Racism is disgusting. I don’t hesitate when I say it - there are few things in the world that are lower, more irrational than hating an individual or a group because their skin color isn’t exactly the same as yours, or because they (or their parents, or their grandparents) were not born in your country.
But what most people don’t know is that there is another kind of racism - and that, indeed, many people attempt to fight racism with racism.
You see, the thing is, unlike what you probably believe, not all racism is about hate. Racism, in is simplest form, in the word’s original meaning, is the belief that people are defined by their “race” (ethnic group, etc.); in other words, that “race” matters. (I put the word “race” between quotes because the human race is in fact a single one - “race” only matters to racists.)
One of the best examples of racism is Affirmative Action (AA).
Racism is but one of the many forms of collectivism. Much like all the other forms, it says that people aren’t really individuals, that all our actions, our personalities, our achievements are defined by something else, something we can’t control - be it our skin color, our nationality or our gender. A racist, be it one of the “hating kind” or not, will always believe that people should be judged and treated differently, that they are in fact different, according to their “race”. To a racist, laws that protect a group, or harm a group, or try to “ensure fairness” by harming one group to the benefit of another, are not only acceptable but necessary. The idea that it isn’t skin color that really matters, but one’s own individual choices, is alien to him or her.
Back to Affirmative Action. AA, which is in practice in several countries, including the USA and the UK (it may have different names in each country), is a group of laws and policies which attempt to ensure “fairness” to “minorities” in terms of employement in workplaces. (it can also apply to other fields, such as education) Thus, it imposes “racial quotas”, which mean that there must be X% of “minority” employees in a company.
To AA supporters, the idea that an employer will choose the best man or woman for the job isn’t enough - it may not even be believable. Minority groups must be artificially “supported”, even if that means that an employer will be forced to turn down a more qualified candidate. To such a supported, “fairness” does not mean that everyone will have a shot at getting a particular job, without being discriminated for “race” - it means, instead, that people will be hired or refused according to their “race”. Because, to their racist minds, “race” is the only thing that matters.
AA supporters don’t see, however, that this is demeaning, even insulting to minority groups - they’re being told, basically, that they couldn’t ever get a particular job by themselves, on their own merits, and that they’re only getting it artificially, to ensure “fairness” and “equality”. They’re being told that their achievements, their personality, their qualities, their choices don’t matter - in a way, that they’re no different from anyone else with the same skin tone.
Would you like to be told “you’re only here to fill our quota for whites/blacks/asians, if it was up to us we wouldn’t have hired you”?
We are the choices we make, not something which was determined before we were born.
Related posts:
Subscribe to this blog
Divorce… some sociologists say it can be “worse than a parent’s death.” Divorce is consistently associated with juvenile emotional disorders, crime, suicide, promiscuity and later marital break-up. Is this racism against “Kids of Divorce? Are divorced parents kids different from the former? Some likewise Judith S. Wallerstein in “The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A Twenty-Five Year Landmark Study”, she stands: “In cases of physical abuse, for example, the divorce is probably necessary. Otherwise, though, even a bad marriage might be better for kids than divorce” Why does this sound familiar…Parents generally stay together for better or worse, those who argue that a truly unhappy marriage is worse for a family that splitting up might be. In some cases, perhaps many, staying together for the sake of the kids could be helping no one at all…
Silently discriminated they do not have any special rights… yet, because I’m sure that after http://www.childrenofdivorce.com others will come to help those poor kids…
Aren’t you getting a bit away from the subject?
At first I hesitated to post this comment exactly for the very same reason… but indeed it’s related, I’ll try to explain myself in a better way about this entry latter on, because right now I’m a little bit tired… maybe because it’s 5:30 am and I don’t get any sleep since yesterday morning…
just maybe…
Racism is so extremely complex that if you are a minority, “black” in particular, this “Other Kind of Racism” as YOU put it, is necessary if only to SURVIVE! AA-Affirmative Action exists only because of the fact that in order for a black man/woman to secure a decent position in Corporate America, (I don’t have the time nor the inclination nor the desire to refer to Blacks as African Americans), law such as AA MUST exist in this screwed up country that we call America, and which we CLAIM that ALL people are to be treated as equals and the basis of our country is that we are all supposedly FREE. Since this is BULL, our government has come up with AA in an attempt to force large companies (Corporate America) to hire at least a few minorities. Thus, the complexities come into play, such as people attempting to make statements like YOU, along with so many others claiming that it is unnecessary, unfair, etc., etc., when the fact is ALL of the people who are making these statements, philosophic concepts, unrealistic beliefs, are in fact WHITE, thereby having no concept of why these types of laws have become necessary in the first place.
I’m qualified to edit, write, proofread, and have found an error in your brief article in one simple word: “employment”. This word was misspelled “employement”, in one of the last paragraphs of this article, which I have a “knack” for spotting and correcting for major corporations in our Blessed United States. Yet, I have never been able to secure a position utilizing this skill in the “redneck” state of Oregon since I’ve resided here. Some blonde-haired, blue-eyed, inexperienced counterpart has been able to secure position after position that I’ve applied for. Many times, I’ve seen the same ad run a few months later for the same position due to the fact that Blondie could not deal, while I sit back UNEMPLOYED and CAPABLE! There fore, please try to put yourself in a black body for a time spell before you think that you have any idea or the authority to even comment on something such as racism, or AA, in which you cross-reference as “The Other Kind of Racism”.
“Therefore” is one word, not two. Are you sure you’re qualified to proofread?
[quote post="27"]There fore, please try to put yourself in a black body for a time spell before you think that you have any idea or the authority to even comment on something such as racism, or AA, in which you cross-reference as “The Other Kind of Racism”.[/quote]
Yvette-
People always have the “authority” to comment thier opinnions.
Putting yourself in someone elses shoes is actually how many of us come to these opinnions.
I realize that racism is a touchy subject, because people tend to get upset when it’s brought up, but this does not help the issue.
The idea of racism (IMO)isn’t that complex.
Judging other humans by thier ancestral origins, or looks. It’s a simple, evil prejudice.