From: Mitchell, Jerry (3337) (Jerry.Mitchell@esavio.com)
Date: Thu Aug 09 2001 - 08:22:00 MDT
> >Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 21:17:57 -0700 (PDT)
> > Loree Thomas <loreetg@yahoo.com> RE: Definition of Racism
> (without rent-a-riot) extropians@extropy.orgReply-To:
> extropians@extropy.org
> >
> >
> >--- "Mitchell, Jerry (3337)"
> ><Jerry.Mitchell@esavio.com> wrote:
> >
> >This seems pointless.
> >
> >
> >> > From Random House Webster's College dictionary
> >> > (copyright 1999):
> >> >
> >> > Discriminate:
> >> > 1) to make a distinction in favor of or against a
> >> > person on the basis of the group or class to which
> >> > that person belongs, rather than according to
> >> merit.
> >> >
> >> > 2) to note or observe a difference.
> >> >
> >> > 1 and 2 are different usages, you are acting as if
> >> > they are identical... they aren't.
> >
> >> >
> >> > Racial profiling is racist. Making true
> >> statistical
> >> > statements based on race isn't racist... actions
> >> based
> >> > on those statistics and aimed at individuals is
> >> > racist.
> >>
> >> Why is action based on real numbers racist?
> >
> >Re-read what I wrote. Re-read def 1 of
> >discrimination. It's very clear. If you still can't
> >figure it out, I can't help you.
> >
> The idea you're putting forward is, I believe, that to treat
> an individual member of a class as if a statistical tendency
> of the class automatically applied to the individual (which
> it would only do a percentage of the time) rather than to
> treat such a person AS an individual and not to assume that
> class trends so applied, is discrimination. However, I
> consider such treatment to be prejudice, as one is prejudging
> the individual based upon the tendencies of their class,
> rather than judging him/her on his/her individual merits.
> Perhaps discrimination is that action that is taken on the
> basis of prejudice.
> >
> >Loree
I dont believe it, we finally defused an accusation of racism as being
mearly "prejudice", now only 50 billion more corrections to make in common
culture. We have to understand the definitions of these thing or well end of
with people throwing the blanket term "racist" at everything they see (like
now). I believe I specifically gave a some concepts a few posts back that
are related, but not identical, like prejudice, bigotry, racist,
discriminatory, etc....
This is also why I think the dictionary.com definition number 2 was wrong.
Its too ambiguous and would encompass about 3 or 4 terms I know of off the
top of my head.
Another example of my point that all racial discrimination isnt racism.
Theres at least one other posts Ive recieved in the last few hours refering
to some black person that stated 'When walking down the street at night, and
I hear footsteps, I am relived to find it to be a white person instead of a
black person'. Wanna know who said that? JESSE JACKSON.... I know Im not
going to hear anyone say that Jesse is racist against blacks now am I?
So, if hes not a racist, then we can conclude that there in fact an
attribute of "discriminating based on race" that isnt racist.
Once again, my definition of racism runs something like this. "The
philosophy that dictates that one race is inherently superior based on
genetic composition" and in fact, this was very close to the dictionary
definition pre-politically correct times.
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