Oh God My Chakras Are Tingling: I don't get why people shun racism as this horrible thing.
Or stereotypes in general, really.
It’s not as though there were a bunch of people sitting around a table making stuff up about different groups of people. The reason they exist is because they’re supported over and over and…
Racism is a social construct. Meaning that it’s constructed based on social values and ideals. Virtually, it shouldn’t exist. It’s meant as a way for others to discriminate and undermine those who are different from them. As a white person, I am completely aware that historically the concept of ‘race’ has been a part of the white superiority complex. And as a white person with values, I also know it’s morally wrong.
If we were different ‘races’ there would be, for example, elves and humans. Those are two different races.
But what most people fail to realize is that there is only one ‘race’ and that’s humanity. Equality for all!
Hi. Um. Okay.
I dig the message you have here. I do.
We should all regard one another in the way you describe. In a perfect world (the world of the “Just World” fallacy you’re now illustrating), the whole “race” thing would be just a sad, sad memory and we’d just be taking people as we find them and universally respecting one another’s humanity.
But we do not live in a world that is, by any stretch of the imagination, perfect.
Racism is ongoing.
Full stop.
I want the world you talk about to be the one I live in and with a lot of hard work and serious conversation in the sphere of Whiteness, maybe that will happen one day.
But it cannot happen when you, me or anyone pretends that the problem doesn’t exist or that the mere fact that racism, race, gender, sexual identity, sexual orientation, or other bullshit the people in power (that is to say, folks like you and me) hate/are uncomfortable with/are “____blind” to are social constructs doesn’t change the fact that in a social setting (that is to say: society), social constructs are real things with real outcomes.
Racism is a REAL FUCKING THING that affects REAL FUCKING PEOPLE in some REAL FUCKING UGLY ways.
I’m a hippy-dippy sort, too. I dream of the day when white people (myself included) will be able to shut off our bullshit and stop stomping on/fucking up/dehumanizing/stereotyping/murdering/generally oppressing/harassing people who are, in one way or another, not enough like us for our comfort. I want that to happen. I want to see the basic human decency (which I believe against all evidence lies in the heart of every human being on Earth) come out and have us start treating our fellow humans as our fellow travelers on a rock hurtling through an ever-expanding universe.
But we don’t get there by pretending that we’re already there.
We don’t get there by ignoring the bullshit that goes on.
Racism is a social construct. Just like “I” and “me”. It IS. It exists as surely as you do or I do.
Stop pretending anything else.
Now, it seems that some people were upset by the above comment that I made regarding the social construction of racism.
I was simply making a point. And I appreciate the feedback, I really do.
BUT - I was not in any way trying to minimize the experiences held by those who have racism in their lives. I know it’s an ongoing thing, and I’m well aware of the huge amount of racism existing in the world. Contrary to popular belief, I do not live in a care free world either.
Now, I was simply making the point about the ORIGINS of racism, and trying to explain why it exists. Now, those who have commented are totally correct - the world I talk about is literally a fantasy. BUT, it does not mean that we can’t work to achieve a better world where racism is not such a huge determining factor in so many people’s lives. I stated that it SHOULDN’T exist, and ‘shouldn’t’ is not the same as DOESN’T.
I’m not ignoring it. I’m trying to be the better person and not RELY on it. Because it’s a useless tool. No one deserves to be discriminated against because of who they are. Life is hard enough.
If the comment I made upset some people, I apologize. But this was my own opinion, and I’m in no way trying to tell people what to believe. This is not my place. I was explaining my standpoint that racism is petty and although it unfortunately exists, there should be no room for it in a diverse society.
The reason why there is room for it is because people support it over and over again. I’m just trying to be the better person, which I sure many of you are, and trying to eliminate racism from the daily interactions I have with the world and the people in it. When I said there should be equality for all, I meant. But, once again, as I mentioned above, SHOULD not does not always equate to THERE IS.
