What is racism?

[LittleNipper]

So when Rodney King is smacked around by a couple of white cops for not cooperating, that is racism. But when a white quadoparalegic is dumped out of his wheelchair by a black cop in a room full of black cops who report nothing happened, is not racism......? That seems rather odd; however, I guess it must be correct!

 

[jayem]

If the perpetrators were motivated to act as they did in either case because of the victim's race, even if that was only part of the motivation, then I'd say racism was involved.

 

[Washington]

So when Rodney King is smacked around by a couple of white cops for not cooperating, that is racism.

Not in of itself. It is only racism if the smacking took place because he was black.

But when a white quadoparalegic is dumped out of his wheelchair by a black cop in a room full of black cops who report nothing happened, is not racism......?

Not if the act and subsequent lack of reporting had nothing to do with the man being white. A racist act is entirely dependent on motivation.

 

[PassionFruit]

Well, racism means several different things and it can come in many different forms. You have overt racism, subtle racism, institutionalized racism, etc.

The accepted definition of racism is the belief that one race is superior to another race. But people should look at racism in more than one way.

However a sociological definition defines racism as a system. A system of advantage based on race. Which means that one race has advantages, while another race is at a disadvantage. You could even say that oppression is involved.

So racism can come in many different forms. The situation with the white man in the wheelchair, kind of touching upon what jayem said, if that was motivated by race, I would say that yes it could be racism. You can't just label something as being racist when you don't know really the motivation involved.

 

[LittleNipper]

If the perpetrators were motivated to act as they did in either case because of the victim's race, even if that was only part of the motivation, then I'd say racism was involved.

The sad thing is, that so very often no one knows what those involved were really THINKING; however assumptions are only permissible to this group or that depending on what is fashionable.

 

[Bombila]

You actually don't know more than three people who aren't white, correct?

Chumming around regularly with non-white friends and coworkers would fairly quickly cause you to understand that the kind of whiteman whine you just posted indicates a complete lack of understanding of the reality of racism towards non-white individuals. Using the term 'fashionable' is a dead giveaway that you you lack empathy out of inexperience.

And of course, the wheelchair incident was horrible, and may have been racist in nature, but police have done such things before without regard to the race of the officers or the victim.

 

[stan1980]

So when Rodney King is smacked around by a couple of white cops for not cooperating, that is racism. But when a white quadoparalegic is dumped out of his wheelchair by a black cop in a room full of black cops who report nothing happened, is not racism......? That seems rather odd; however, I guess it must be correct!

http://www.copons.it/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/dawson-crying.jpg

 

[Lynden1000]

I define racism as the belief that certain races are inherently inferior to, or superior to, other races.

So the acts described in the OP might be racist, or they might not be. I don't know the opinions of the perps.

Sometimes when members of one race attack a member of another race, they do so not because of the race of the victim but because the perps are just plain mean.

 

[Alexandrah]

Is this what you define as being "smacked around"? because I kind of think it looks more like a beating. I think that it fails to qualify as being "smacked around" when the people doing it are kicking and using night sticks.

*edit* The video wouldn't post for me

 

[stan1980]

Is this what you define as being "smacked around"? because I kind of think it looks more like a beating. I think that it fails to qualify as being "smacked around" when the people doing it are kicking and using night sticks.

*edit* The video wouldn't post for me

Yeah, i remember the Rodney King video from when i was a child. I thought "smacked around" seemed a bit of an understatement. Wrongly or rightly, i've already read between the lines and made up my mind about LittleNipper, and it's not a good opinion i have of him.

 

[Alexandrah]

To answer the OP's question:

Racism is:
1.a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others. 2.a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination. 3.hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

I think it's difficult to read a few sentences and determine whether or not the actions were motivated by race. Do you have any links to articles about the situation with the quadriplegic or are you only able to offer us vague statements with your commentary?


Police officers never abuse their positions of authority so it must be a race thing, right?

 

[LittleNipper]

You actually don't know more than three people who aren't white, correct?

Chumming around regularly with non-white friends and coworkers would fairly quickly cause you to understand that the kind of whiteman whine you just posted indicates a complete lack of understanding of the reality of racism towards non-white individuals. Using the term 'fashionable' is a dead giveaway that you you lack empathy out of inexperience.

And of course, the wheelchair incident was horrible, and may have been racist in nature, but police have done such things before without regard to the race of the officers or the victim.

The REALITY is that IF four white officers were standing around while another white officer dumped a black man out of his wheelchair, Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson and others would be having a parade outside that station within a week. It would not matter anyone's thoughts or intentions. The reality is that it would have been VERY BAD and I do believe YOU KNOW THAT FACT as well. So don't try to make me out to be naive. I was not born yesterday. My thoughts are that EVERYONE needs to consider their feelings, and not simply imagine that only whites are racist or that whites cannot make the very same foolish errors of judgment, without an issue being white on black or black on white.

 

[LittleNipper]

Yeah, i remember the Rodney King video from when i was a child. I thought "smacked around" seemed a bit of an understatement. Wrongly or rightly, i've already read between the lines and made up my mind about LittleNipper, and it's not a good opinion i have of him.

Do you have a racist view of me? I also remember that Rodney King seemed not to be cooperating with these cops. The quadriplegic simply sat there until he was dumped on the floor.

 

[stan1980]

Do you have a racist view of me? I also remember that Rodney King seemed not to be cooperating with these cops. The quadriplegic simply sat there until he was dumped on the floor.

In a word, yes. I think you've deliberately played down Rodney King's beating and then tried to justify it. I'm not sure whether you would have done the same thing had a group of black cops beat a white man. Maybe i'm wrong, and maybe my view is unjustified, but you can't change what i think.

 

[LittleNipper]

In a word, yes. I think you've deliberately played down Rodney King's beating and then tried to justify it. I'm not sure whether you would have done the same thing had a group of black cops beat a white man. Maybe i'm wrong, and maybe my view is unjustified, but you can't change what i think.

I believe you are inconsiderate of the feelings of ALL individuals and worry more about one race as opposed to another. I remember that what happened to Mr. King was very bad; however, what happened to him after the trial? What was gained and what was lost? Police sould not treat people as things, either white or black things. When both blacks and whites can see this then racism will go away. It will not go away if one race claims special privileges for past wrongs. We are oll GOD's creation. We need to remember that and the rest will improve if we do.....

 

[stan1980]

I believe you are inconsiderate of the feelings of ALL individuals and worry more about one race as opposed to another.

Not at all. I haven't stated or made any assumptions over whether either attack was racially motivated. You're the one who is bringing up old cases and bleating on about injustices. After looking up the Rodney King case, it looks like no one was charged for anything racially motivated. I have no idea what happened in the second case so i can't really comment.

 

[LittleNipper]

Not at all. I haven't stated or made any assumptions over whether either attack was racially motivated. You're the one who is bringing up old cases and bleating on about injustices. After looking up the Rodney King case, it looks like no one was charged for anything racially motivated. I have no idea what happened in the second case so i can't really comment.

You've made enough ASSUMPTIONS concerning me to hang yourself. The Rodney King incident was on video. This recent incident is also on video and easy to find. You found the Rodney King --- find the other if you care. What I'm saying is that no riot resulted in the second case and Al & Jessie are rather silent.

 

[stan1980]

This recent incident is also on video and easy to find. You found the Rodney King --- find the other if you care.

I looked for it using a few key words and found nothing. I couldn;t even find a news story about it. PErhaps you could post them. Considering i haven't even got a name to go by how exactly do you expect me to find it?

Even so, the 2nd video isn't really the issue i was raising. My issue, as i said before, was the way in which you played down the Rodney King case and justified a quite brutal beating.

 

[Remny]

Hmm Racism is far more tricky today than its ever been. People rightfully recognize patterns and by using inductive reasoning may apply these patterns to larger groups of people.

For instance, I had the missfortune of being in jail for a while. When I was in there I noticed a very large and disproportionate amount of african americans in jail. Where I live probably less than 1% of the population is black, in jail about 33% of the population was black. The black people in there were the most difficult and unfriendly as well.

Naturally, this could obviously cause some bad oppinions about black people. I admit, when I'm at work and black people come in, I usually sigh to myself. This is not 'cause I just hate them for nor reason or anything, but my experiences at work with about 80% of the black people is generally very annoying. They come in groups, they are loud and rude, they whine about the price of things, they do not have propper identification or credit or debt cards, most of the time it is a hassle.

Even so I resist the urge to just write off the whole race. My experiences have forged me into someone who yes is a little wary of a certain race, but I do try to treat every new person as someone new who may or may not be cool. There are of course a handful of african americans that I interact with that are super nice. Also any black people I've met that were directly from africa were super nice. But I can't also just discount all my experience with them. In some communities there is straight up SOMETHING wrong with a group or culture. However when you see this and you make judgements based on it. You should avoid hatred, though sometimes it is hard. We must all make generalizations to help save time and fill in gaps when we have missing information. As long as when new information is brought forward, we are willing to accept it. i don't think one is racist.

Racism is these days, unescisarily touchy. People don't have problems saying things like, republicans are all wrong and greedy, but say something like that about a race and you've crossed the line, even if you were joking. Like at work, I could have an open debate about politics and certain political groups of people and not really get in trouble, if I did the same thing about certain races of people I'd certainly get in giant trouble.

I think a lot of times people who aren't really racist appear so only because they lack the social skills, and edicate to express their oppinions in a race sensative world. IN the end, I don't think I'm racist even if in a dark parking lot at night I'd be more frightened of a group of black people than a group of white people.

Likely, as time goes on everyone will mesh into one mixed race anyhow, and then we'll have to find other ways to stereo type eachother.

 

[LittleNipper]

I looked for it using a few key words and found nothing. I couldn;t even find a news story about it. PErhaps you could post them. Considering i haven't even got a name to go by how exactly do you expect me to find it?

Even so, the 2nd video isn't really the issue i was raising. My issue, as i said before, was the way in which you played down the Rodney King case and justified a quite brutal beating.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/13/wheelchair.dumping.ap/index.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7243240.stm

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=73747