Those us who are overweight?
The reason I ask is because of the definiton of race:
Main Entry: race
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French, generation, from Old Italian razza
Date: 1580
1 : a breeding stock of animals
2 a : a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock b : a class or kind of people unified by community of interests, habits, or characteristics <the English race>
3 a : an actually or potentially interbreeding group within a species; also : a taxonomic category (as a subspecies) representing such a group b : BREED c : a division of mankind possessing traits that are transmissible by descent and sufficient to characterize it as a distinct human type
So, As I understand this definition, race could be defined as a group of people that share common traits that are passed through generations via sexual reproduction. Now, given this, correct if I’m wrong, but couldn’t “fat” people be considered a race of people. Not to offend obese people, but I got to thinking about it the other day, and I wondered if someone could be racist towards those of us who are “chubby”, “fat”, “pudgy.” Now, I’m not too sure on this, but IIRC, there was a discovery of a “fat” gene, which was discovered to be responsible for the production of fat cells, or something like that. Now, given that when sex takes place, the genetic structure (DNA) of the mother and father combine, the aformentioned gene could be passed on to the child, resulting in a fat baby. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) This seems to fit the definition of race perfectly.
So, could yould you be racist against an overweight person?
Just to get this out of the way: Where you wrote “Old Italian razza” I read, first, “Old Italian pizza” and was somewhat confused
But to actually address your question: that dog don’t hunt.
The definition you provide is not the definition of race; ain’t no such animal–it’s just a definition of race.
I have no idea where your definition of race comes from, since you didn’t tell me. You could have written it yourself, for all I know. (Plus, the numbering scheme confuses the hell out of me…)
You’ve given a definition of “race”–or, rather, several possible meanings. But you have not specified the definition to which the term “racist” is salient. If, for instance, it applies to #1, then essentially it refers to discriminating against, like, giraffes or something. If it applies to what I see as #3c, then sure, you’re right in a very literal sense; however, I don’t think people generally use it to refer to #3c. Instead, I think they use it to apply to #2a. Under those circumstances, no, you can’t be racist against fat people.
Anyway, look, I can say the word “omblor” and use it to mean anything I like, whether you understand me or not. Thus the important thing is what most people understand by the term.
I imagine verybdog will be poking his/her head up anytime now…
I don’t believe the “fat” gene is sufficient to determine a distinct human type… a division possessing “traits”, not just one trait.
“Race” is a bit of a social construct… the way we define race now is different than 100 or 200 years ago… but I don’t think a single characteristic is enough to classify a race.
You can, of course, be a prejudiced jerk if you doiscriminate against overweight people, but it’s not really racism. Some other ism.
The problem with this definition is, it’s very hard to define race. Can you think of a way to define the word so that it can’t be used to include fat people, without actually saying “but not a fat person”?
The reasons words have meaning is because we give them meaning. And, since no native speaker of English would consider fat people a race, fat people are not a race.
That is, of course, discriminate, not doiscriminate. And it would also be wrong to discriminate against people with difficulties typing. Even to doiscriminate. Wrong, but not racist.
And why can’t we edit our posts? Is it because I’m new, or has the vBulletin feature been disabled, or what?
[ATMB Hijack]Editing of posts has been disabled for as long as I’ve been around, as it could (like a lot of nice features) unfortunately be abused. Disabling a feature is, I gather, just a question of an Admin clicking a button somewhere; actually removing the button would require someone to hack the vBulletin software, which we don’t like to do. Also, the edit button is what Mods use when we edit posts (which we don’t generally do for minor typos–which I think everyone understands that we all make from time to time–but which we’ll do if a coding error has messed up the post to the point of rendering it illegible, or perhaps to fix a broken link, or if we need to take care of some significant rules violation, like plagiarism of copyrighted material).[/ATMB Hijack]
How would the average schmoe be able to differentiate between a genetically-inclined fat person and a person who simply has become fat because they don’t exercise and eat too much crap? In order for your definition of race to have any true validity in reference to hereditary obesity, there needs to be something visual that distinguishes them from everyone else. That’s the basis for race in this country. Not genes.
If you wish to use race as an illegal discriminating factor, you have to use the definition as it applies under EO laws and regulations, and not the dictionary definition. The two are often not the same.
Having said that, being discriminated against on account of one’s weight does not apply using the race factor.
You might want to try under the ADA in the USA, and attempt to classify weight discrimination as a physical disability issue.
I don’t think that “fat” could be called a race. Your race is usually something that is impossible to change. Weight can be lost, but a racial characteristic like dark skin, cannot.
Well, not exactly. Actually in the US, race is more genotypically delineated than it is in, say, Brazil, where you’re pegged into a racial box based on how you look, not on who your parents are. Historically in the US, the one drop rule delineates white from black, where the former is considered “pure”. So it IS about genes, in part. Or at least it was.
I can see an analogy (albeit weak) to Jewish people. There are two ways to be Jewish: being born from a Jewish mother or converting into a Judiasm. I don’t think anti-Semites differientiate between the two, although the latter may blend better into society.
The very idea that you can stop being fat throws a monkey-wrench into this thing though. Also, fatness is associated with certain behaviors as well as physiology. Anyone can become fat within their lifetime, sometimes involuntarily, all the time unwillingly. I don’t think we’d see a lot of anti-black racists floating around if most people, after the age of 30, started morphing into Barry White-look alikes. And yet we do find many anti-fat bigots in our society, so I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about.
