Alumbrado
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Aneirin From; Racism has many definitions, the most common and widely accepted being that members of one race consider themselves intrinsically superior to members of other races.(from wikipedia) I hear someone in The US has made a comment on Obamas campaign,and been labelled racist. What is it about this word that seems to be complete anethema to everyone, no one wants the label, which seems so easily given. It does seem to me that once the label of racist has been applied to someone, they are destroyed, something which I feel hinders proper debate, understanding and action for all concerned. The word seems so easily given, even in places where there is no real racism, just someone who feels the word has a good effect, a be all, stop all.And it does have the effect to stop all, why? Why should one word be something which may hinder a better understanding between all races, races which are made up of people? Except that of course, the notion that this is just about words, is a smokescreen. It is about power over others. It wasn't merely words that kept black people in chains and made Europeans wealthy selling slaves to Brazil, Jamaica, etc.... it was guns and chains. It wasn't words that kept black people from voting under Jim Crow, or from being legally human under terra nullius...it was guns and handcuffs. It wasn't just words that kept Chinese people from testifying against any white person in courts... it was guns and badges. And it wasn't words that fattened British coffers in forced opium trade, it was guns and gunboats. It wasn't words that kept apartheid going... it was guns and sjamboks. Once minorities learned how to shoot back, then suddenly the oppressors wanted to play 'civilized' word games. And now that minorities have learned the use of the court system, of media influence over public opinion, and of economic leverage, the fading status quo wants to make it a baaaaaaad thing to point out racism, even when it is real. Hence the game played by Stormfront, David Dukes, Geraldine Ferrarro, and several of the serial hate posters here, of yelling 'race card' whether it is true or not.
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