To me, racism (and sexism) is more than that superior belief - that superior belief is there, to me, because of the human desire/need to control/exert power over the "lesser" class. (Forgive me, I've just finished re-reading Animal Farm, too!) I believe that racism is at its core about power, in the same way that classism and sexism are.
I don't even agree with the dictionary definition, that racism is simply a belief that race is the primary determinant of human capacity - that might work for the outright racists individuals... but I say that because certainly even the best, most-liberal open-minded of white men and women unconsciously exhibit racism at times, simply because of how those attitudes are woven into society. And frankly, the majority (whites/males) don't encounter racism/sexism every day, nor do they experience the loss of power or the obvious privilege (that whites/males have), in the way that minorities do. I think that we unconsciously pull the power out of it because we, personally, are not trying to exert power over another individual - but we already unconciously do whenever we take advantage of our privilege.
Of course, I also agree with Sotomayer's comment - I do think that minorities (people of color (POC)/women) are better equipped to talk about some of these issues and dissect them out, because they're not blind to it in the way many whites are, and they "have lived the life" so to speak.
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Date: 2009-05-29 05:18 pm (UTC)I don't even agree with the dictionary definition, that racism is simply a belief that race is the primary determinant of human capacity - that might work for the outright racists individuals... but I say that because certainly even the best, most-liberal open-minded of white men and women unconsciously exhibit racism at times, simply because of how those attitudes are woven into society. And frankly, the majority (whites/males) don't encounter racism/sexism every day, nor do they experience the loss of power or the obvious privilege (that whites/males have), in the way that minorities do. I think that we unconsciously pull the power out of it because we, personally, are not trying to exert power over another individual - but we already unconciously do whenever we take advantage of our privilege.
Of course, I also agree with Sotomayer's comment - I do think that minorities (people of color (POC)/women) are better equipped to talk about some of these issues and dissect them out, because they're not blind to it in the way many whites are, and they "have lived the life" so to speak.