If you believe in implicit-association tests then yeah, everyone is a little bit racist (crank up Avenue Q). And sexist.
Here’s a bunch of tests you can take. Try the “race” or “skin tone” tests (the site won’t let me link directly to them). They only take a couple minutes.
The link between these tests and real world behavior is controversial, to say the least. IIRC, black people and women also have negative associations against their own race/sex. So when, for example, someone says it can’t be race related because a black cop shot a black suspect, that’s not necessarily correct.
There are other methods to try to see how early it starts, like looking at what faces babies prefer to look at, or who toddlers prefer to play with, but I’m less familiar with them and how seriously they’re taken in the field.
I wonder if they ever did a comparison between “conventional” sounding white names and white names associated with lower economic status. I’m willing to be Michael and Heather get interviews more often than Jimbob and Earline do.
I don’t think everybody is racist, but I do think everybody is prejudiced to a small extent. I think to pre-judge based on vague information is unavoidably human. Racism is obviously a subset of prejudice, so that can be the case for some, but not necessarily for all.
Making fine distinctions between “racist,” “racialist,” “biased,” and “prejudiced” is really just a red herring. Different people use the terms in different ways in casual settings or in academic settings. Just go with the definition that’s on the table for the discussion you’re involved in.
Yes, yes, people could try to agree on terminology and do their best not to offend members of the majority culture, but this is giving too much attention to tone-policing.
Racism actually hurts people physically and mentally, it ruins their lives, it kills them. I think it’s not really all that important to be so careful about the feelings of the people who are not suffering the worst of the consequences of racism. It’s not about your feelings.
The “racism = prejudice + power” rubric is just one way of defining racism. But the point isn’t to say that no one can say anything bad about black people but white people are fair game. The point is that given that we all have inherent biases, the relevant question is not whether everyone is pure of heart, but how to get rid of the racist acts that are harmful in society.
Whether a black person who hates all white people without reason is defined as “racist” or “biased” or “prejudiced” or whatever doesn’t matter, because whatever fault you’re trying to assign to that black person isn’t likely to have any societal effect on white people. That’s the real point.
People who say “everyone is at least a little bit racist” are saying that because of actual studies that reveal inherent racism, not because of some kind of inner guilt.
When people who are trying to improve things in society use the word “racism” the one definition that is entirely useless is “only a person who admits to being consciously and intentionally racially biased.” It doesn’t matter what’s in your heart. What actually matters is what you say and do and how what you say and do affect the other people in society
The people who want to insist on “I am not racist” are in my experience the ones who are trying to make themselves feel better or get away with saying or doing something racist.
The point of accusing people of racism isn’t to insult them or impugn their character or look into their souls. It’s to get them to examine their behavior, to examine how it affects other people in their society and learn to examine their behavior and change it. Being called “racist” is not worse than having to live your entire life in a society being subject to the consequences of racism.
When it comes down to it, being a post-racial member of society is not about satisfying yourself that you see no bad thoughts or motives inside you. It’s about thinking about what you do and say in the world and examining its impact on people. You become non-racist not by being pure of heart, but by behaving in a non-racist way, and that only happens if you are willing to examine yourself, your thoughts, actions, words, and motivations without the “But I am not a racist” lens. Being a racist or not a racist is not about what you are but about what you do.
No. The entire idea is absurd. The only way it would make sense is if I called all people of a certain race racist. But I don’t.
The slightly less absurd version calling us all bigots because we call everyone bigoted. The flaw there is quite simple: we don’t call everyone a bigot. We have actual criteria of why we call people that. And that criteria is not “you are different from me.” So it’s not bigotry.
I have never understood why anyone finds these types of arguments remotely compelling. I’m not calling you a bigot or racist, but I do know that bigots and racists seems to find this argument particularly appealing, and that makes even less sense.
That’s not to say that some people can’t be mistaken. Or that some people can’t use “racist” as a generic insult. I know someone who called someone “alt right” because they told her that having a picture of you is not a copyright violation.
Hell yes. But I get to redefine ‘racist’ the way I want, just like everybody else does.
“racist” = preoccupied with issues of race = viewing everybody as members of racial groups first and last = racist.
And in theory, you could be racist without being predjudiced, but in practice, I don’t believe it: first, everybody discriminates, and second, how could you not discriminate when you are pre-occupied with issues of race?
I’m not just saying this for the sake of an opinion. As an interested outsider, raised American, it is the way TSDMB appear to me.
I wouldn’t say everyone (or really anyone, unless they’ve expressed explicitly racist sentiment) is racist, since no one can no for certain what’s in the hearts and minds of others. So I wouldn’t say that anyone who makes this claim is racist either – I’d just disagree with the sentiment.
On the other hand, when someone expresses some kind of sentiment like “I’m not racist” or “how can I be racist – I have a black [spouse/adopted child/best friend/half brother/etc.]”, I strongly suspect that there’s a lot about racism or bigotry that they don’t understand. One of the very important things I’ve learned about racism and bigotry is that it’s extremely difficult, and maybe impossible, to truly know if one has any racial biases or other bigotries within one’s self (whether conscious or unconscious), and there are many types of racist beliefs and biases that are entirely compatible with being very close, and even deeply loving and caring for a black person (or other group). The best I’ll say for myself is that I hope I’m not racist and bigoted, and I strive to not say or do racist/bigoted things.