No. Asking what racism is, is an extremely dumb question. Because we all know what racism is.
This is demonstrably false.
Here is the report Patrisse Cullors called racist:
Black Lives Matter Secretly Bought a $6 Million House
Please point out the racist part of the report. It should be easy, since we all know what racism is, apparently.
The questions (plural) that we need to answer - and a lot of people have been thinking about them over the last couple of years, are those that ask in what circumstances can something be described as racist.
Give an example of a circumstance.
So the point that you just raised is then a valid one. In what circumstances were the comments made?
You're putting the cart before the horse. Defining what racism is would answer or eliminate a lot of the questions you just posted.
What intent was there in making them?
Obviously a racist intent makes something racist. That is why I'm asking you to define racism.
Is intent a necessary requisite for a racist statement?
Of course it is. This shouldn't even be a question. When intent is ignored we get ridiculous situations like this:
USC professor under fire after using Chinese expression students allege sounds like English slur - CNN
The professors intent was to teach the students a word in Chinese.
Is the ethnic background of the woman partly responsible for the comment?
This goes back to intent. You're basically asking the same question again, just phrased differently.
Do personal preferences need to be considered?
This question is too vague. What personal preferences are you talking about?
If the person who makes any comment an obvious racist does that cloud the issue?
No. Either a comment is racist or it's not.
Can we separate obvious divisions in society on racial grounds?
This is a separate issue.
If the person making the comment is the same ethnic backround as the person to whom the comments are addressed, can it still be called racist?
Maybe we can find the answer in the definition of racism.
Does any good that a racist does balance any racist comments?
Balance? What do you mean by that? Make racist comments less racist?
Those are just some questions we could address on one single example of one comment. There are probably a lot more. And most are probably germane to other examples.
Seems like you're just splitting hairs by asking a whole bunch of questions, most of which are irrelevant, in an attempt to stretch the meaning of the word racism as thin as possible.
And the problem is that we might agree on some and not agree on others. So there's a lot of grey areas. This is not generally a black and white matter (with very obvious exceptions).
But I think that before we even start examining any example of potential racism, then we'd be expected to know what racism actually was in order for us to be able to discuss, debate and determine whether it is or is not.
I thought we all knew what racism was, according to you.