"Oh my god, that was so racist!"
"Well, how come you didn't pick girls this time? That's sexist!"
These are just some of the few word-slinging sentences that I've heard being used by younger children in my school. And I don't like it. In my gifted class is where I've seen it most, surprisingly. If I say that Andrew, a Vietnamese guy, is Asian, then Leena or some other junior-division student in the class will say "that's racist!" when it isn't. Here's the definition of racism.
/rā'sĭz'əm/
- 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.
" I don't mean to be racist, but last night, there was this episode of Family Guy where Cleveland was a taxi driver and he saw Brian and offered him a ride, but Brian used an excuse and said that he had to pick up milk for Lois. Isn't that funny?"No, it's not.
So as a last statement I will say this:
If there is no intention behind your action, the action is at its worst, un-intentional.
2 comments:
I agree that saying Andrew is Asian isn't racist. However, in a way, saying he's Asian brings attention to him as "the other"--because how often does one hear "X is Caucasian" (unless it is from someone who is not)? It makes his ethnicity something that needs to be drawn attention to, while the ethnicity of Caucasian people are much less often commented upon, as if it's so normalized. I hope that makes sense.
A little off topic--there's an excellent vid at Ill Doctrine about the difference between being a racist person and saying something that is racist.
You make a nice point.
Although, I apologize, the part about mentioning that Andrew was Asian was pulled out of context. In my gifted class we were engaging in a discussion about countries in Asia, and some people were being left out.
Wonderful point, though!
:)
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