Is it true that some people think that racism is the same as saying something bad about an ethnic group?

Question

My definition of "racism" is saying something inappropriate against one of the three major races of mankind. There are many, many different ethnic, religious, and language groups that claim "racism", but I think that would be a different word unless it is used solely against their "race". By my definition, there can be no "racism" against Muslims or Hispanics because these groups can be made up of any of the three races and be any nationality.

Answer 1

Per others posts, "racism" is belief about race, usually that people whose skin and hair and eyes look different from those of the holder of that belief are inferior. People who consider themselves superior based on reasons other than race are called "bigots" or "chauvenists".

I don't understand where you get 3 races from. What race are Maori? What race are Inuit? What race are Yanoamo? What race are Sardinians? What race are Cherokee? What race are Goans? What race are Balinese?

There are a wide variety of genetic variations, with *some* regional consistencies that are labelled as race, but such distinctions seem useless to me except in terms of treatment of genetic diseases.

You may be interested in this quote from Wikipedia:

"Terminology problems

The need to subdivide the human species into groups for analytical purposes has existed throughout recorded history. Until about a century ago, such groups were termed "races," a term that soon after its 17th-century coinage became politicized and used to support colonization, exploitation, cruelty and oppression among nations, religions, cultures, and those of different continental ancestries. Consequently, today the conceptual act of merely dividing populations into groups for analysis has become suspect and even controversial. This has led to the euphemization of population terms. The confusion is aggravated by the alignment between the U.S. endogamous color line and Euro-African admixture ratios. And so the controversy has jeopardized the credibility of otherwise useful studies.

[edit] The very act of conceptually dividing populations into groups is controversial.

Among physical anthropolgists at least, support for dividing populations by "race" has fallen steadily over the past century.[66] Where 78 percent of the articles in the 1931 Journal of Physical Anthropology employed these or similar synonymous terms reflecting a bio-race paradigm, only 36 percent did so in 1965, and just 28 percent did in 1996.[67] The paradigm has also lost favor among medical researchers and practitioners. In February, 2001, the editors of the medical journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine asked authors to no longer use "race" as explanatory variable nor to use obsolescent terms. Others prestigious peer-reviewed journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine and the American Journal of Public Health have done the same.[68] Furthermore, the National Institutes of Health recently issued a program announcement for grant applications through February 1, 2006, specifically seeking researchers who can investigate and publicize among primary care physicians the detrimental effects on the nation's health of the practice of medical racial profiling using such terms The program announcement quoted the editors of one journal as saying that, "analysis by race and ethnicity has become an analytical knee-jerk reflex." [69]

Such criticisms suggest that "racial" terms (Black, White, Asian or Caucasoid, *******, Mongoloid) reify the "race" notion and perpetuate the simplistic and demonstrably false notion that H. sapiens can genetically be divided into a specific set of 3-8 distinct groups which can then be objectively delineated to everyone's agreement.[70] Humanity can be grouped or classified in many different ways, of course, either genetically (as, for instance, by blood type, lactose tolerance, skin tone, or the neutral markers of prehistoric migrations) or politically (as in U.S. EEOC regulations). And whether any such classification scheme matches any particular individual's notion of "race" depends upon the individual.

Nevertheless, as mentioned above (Differences among U.S. voluntary ethnic self-identity groups), there are considerable public health disparities among U.S. ethnic groups. Clearly, the subject must be studied in order to bring about a more equitable society, and it is hard to see how to do this without labeling the social groups being studied. Similarly (as mentioned in Differences associated with continent-of-ancestry admixture ratios), increasing numbers of public health differences throughout the Western Hemisphere are found to correlate with Euro-Afro-Amerind genetic admixture ratios in New World populations. Again, one must label the phenomenon in order to study it."

Answer 2

You are right, and wrong. So far the most "privileged" ethnic group is the white coming from northern Europe.

There are other ethnically different whites like Hispanics, Middle Eastern, Northern African, Jewish, and most descends of the rest of Europe.

You could also be discriminated based on religion, or country of origin. The law is very specific when there is discrimination or a hatred crime. For example: A 6-month pregnant woman of Mexican origin was assaulted by a group of three 20 year old "white" guys outside a supermarket in a predominantly "white" neighborhood. This type of crime is categorized as "hate crime," the same when there are swasticas painted on the doors of some Jewish houses.


However, if someone gets fired because he is Hispanic, this type of discrimination isn't based on race (unless this is noted) but based on place of origin or ancestry. I have heard of some Italian companies that would not promote certain people if they don't have an Italian background/last-name.

The same if a boss learns you practice a religion he doesn't approve of or he makes negative comments about it, here you would be discriminated based on your religion.

The law is clear, and that's why some companies have class action suits- based on gender, race, religion, place of origin, etc. A woman sued her employer, USB, and she received 20MM because it was found that they were discriminating against her based on her gender.

So next time you hear someone saying that someone else was racially discriminated against, hear the details as these may tell you whether or not they are talking about race, gender, hate crime or another type of prejudice.

Good luck.

Answer 3

It is worse, the same, or better than they were ten years ago in America. Yes, it is all of the above, depending on day to day situations. For example, I can live next to my neighbors longer before they run away. I am friends with people outside my race who I feel comfortable with I can go to some restaurants and still be ignored for longer than people of the acceptable race People think I drive a BMW because I deal in drugs. I do not. Some people think my education is because I'm a beneficiary of affirmative action. No, I'm naturally smart, I learn very quickly. I graduated first in my class. Some think I'm deaf because I look like an African black, pure blooded, so they speak to me in a louder voice. Enough already.

Answer 4

Because racism carries connotations of race-based bigotry, prejudice, violence, oppression, stereotyping or discrimination, the term has varying and often hotly contested definitions. Racialism is a related term intended to avoid these negative meanings. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another race or races. The Merriam-Webster's Webster's Dictionary dictionary defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, and that it is also the prejudice based on such a belief.[2] The Macquarie Dictionary defines racism thus: the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics which determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule or dominate others.

Some sociologists have defined racism as a system of group privilege. In Portraits of White Racism David Wellman (1993) has defined racism as "culturally sanctioned beliefs, which, regardless of intentions involved, defend the advantages whites have because of the subordinated position of racial minorities,” (Wellman 1993: x). Sociologists Noel Cazenave and Darlene Alvarez Maddern define racism as “...a highly organized system of 'race'-based group privilege that operates at every level of society and is held together by a sophisticated ideology of color/'race' supremacy. Racist systems include, but cannot be reduced to, racial bigotry,” (Cazenave and Maddern 1999: 42). Sociologist and former American Sociological Association president Joe R. Feagin argues that the United States can be characterized as a "total racist society" because racism is used to organize every social institution (Feagin 2000, p. 16). This stands in contrast to a definition that presumes racism to be an irrational form of bigotry that is not connected to the organization of social structure.

Any way you look at it racsim is the blight of society.

Answer 5

Prejudice is prejudging someone base on a certain group. Racism is prejudice that is based on race. So, you can be prejudiced against someone of a certain religion or language group, but it's not racism.

Answer 6

Boy talk about rationalization. If you behave in a prejudicial manner towards any person or group of persons because of a common physical characteristic, religion, or culture, then you are being racist. Trying to rationalize your prejudice against a specific group by saying they dont count is intellectually dishonest.

Answer 7

Wow. Your definition scares me a bit. Racism is racism. Saying something inappropriate about someone of a different anything than you is racism most of the time. Why would it make a difference what race was saying what about whom? Stupid words are stupid words, no matter who's mouth they come out of.

Answer 8

Racism is discrimination against someone based on their race. It is very commonly thought that racism is only when "white" people discriminate against "black" people. The truth is that anyone of any race can be racist. "White" people are constantly being called racist and can't seem to do anything involving "black" people with out someone going crook. "Black" people are rarely, if ever called racist.
"Black" people often acuse "white" people of being racist when things don't go their way or when they want something.

Answer 9

there is racism which is hate for a certain race of people, it can even be your own people
there is prejudice which is hate for religion, sexual orientation, gender etc. (this is were muslims would fit in)

Answer 10

I'll answer it like this. Your family are the Smiths.a few of your cousins and maybe one of your brothers commit horrible acts of violence.Should all the Smith family be condemed or judge by the actions or behavior of thes few indivuals who made their own choices?