# All right, ENOUGH! What, exactly, is rascist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 5, 2002, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956 "2002-04-05T07:05:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956/1 "2002-04-05T07:05:18Z")
A little annoyance coming through, but I still feel this could be GD, if played correctly. Now, lately, there has been a popularization of threads which are “Is \_\_\_\_ Rascist/offensive?” This is somewhat an annoying trend, and I feel would be headed off by a little Doper Consensus® on what exactly is seen as rascist around here. Now, while I know that everything offends SOMEONE, I would like to offer the most common gems that are put for our attention. You may add new ones as you see fit, or debate the judgements of others. Here Goes: Is saying someone is attractive/inattractive simply because of their race rascist? What if you are that race? Is saying something about your own race rascist? When minorities make a club/channel/dance/cliche/homo-erotic item of clothing and label it as such, is that rascist? (Associated) If a white were to do that, would that be rascist? Why? Is asking why people of a certain race/religion/sexual orientation/whatever do something rascist? Is defending yourself from allegations of rascism by saying you have \_\_\_\_\_ friends rascist? I’ll come up with more. Come, let us together fight the ignorance of intolerence! Cervantes * * * Homosexuality Hurts God! _Oh, I’m sure it would hurt the first couple of times - but after that I bet He would start to really dig it_ - paraphrased by a poster whom I cannot remember, from a thread I cannot remember. Twas funny, though ---
**Author:** ![kuroashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@kuroashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kuroashi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956/2 "2002-04-05T07:16:57Z")
martinez (or Cervantes, pick a name, would ya?), you’re going to get so many different responses from this. Not everyone’s definition will be the same. That’s part of the issue itself, and I don’t think you’ll ever be able to create any kind of concensus, ESPECIALLY on SDMB. In fact, when have we ever ALL agreed on anything? I don’t mean to shoot you down, but “racism” is a loaded word, as are “right,” “wrong,” “felch” and “John Ashcroft.” ---
**Author:** ![Hiyruu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hiyruu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hiyruu)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956/3 "2002-04-05T07:38:45Z")
Racism can’t be defined really because there are no races that are not mixed with other races, we all have bits of eachother. That said, racism will mean different things to different people. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956/4 "2002-04-05T09:26:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by martinez \* > Is saying someone is attractive/inattractive simply because of their race racist? What if you are that race? N.B. To avoid offence, I’ll use brown-eyed people as an example of ‘race’. Note that eye-colour is genetic, and does not link to intelligence, behaviour etc. Finding beauty in one brown-eyed person is just your opinion. Saying **all** brown-eyed people are ugly is racist. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by martinez \* > Is saying something about your own race rascist? Sometime people make jokes about brown-eyed people (did you hear about the brown-eyed person who crashed a helicopter because they switched off the fan?), which are offensive because they include an irrelevant characteristic . Being brown-eyed doesn’t make much difference. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by martinez \* > Is asking why people of a certain race/religion/sexual orientation/whatever do something racist? The assumption is that **all** brown-eyed people do this thing. Unless you have evidence they do, then yes, that’s racist. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by martinez \* > Is defending yourself from allegations of racism by saying you have \_\_\_\_\_ friends racist? No, because (1) racism is assuming one characteristic defines the behaviour of all brown-eyed people and (2) you may not be as friendly with those people as you think! Try substituting e.g. eye-colour for the racist characteristic - this usually shows up the prejudice. (A couple of brown-eyed people moved in next door to me - there goes the neighbourhood…) ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956/5 "2002-04-05T10:49:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Racism can’t be defined really because there are no races that are not mixed with other races, we all have bits of eachother. That said, racism will mean different things to different people. Or different things in different situations. Race really only exists as an easy way of classifying people based on appearance… a social tool (it’s easier to say “He’s black” than “He has a higher amount of darkening pigment in his skin than the average person”, for instance). A goodly number of people can be classified under these arbitrary definitions… but then you get people who really can’t be. Michael Jackson, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956/6 "2002-04-05T12:34:34Z")
Good question. Is it a fascist racist? ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956/7 "2002-04-05T18:40:40Z")
No, a rascist is one who hates the Little Rascals. Especially Alfalfa. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956/8 "2002-04-05T20:14:18Z")
The short, simple definition: Racism is placing _undue_ emphasis on race. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956/9 "2002-04-05T23:23:31Z")
I think the dictionary’s definition is right on the money: > [@](#): > > \*\* > a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race > \*\* Assuming a non-racial attribute about a person because of their race is racist. Assuming negative characteristics about a person because of their race is particularly so. Assuming black people are lazy or criminal is racist. So is assuming that Asian people are intelligent. Both are equally unfair, obviously one is more offensive than the other. stoid ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-right-enough-what-exactly-is-rascist/101956/10 "2002-04-06T00:01:01Z")
I pretty much agree with stoid’s definition. I personally think of racism as 1.) Belief that any race is naturally superior or inferior to any other 2.) Belief that all members of a certain race possess some characteristic (other than the physical characterisitcs that define that race) > [@](#): > > Is saying someone is attractive/inattractive simply because of their race rascist? What if you are that race? It’s not racist to say that you find someone to be attractive because of their race; you don’t have any control over who you are attracted to. It is racist to say that all members of a certain race are beautiful or ugly. > [@](#): > > Is asking why people of a certain race/religion/sexual orientation/whatever do something rascist? Depends what you’re asking. If the question makes a direct assumption about all members of one race, then yes. On the other hand, if there’s evidence that members of a certain race are more or less likely than others to do something than other people are, it’s a legitamite question.