auyeung@cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Timothy Auyeung) (12/14/88)
Racism is a particularly ugly subject. Racists are particularly ugly people, all things being considered.
Over the past month, or a month and a half, terms such as racists, fascists, Nazis, and other, more derogatory and base terms have been bandied around with no more regard for their meaning than a garbage compactor has regard for the composition of the garbage it consumes. Added to the heated name calling has been fiery exchanges of emotion and sentinent. Freedom and sensitivity have been primary by-words. Fortunately, as this furor dies down, perhaps we can re-examine the issue with more rationale
and collected thinking.
As strange as it may sound, racism begins and ends with the individual. We generalize a particular race as having a certain attitude towards another race (such as the South Africans [not really a race] towards the blacks or the Germans of WWII to the Jews) but we would missing the whole point. Any offensive action must originate from the individual towards another individual. One race can't call another race names but one person can strike another, torture another, insult another, and hurt another.
To say that our actions are provoked by the general nature of our own race or the despicable qualities of another race would be to lie, would to hide our own shame and guilt. If nothing, surely Nuremburg established the onus of responsibility of our actions upon ourselves.
Thus, to call all white, male, protestants racists and bigots is as much a racist statement as calling all Jews stingy and greedy. The fact of the matter is that no one race or creed or culture has a monopoly on being racist. True, the so-called whites have had a bad reputation for this but they are not alone. Sometimes, in fact, the response to racism is more racism. Take the blacks, for instance. The visible general reaction of American Negroes to the racism of the establishment during the earl
ier part of this century was to respond by treating the "honkies" with the contempt they felt that they had recieved. How could anyone argue that this was not also racism? Or feminists? Some women have taken feminism to such a point that they exclude men from every part of their activities. This is no less discrimination than the 'exclusive' all-men clubs.
In the end, though, all true racism comes from the soul, it comes from that deep wellspring of bias that makes us unique and individual. Unfortunately, many people do not recognize the darker aspects of themselves and so, fail to temper it. A person is only truly unbiased when he or she feels no animosity towards anyone for any reason. Yet, that animosity is towards another single human being. True, there are those who mistakenly hate entire races but if you examine them carefully, you'll that the
y are either brainwashed or aberrant, and certainly do not belong in the category of a normal human being. It is far, far easier to accuse another of being racist, especially when those comments might be directed at us, than to truly examine our own biases. It is eaiser to cry 'bigot' than to stop from flinching when a certain person or persons enters the room. It is a simple request that we should, as intelligent people, examine our own verson of racism before pointing it out in others.
Perhaps the difference between the person who gave the joke which started it all (not Brad, he was merely a pathway) and a bigot is that the person said it in jest, a racist says it in ernest. Words are cheap and easy in this day and age of mass communications, they have been defined beyond any sense or meaning. Yet actions with the right words says a whole lot about the person and their values. Do your actions and words reflect your values?
---------------------------------------------------Tim.
P.S. Any one using the Bible, God, or Christ to attack one race or religion should consider that it says that Jesus came for ALL peoples.auyeung@cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Timothy Auyeung) (12/14/88)
Racism is a particularly ugly su
auyeung@cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Timothy Auyeung) (12/14/88)
Sorry about the formatting of that article but I still haven't quite got posting news down yet but I'm working on it. Much apologies. ----------------------------------Tim.
abcscagz@csuna.UUCP (stepanek/cs assoc) (12/20/88)
Calling someone a racist is rather like calling a Mexican-American a wetback. Both parties yell at each other equally loudly. -- Jeff Boeing: ...!csun.edu!csuna!abcscagz (formerly tracer@stb.UUCP) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My other account is a Porsche.