Something that we talked about in class that really caught my attention that I thought was interesting, was the point that "to talk about race is to be racist." I felt like this was greatly shown in the Color Blind Racism article by Bonilla-Silva. In almost every interview, the speaker hesitated, had to defend what they were saying and tended to contradict or speak in circles. None were decisive at all, and they all were scared to offend. I think that people are able to have opinions, and should be able to express them without the fear of being taken as offensive. The "political correct" policy annoys me in this way. People are too sensitive and need to understand others as long as there is substantial reasoning behind one's point. That one may not be racist just for commenting on something pertaining to race.
Another concept that I found interesting was the idea of Naturalization. The idea that sometimes certain people tend to live together, or do the same things, and that it is not due to racism that these separations occur. However, such can lead to different cultural ways which further increase the divide between races. There is less to relate to, and people transitioning or interacting in foreign environments can be viewed as being racist because of their hesitance. I think that this hesitance however, is only due to being in a new environment, and having to adjust.
People are too eager to jump to the conclusion of racist, racism, ect. I think that there is a defined difference between racism and prejudice. And most situations could be described as being effected by prejudice, which is not always a bad thing.
**Leah Wz.
Post 2!
You bring to light a very important aspect of "new racism" or "color-blind racism"--that under these types of racism, to even talk about race or racial issues is often to be perceived as racist. We live in a society where race isn't supposed to matter, right?--therefore, to talk about race is to violate this idea. This is one of the ways in which new racism is so stealthy, allowing us to not be able to adequately address racial issues because to raise the issue of race is sometimes deemed as inappropriate. As you say, what is really prejudice is often labeled as racism, thus foreclosing an open and honest dialogue on racial issues.
ReplyDeleteI think Leah makes a great point about this. And I was wondering about this myself. I realize that we live in a country where race isn't supposed to matter, but maybe race does matter. Definitely not in a bad way, but in the sense that if there is no stigma about race, then it wouldn't be bad to talk about it.
ReplyDeleteI also think that a lot of what people consider 'racism' is just prejudice, or even just stereotypes. Culture is a large part of peoples lives, and I think that just having different cultures, and even understanding that these cultures are different is what causes people to seem racist by making comments about this.
Angela Post 1!