Thursday, January 03, 2008

An attempt at a discussion

Everyone is racist, plain and simple, and if you claim you are not that shows that you are. That being said, I have been wondering lately about racism and its degrees. How much racism is acceptable, which kinds are okay, are any kinds okay, does it matter who is saying the racist remarks or is it all unacceptable from anyone?
All one has to do is take a look at America and you will find racism everywhere. Actually in America you are supposed to be anti-Muslim or Arab, since people are too ignorant to truly understand the distinctions. If you are a member of the “right” then part of your platform is based on racism towards Hispanics. Both of these forms of racism are deemed acceptable by a large percentage of the American population. If you don’t hold similar views, about Mexicans or Muslims, then some people see you as not American or damn near a traitor. Is their any basis that makes these sentiments acceptable? Is what I see as racism towards Hispanics really just American nationalism, and if so, is nationalism as bad as racism? Is the racism towards Muslims due to the attacks on America? Most likely, it helped. Is the use of racial profiling acceptable towards Muslims in airport but not black guys in rich white neighborhoods? Are they the same?
Are some ethnicities, or “races”, allowed to be racist towards others due to historical injustices? Is it okay for Native Americans to be racist towards the “white man” due to our genocide? Are African Americans allowed to be racist towards white people as a result of slavery or just white Americans? Since no group has been persecuted to the level of the Jews are they allowed to be racist towards just about everyone else? Is there some scale of historical injustice that needs to be made so we can keep track of everyone’s position or is that even relevant?
Are certain words worse then others? Is nigger worse than spic? Is kike worse then A-rab? If so why?
Does one’s position in society make a difference? Are poor people allowed to be racist and the middle class not? Does education and upbringing factor in? Is there any acceptable level of racism?
Shit, one point I forgot. Is racism worse than homophobia, for lack of a better term? Is it okay for someone to truly call people slurs, about the sexuality they were born with, but not if they deal with their skin color? Isn’t anti-gay sentiment the same as racism? If so why is it acceptable? Do we need to add homosexuals to the scale of historical injustices to see where they fit first? Why do people gasp at nigger but not fag?
Just some thoughts that have been rolling around inside my head lately. If anyone would like to take the time to respond to any of these questions I would greatly appreciate it.

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