minority group has "arrived" only when it has rthe right to produce some fools and scoundrels without the entire group paying for it -- Carl Rowan

[Sir Craig]

12. Racism: viewing or treating someone...

...with contempt, scorn, hatred, or disdain based solely on that person's race or racial heritage; to view or treat a demographic negatively based solely on race or racial heritage

No, I didn't look this up in a dictionary -- this is my definition (and spare me the argument that minorities cannot be racist -- they can be just as racist as anyone else).

[Cheswick2.0]

14. you are mistaking racism and bigotry or prejudice

minorities can hate white people all they want, but have no power to hold them down. There is no such thing as reverse racism or reverse sexism. You have been been listening to the revisionist anti-PC crowd for too long.

[Sir Craig]

15. All racism is bigotry and/or prejudice...

...not all bigotry and/or prejudice is racism. One is a subset of the others: it is all based on an inability to appreciate difference.

What does "holding power" have to do with the hatred, scorn, disdain, etc., that resides within a person's heart? This is little more than an argument for justifying "victimhood."

And I found it very humorous that you should use the term "revisionist anti-PC crowd." Wasn't political correctness the original revisionism? The need to suddenly make changes (many of them very unnecessary) to reflect a new style of social thinking? For example: Feminists arguing that the terms "woman" and "women" were demeaning to them because it made them feel that they were merely a subset of a male-dominated environment (hence the inclusion of "man and "men" within "woman" and "women"), so they wanted the term changed to "womyn." The idiocy of that one is overwhelming, because it is a prime example of tilting at windmills.

The same goes for re-examining what "racism" actually means. People sought alternative meanings and latched onto this "institutional marginalism" psychobabble: No longer would people be responsible for their own actions, when it is much easier to blame a nebulous notion. If I walked up to a black man or woman and called that person a nigger (a term I find incredibly distasteful, by the way, no matter who uses it), I would be called a racist, and rightfully so, not just because I'm not a black person, but because that particular term has become bastardized through the years to become incredibly demeaning. But you argue that anyone of minority ethnicity can walk up to me, with no idea of who I am or what I do for a living or what my origins or heritage are, and call me "white trash," isn't being racist? That they are simply "expressing a dislike for the institutional marginalising that my race has come to represent"?

Two words: Bull. Shit.

Racism, as well as all other forms of bigotry, springs from the hearts and minds of those who either don't know better or refuse to learn to accept differences within society. Either way they are ignorant. However, social inequity happens to everyone, for a myriad of reasons, and we are all responsible to see that society changes for the better. But the first step has to be forward towards progress, and not backwards into the shadows of victimhood.

Now let us party on...

[T Town Jake]

17. Off the top of my head?

...any feeling that you are "superior" to someone based upon the color of their skin, their ethnic heritage, or religion. Just off the top of my head - please don't flame me for not coming up with the perfect definition... :hi:

[TahitiNut]

21. Belief in inherent superiority/inferiority due to racial heritage.

In other words, fucking stupid.

[mitchum]

22. INSTITUTIONAL discrimination/oppression

[TexasMexican]

23. my definition...

is someone who secretly uses thier power to undermine and screw over those of a race that they dont like.

I dont really care about people who spout crap off because its irrevelent when they dont have any actual power over any situation.

[angee_is_mad]

24. feeling superior

based on one's race and thinking that this perceived superiority brings entitlements.

[JanMichael]

25. "Racism = race prejudice + power"

"power" is usually defined (in this context): job type availability, access to police/security, educational opportunities, etcetera.

Thanks for the many great answers. It's funny though how such a divisive issue is so poorly defined...Probably because that serves a purpose and the fact is that "Race" is a load of horse crap anyway.