i was just reading the post about "white" peoples place in hip hop...very entertaining stuff by the way...but it was mentioned that people on the boards (and i'm not quoting here) were closet racists and what not...
now my question is, could someone please define racist for me, because the definition i have been using would not include black people/people of African descent...
and just for anyone who is curious as to what my definition is, it's something like this:
power+prejudice=racism
and when i say power, i don't mean on a micro scale, i'm talking 'bout big power.
so u can see how black folks aren't included in my definition...
can somebody else share what racism means for them?
Discrimination or judging on the basis of race alone.
Doesn't matter who it is. anyone can be racist!
___________________________________ "WASP of the year: even if he isn�t a WASP, Oakley. Sailing? Check. In a yacht club? Check. Used the term �summer� as a verb instead of a noun? You betcha!" -thejerseytornado
That IS the definition of racism! I didn't really understand what the post had to do with the comment about "closet racists"!
"Shut the fuck up bitch,Eat a dick bitch,Eat a bowl of shit bitch!"Kurupt "I'm a throw shade if I can't get paid blow you up to your girl like the Army grenade!"Lil Kim
The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.
"Shut the fuck up bitch,Eat a dick bitch,Eat a bowl of shit bitch!"Kurupt "I'm a throw shade if I can't get paid blow you up to your girl like the Army grenade!"Lil Kim
"racism" ra-cism, is a term that refers to an ideology. Much like most of these philosophical / psychological terms (ology's, ism's....)
if one believes in "race" then they are racists.
Now on the flip-mode, in any philosophical discussion, we start with definitions. If one wants to use a word to mean something slightly different than it's typical discussion (which Koala rocks), then they make that known at the start of a discussion
OR... if they rock it poetic style, they use metaphor to make it obvious.
In other words, don't jump on cats 'til you know what they're saying.
It is important that the term racist or racism doesnt necessarily regard any prejudiced action or any power which are the usual misconceptions of the term.
To be racist- one need only need to believe in the ideology of race- that which determines that humans can be categorized by race signifiers primarily those that designate "white" people as an exclusive group.
If you believe this in any capacity then you are a racist whether or not you prejusge people based on your beliefs whether or not you act with those beliefs in mind. The term racist only refers to what you are willing to believe- it is an indicator of ideology.
Alot of people around here are closet racists- maybe even you. This is not to characterize anybody as a sinister racist who hides behind hip hop affection and calls us all niggers when we're not lookin- this term more succintly characterizes a growing community of people who are misguided about race ideology and presume that it is true and go about trying to resolve other matters of humanity. The truth is race as we know it and as it is subjected upon this society is a lie.
If you believe you or anybody else is naturally or biologically "white" aside from their perogative to consider themselves that then you are a racist- if you have no idea what im talking about cuz you still believe you are "white" then you are a closet racist.
if someone believes they're black are they a racist too?
> >If you believe you or anybody >else is naturally or biologically >"white" aside from their perogative >to consider themselves that then >you are a racist- if >you have no idea what >im talking about cuz you >still believe you are "white" >then you are a closet >racist. > >K
9. "how many times do i have to explain that one" In response to Reply # 7
When you're regarding race and racial category you can only make determinations for the categories put forth by the ideology. The term "Black" was never offered by race category and to this very day has yet to be accepted officially- would racist ideology ever bestowed upon a supposed sub-species a label that demonstrated equality? No- history clearly demonstrates that "Black" is something that people formerly known as niggers, colored and 3/5 human- a few of them very prominent figures of African American struggle determined to call themselves. Many of them wrote books to further delineate that which made "Blackness"- none of it called upon the pseudo science of race category. Unless they believed in race theory - the idea that "Whites" are further evolved than any other "race" then they arent necessarily racist- and being that the term "Black" has several nationalist tones behind it- Black people would more accurately be described as nationalists.
The truth about race is that there is an actual study of human classification- and while science denounces the idea that humans are stratified in manner of sub-species (which the term race signifies) it is willing to accept that there are a set of common features and corresponding race categories.
These categories are Caucasian, Negroid, and Mongloid.
here's the problem...
These categories were never intended to regard any matter of behavior or culture and they do not signify any presumption of biological and genetic variance which is the widescale presumption that race category encourages. It is only meant to refer to the demonstrated details and commonality of human physical appearance- the idea that anyone is "white" is vague and self-aggrandizing and it is only supported by the ideology of white supremacy.
The term "Caucasoid" not only refers to people of European descent but people of Middle Eastern and North african descent as well. The only science that substantiates the idea that "whites" are an exclusive if not superior class is racist "white" theory. If "Blacks" believed in that theory then they would consider themselves a subspecies- by and large they dont so i wouldnt consider them racist but nonetheless they are suppressed by a society that is and at this point must at least understand the ideology and work through it in order to attack it at its root.
1.The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others. 2.Discrimination or prejudice based on race. Carry On.
Ive used this definition many times but still cant find any information on how Webster's presumes that the two definitions correlate. If a person believes in race but doesnt believe in superiority then is he not a racist- well no cuz the race ideology believes still implicitly concludes that superiority.
Secondly if we're regarding discrimination and prejudice several people dont have the power to accomdate such properties so are they not racist?
I think its incorrigible that even the definition of racism points out a blatant miscalcuation in race characterization but wouldnt dare step forward and identify it as false science.
"race" doesn't exist. Well, atleast in people's minds it does. I see what you are saying, K. There is no "classification of races because what determines race? Color? Hair? Language?
Race was made up to separate everybody (upon physical differences) and keep the masses under control (and at each other's throats).
11. "its a little slicker than that" In response to Reply # 10
"Race was made up to separate everybody (upon physical differences) and keep the masses under control (and at each other's throats). "
The study of "racial category" only meant to determine noted observation of the features that separated us. The determinations are still valid in the practical sense- negroes have wide noses, caucasians typically dont; those are fair determinations.
But along came other guys like Darwin, Lyle, and the others that Ive mentioned who hoped to use the determinations of common and variant feautres as a demonstration of evolution in humankind- that was where we went awry.
My point of contention is that race wasnt made to separate people it was only meant to catalog separations that were already obvious- unfortunately only a short while later race would be used not to separate people but to justify that some of them were fitting of widescale domestication and oppression.
Its important to split these hairs because there is validity to the fact that people have noticeably differences of appearance- if youd like to correlate this to the parameters set forth by the study of anthropology and qualified determinations of race- that is a reasonable perogative. Many people read my ish and thinking Im advocating that we disregard the obvious- which couldnt be further from my beliefs- I dont think we should disregard the obvious but in my experience the more obvious things seem the less we take it upon ourselves to find out the truth.
13. "RE: what does that mean" In response to Reply # 6
we often award the publishers of dictionaries the authority to determine the meaning of words.
They never had this authority, though.
It's much like we assume anyone who has a published book suddenly knows something (whereas there are thousand of idiots who are published... much like anyone who writes a history book for grade-school kids)
ANYWAY...
Webster's is a dictionary. They are not the authority on words, or the linguistic roots of them.
Lexical definitions (those out of dictionaries) are surface, and for the purpose of explaining basic concepts--they aren't the authority on things.
So if cats want to discuss what they should or should not be doing based on the negativity surrounding a word, then we're in trouble.
Because we should be discussing things based on the idea.
Is predjudice-"racism" foul? no doubt Is belief in race-"racism" foul? yes, race was made up by italian biologists
This is not to say that we ignore the racial dynamic in the US. "race" as a concept is NOT REAL. But "race" as an ideology which has damaged our people IS REAL.
So don't jump on me for spitting the real deal, y'all
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
Okay Activist Archives
