Living in a post-racist world.

[mbfarm131]

What's the over/under on when the official definition for 'racism' will just read 'white people bad'. 5 years? 2 years?

[Ka-El]

What's the over/under on when the official definition for 'racism' will just read 'white people bad'. 5 years? 2 years?

I think that will have a lot to do with the collective behavior of white people over the next 2 to 5 years. I'm pretty optimistic though. I think it is only a smaller minority (most here on Castanet) who continue to deflect and/or think the whole racism issue is all just overblown. However, I also think that most of us do want to see real change in this regard, and most of us recognize that change doesn't come without the acknowledgement of a problem. There is still a problem.

[Glacier]

When I was younger it was quite common to tell racist jokes or to use negative racial stereotypes to degrade First Nations people, gays, and others, and this is certainly getting less common (or at least I think it is).

As racism continues to decline, I wonder if we will just switch one bigotry with another.

Imagine if you were in a group of people at work in 2021, and someone starts going off about how First Nations are all [insert negative stereotype here]. Now, imagine, no one knows that you're First Nations, and so you have finally had enough of the degrading comments so you pipe up, "I'm First Nations."

To which, they reply, "oh! But we mean other First Nations, not you!"

This has happened with my wife several times, only swap out "First Nations" with "American."

[Staredintoabyss]

When I was younger it was quite common to tell racist jokes or to use negative racial stereotypes to degrade First Nations people, gays, and others, and this is certainly getting less common (or at least I think it is).

As racism continues to decline, I wonder if we will just switch one bigotry with another.

Imagine if you were in a group of people at work in 2021, and someone starts going off about how First Nations are all [insert negative stereotype here]. Now, imagine, no one knows that you're First Nations, and so you have finally had enough of the degrading comments so you pipe up, "I'm First Nations."

To which, they reply, "oh! But we mean other First Nations, not you!"

This has happened with my wife several times, only swap out "First Nations" with "American."

I think the switch has already happened.

[Babba_not_Gump]

Retired baby boomers.
Gated communities.
Large dogs.

mexi cali guessed it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

[Babba_not_Gump]

Racism will always exist so long as people that "have nothing better to do" exist. Generally speaking, retired Boomers.

Generally speaking, older people that live in gated communities are the foundation for all things racist.

Now for the crux of your musings. If I hear you correctly, you are saying that Boomers and gated communities by extension are solely responsible for racism as it presents itself today? That is bold, not to mention sad.

You are either trying your hand at trolling (I hope that is the case) or you are a seriously delusional individual who really should be asking for guidance when the urge to put your thoughts down in writing hits you.

I'm thinking that should racism be eliminated it will be replaced with ageism.
We are seeing more and more of ageism all the time.

[sobrohusfat]

Maybe by that time we'll all be brown and beige

Then some browns among us will slag the beige & vice versa - dont think so? Then you've never heard some blacks rate/insult each other by the hue of skin tone.

Stupidity isn't going anywhere - ever.

[Babba_not_Gump]

Maybe by that time we'll all be brown and beige

Then some browns among us will slag the beige & vice versa - dont think so? Then you've never heard some blacks rate/insult each other by the hue of skin tone.

Stupidity isn't going anywhere - ever.

Us whiteys will have to work on our tans year round.

[mbfarm131]

What's the over/under on when the official definition for 'racism' will just read 'white people bad'. 5 years? 2 years?

I think that will have a lot to do with the collective behavior of white people over the next 2 to 5 years. I'm pretty optimistic though. I think it is only a smaller minority (most here on Castanet) who continue to deflect and/or think the whole racism issue is all just overblown. However, I also think that most of us do want to see real change in this regard, and most of us recognize that change doesn't come without the acknowledgement of a problem. There is still a problem.

I don't see many arguments in regard to racism being "overblown", the argument lies in agreeing on a defined term and having a moral consistency with the topic. There are in-group preferences held as a general trait in human behavior, it's all fractal and it presents itself almost infinitely. Skin colour, nation, region within nation, location within region, on and on it goes. I remember when I was in high school there would frequently be Saturday night brawls against Rutland kids. We hated each other. Yet, we were all white, we were all Canadian, we were all from BC, we were all located in Kelowna, so the tribalism came down to location within the city. Racism is a fractal representation of tribalism.

The most insufferable thing about a bunch of first world white people lamenting racism and dreaming of a world without it is the fact that this lament is racist in and of itself. It's pushing an oppressor vs. victim narrative, you get to feel good about yourself because you're the kind-hearted oppressor who is white-knighting for the victim, elevating yourself above those who you've classified as victims, effectively pigeon-holing them into a caste system that, once ingrained into a generation or two, is not easily shed. Painting entire races with a brush of pity is extremely condescending, you're telling them that you have the power over them and out of the goodness of your heart, you will see to it that they are given special treatment so that they can be fit to compete. It's the bigotry of low expectations, it's self absorbed and tone-deaf.

And I don't know why all these white people think that only they have the power and influence to be "racist". Have you ever been to Japan? Africa? The Caribbean Islands? Cuba? China? How are we white folks going to ease the tensions between afro-carib residents and the carib-indians in Belize? How many times are we going to flagellate ourselves for historical slavery when there is present day, open air slave markets in Libya, Mauritania, and Haiti? By the way, who owned those slave ships during the Atlantic Slave Trade era, and who was responsible for capturing entire African tribes and selling them into slavery for the time spanning from the 15th to 19th centuries? Hint, you're not allowed to answer that without being put of a watch-list. Do we care about the tensions between Indians and Pakistanis or are they too close in skin tone to put that conflict under the Umbrella of "racism". Go tell a guy from Bangalore that he's no different than a guy from Islamabad and see how he reacts. China/Tibet? Did all those "Free Tibet" bumper stickers white folks put on their cars in the 90's have the desired effect? Are we going to social media virtue signal these problems away now? God knows we're trying with the Uighur Muslims and their treatment by the Chinese, but something tells me the Chinese government doesn't give a sh*t about the "I stand with...." Facebook posts no matter how many likes they get. What is with this white savior complex so many of these childless pearl clutchers gravitate to as if they were LARPing as the Khaleesi in Game of Thrones?

I worked in the Caribbean for quite some time, there I met and befriended a black fellow who was a doctor, originally from Baltimore. A financially successful person and a wholesome family man, he told me, "pity and handouts are rotting my community and, in many cases, members of my family". My wife who comes from a "first nations" background (or whatever the current accepted parlance is these days) says the same thing.

This isn't a zero sum game, stop trying to make it one.

White people need to chill out, they aren't as important as they think they are, they don't have the ability to solve all the world's problems with the power of their good intentions. This amounts to nothing more than social posturing for cyber-induced dopamine hits, but that seems to be all the rage these days so nothing new.

Want to change the world? Fix the morality in your own heart. That's it.

[Ka-El]

I don't see many arguments in regard to racism being "overblown", the argument lies in agreeing on a defined term and having a moral consistency with the topic.

Fair enough, but I’m referring to some on these threads who have consistently minimized the issue or use deflection strategies to avoid acknowledging a problem exists. While some like to debate definitions I think the definition of racism is quite clear.

This isn't a zero sum game, stop trying to make it one.

Not my goal at all and I’m sorry that’s what you read into it. I’ve also travelled extensively and know what it feels like to be the only white person around. I’m also not arguing for (and never have) “pity and handouts”. I’ve also had friends and and girlfriends of colour and my wife is First Nations (Ojibway) - but this isn’t a contest. In any case, I absolutely agree we are not as important as we think, and as mentioned previously, in a few generations we might number even less. Evolution, including social evolution, will continue one way or the other. I’d just rather try and be part of possible solutions rather than living in denial of the problem (not suggesting that’s what you’re doing) and have no issue with the morality in my own heart. Thanks.

[Staredintoabyss]

I would challenge the concept of "social evolution" for containing a lot of implied baggage.
Evolution entails an adaptive process to something happening externally but what we have here is more like a motivated social wave that leaves a changed world in its wake.
Calling it evolution also attaches the common misapprecation that things are improving on a cosmic scale when in reality change to adapt is a contextual improvement based on an immediate set of forces in play.

What we know from the cycle of history suggests more of a spiral than a ladder.

Now personally i would view a world with less racial discrimination as being progress but that isn't exactly what is happening in this social wave. There is still ample discrimination being defended and utilized.

I found it interesting that when I looked into the practices of the Roman Empire they appear to actually be less racially bigotted than our times but more culturally bigotted than we are: they didn't care so much about race as they did cultural conformity.

[Jlabute]

Watching my favourite cable news channels yesterday, the ones that didn't have the Super Bowl, I was shocked at the naked truth of their coverage; wall to wall commentary about race, racism, systemic racism, White supremacy, anti-racism. And so it hit me, people's minds aren't on economics, food vulnerability, living from pay cheque to pay cheque, they're on race. And so they should be. Racism is one of the most enduring maladies of our world. I personally do not get it. While I believe individual humans may evidence characteristics that allow us to judge superiority vs. inferiority, Every person is born with an intellect, and brilliance is not confined to White persons.

From time to time, I reflect on what a post-racist world will look and feel like. Will we ever get there? How many more decades/centuries/millenia? What will it feel like to be colour blind ref. our fellow man and woman. What if no one despises miscegenation? Will there still be cultural things to *bleep* and complain about.

Are your neighbors racist? Is everyone racist? Are you the only one not a racist and throwing the first stone? This is typical of false guilt where you can't place your finger on a problem but believe it exists without evidence. Is it a crisis for everyone although not in a practical sense? Is this a fictional problem only in the west? Is the middle-east a paradise to long for? Is it global? Try to quantify what you only have a feeling for which was induced by biased media (like the CBC).

The media and politicians have way over-blown everything about race. If you could call
everyone a racist that would give you the means to silence everyone at anytime. A perfect political tool if all believe it.

The political left turns everything into a crisis, and purposefully too. The hope is you won't worry about real problems in bad times, when mythical problems are worse. You should get out more. Maybe knock on your neighbors door to say Hi and see if everything is good with them. You may discover they aren't as racist as CBC told you they were. They may even be kind, or the type of people that would plow your driveway in the winter... for free!

1) Climate Change - Even though science says there is no crisis, people still echo on that there is. The IPCC says there is no crisis in the AR5. Many scientists say there is no crisis. Evidence says
there is no crisis. No sinking islands, no dying polar bears, nothing abnormal in the oceans. Nothing is happening that is unusual except more trace amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. Emergency? No. If you believe there is an emergency, then you've been programmed.
2) Disinformation and hate - The media is telling you this. Most fact checkers are biased and have no clue what disinformation is. Fact checkers are being sued left and right. Hate is also subjective to a degree. So those in power (the left) get to capitalize on what they think is hate when they are in power.
3) Growing Populism - People are disenfranchised with media and politics amid growing polarization. Any politicians has to exaggerate more for less attention.
4) Increasing inequity - Everyone has equality under the law. Equity is another front being fought. Apparently we will erupt in civil war so long as the greatest brains and hardest workers in our societies get paid more than those on welfare.

If any of the above has been believed by anyone, they are fools and guilty of putting civilization at risk to the greatest degree.
If all these problems (those above and more) are accelerating out of control and no one is able to do anything about them, you will soon reach a point where civilization implodes, or you start to realize you've been fooled all along and believed all the hyperbole. People are becoming more isolated, disconnected, and more impressionable it seems.

[MCB]

If people continue to blame the actions of a few based on their skin colour as a whole then racism will always be a thing.

[BC Landlord]

Here is my message to these "Anti-racism" crusaders ... I understand there are some people out there who are real racists, not very many, but still ... If you show them to me and rationally back your claims, I'll fight them together with you shoulder-to-shoulder. But please don't fight racism with being racists. That doesn't fix problems. It only creates them.

[sobrohusfat]