Ze rants

An amalgamation of things I think or find interesting to think about.

Results may vary.

Side effects may include: Increased awareness, increased knowledge, reduced closed-mindedness, occasional mind blowage, the shimmies, and the shakes.
stfuracists: wingedwickedthings: “Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination.” [Source] “a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.” “hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.” [Source] “Racism is treating someone differently or unfairly simply because they belong to a different race or culture.”  [Source] “Racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply on the basis of their race and that some racial groups are superior to others.” [Source]  There you have 5 definitions of racism by the first four results on Google. Nowhere does it mention that it can only be doled out by people in power or that the only victims of it are minorities. Nope, the general belief seems to be that racism is being prejudiced against someone for their race. Easy enough to understand? Okay, now stop with the bullshit about white people not being able to be racist, since they apparently always have more power than people of colour (which isn’t true). STFU.  There’s more to racism than dictionary definitions. Invoking the dictionary to silence the discussion about racism, oppression, white privilege, etc. is a cliche tactic I’ve seen literally hundreds of times this week alone. You have to understand that while all people are equal, not all prejudices are equal. Any person of color who has something against white people may harbor prejudice, but no power to dehumanize or challenge the equality of white people. Meanwhile, the system has been oppressing people of color through disparity for generations. Also, I don’t get how you got from somebody being a murder target due to their race to gay bashing, natural disasters and sudden infant death syndrome. I mean, you might as well say, “Yes, gay bashing is a horrible thing, and so are industrial accidents, natural disasters, etc. But it wouldn’t make it accurate to call any of those horrible things a hate crime/homophobia.” (bold emphasis mine, correcting a typo) You’re right. Not all those things are homophobia. Gay-bashing is. SIDS is not.  Sexism is bad. A meteor landing on someone is bad. A woman being paid less than a man for the same job is bad. A commercial for women’s products belittling men is bad. But only the woman being paid less is sexism. Even if the commercial invokes gender, it’s not actually threatening male privilege. Recognizing the difference doesn’t mean we are okay with any of it. Just because I don’t call the meteor “sexist” doesn’t mean I’m glad it landed on somebody. Just because a Latino girl threw a rock at a boy for being white isn’t “racist” doesn’t mean I want her throwing the rock. It just means I’m not going to mistake it for whites being oppressed by a whole system set up to dehumanize them, take away their rights, and inflict disparity onto them. Whiteness is not oppressed. White people can be victims of a lot of things, but not racism. People can be oppressed for a lot of things, and some of those people might happen to be white, but they are not oppressed BECAUSE OF their whiteness, but DESPITE IT.

stfuracists:

wingedwickedthings:

“Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination.” [Source]

“a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.”

“hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.”

[Source]

“Racism is treating someone differently or unfairly simply because they belong to a different race or culture.”  [Source]

“Racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply on the basis of their race and that some racial groups are superior to others.” [Source]

 There you have 5 definitions of racism by the first four results on Google.

Nowhere does it mention that it can only be doled out by people in power or that the only victims of it are minorities. Nope, the general belief seems to be that racism is being prejudiced against someone for their race. Easy enough to understand? Okay, now stop with the bullshit about white people not being able to be racist, since they apparently always have more power than people of colour (which isn’t true).

STFU. 

There’s more to racism than dictionary definitions. Invoking the dictionary to silence the discussion about racism, oppression, white privilege, etc. is a cliche tactic I’ve seen literally hundreds of times this week alone. You have to understand that while all people are equal, not all prejudices are equal. Any person of color who has something against white people may harbor prejudice, but no power to dehumanize or challenge the equality of white people. Meanwhile, the system has been oppressing people of color through disparity for generations.

Also, I don’t get how you got from somebody being a murder target due to their race to gay bashing, natural disasters and sudden infant death syndrome. I mean, you might as well say, “Yes, gay bashing is a horrible thing, and so are industrial accidents, natural disasters, etc. But it wouldn’t make it accurate to call any of those horrible things a hate crime/homophobia.”

(bold emphasis mine, correcting a typo)

You’re right. Not all those things are homophobia. Gay-bashing is. SIDS is not. 

Sexism is bad. A meteor landing on someone is bad. A woman being paid less than a man for the same job is bad. A commercial for women’s products belittling men is bad. But only the woman being paid less is sexism. Even if the commercial invokes gender, it’s not actually threatening male privilege. Recognizing the difference doesn’t mean we are okay with any of it. Just because I don’t call the meteor “sexist” doesn’t mean I’m glad it landed on somebody.

Just because a Latino girl threw a rock at a boy for being white isn’t “racist” doesn’t mean I want her throwing the rock. It just means I’m not going to mistake it for whites being oppressed by a whole system set up to dehumanize them, take away their rights, and inflict disparity onto them. Whiteness is not oppressed. White people can be victims of a lot of things, but not racism. People can be oppressed for a lot of things, and some of those people might happen to be white, but they are not oppressed BECAUSE OF their whiteness, but DESPITE IT.

  1. steadfastwhimsy reblogged this from face--the--strange
  2. giantsquidofconfidence reblogged this from soydelicious
  3. bittersweetaubade reblogged this from realgrrlpress
  4. ohpierre reblogged this from the-art-pimpette and added:
    I thought Racisim is the belief there is a race of man that is better than another and others that are lesser? In this...
  5. theeworldisours reblogged this from abbeyisnotclever
  6. cyberviking reblogged this from flyingcuttlefish and added:
    flyingcuttlefish: See definition #2 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racism 2. a policy, system of government,...
  7. localstmary reblogged this from awardwinningchicken
  8. flyingcuttlefish reblogged this from the-art-pimpette and added:
    Since when does “power” become a requirement in order to be classified as “racist”?
  9. oddityball reblogged this from the-art-pimpette and added:
    Privilege=power.
  10. realgrrlpress reblogged this from insanepoet9
  11. octopusonrollerskates reblogged this from the-art-pimpette and added:
    The power doesn’t necessarily need to be held by a specific person - which is part of why racism can be so subversive -...
  12. buckthestar reblogged this from mercy-misrule
  13. the-art-pimpette reblogged this from oddityball and added:
    um, that….makes no sense. a homeless person can be racist, it doesn’t take power to be racist. or is this “racism” in an...
  14. insanepoet9 reblogged this from nowherezone11