So, I've got some beef with the word 'racist' because I think it has reached a tipping point where it's causing more harm than good in American society today. So, I'm gonna list some reasons why I don't like the word, and what I feel like should be done instead.
1. It has given us a binary option
You can't be half a racist. You either are racist, or you're not racist, and frankly race relations are not a simple black and white issue like that (no pun intended). We have probably seen on the news or on the internet, when some young white college kid gets drunk and does something deemed offensive to a person that's a different ethnicity. And that kid becomes undoubtedly labeled as a racist. But my point is we use the same word (racist) to describe a kid doing a stupid fucked up thing, as we do to describe a hardened 20 year vet of the KKK. And that just seems a bit off to me.
My solution: Lets bring back the word 'ignorant.' To me, true racism requires intent. You have to actually dislike/hate a race to be a racist. If someone says something stupid, it makes them stupid, not a racist.
2. Honestly, it's not that strong of a word anymore
Calling someone racist has become a pretty popular thing in my opinion. Personally, I blame liberals for overusing the word because of oversensitivity on matters of race. And though I understand that they are doing so because they believe it is helping, I think it is having an opposite effect.
I like talking about race and ethnicity because it interests me, and numerous times I have been called a racist for saying something different. And it is increasingly easy to brush of being called racist, because you can't look at a Youtube comment section without half the people calling the other half racist. Imagine if I started calling every single shitty hotel painting a masterpiece of art. At a certain point, you don't care when someone says the created a masterpiece because there is such a large amount of masterpieces.
My solution: Cut back on the word. Being called a racist should give someone the same feeling as if someone called them a pedophile. We can achieve that by saving the word for people that truly exhibit racism.
3. It is creating a rift between each other
To me, racism and anti-racism have both relied on treating other groups differently, just in different ways.
I am half Italian, half Irish. And modern political correctness has allowed me to make insults directly relating to someone else's Italian or Irish ethnicity because we share the same background. My full Italian cousin is a bodybuilder, and I have on numerous occasions called him a greased up no brain guido (jokingly). And I got a typical Boston grown full Irish friend who I call a mic and joke about the curse of the angry Irish pinky. But for anyone else outside of our ethnic background, it is considered 'racist' to make those kind of comments. But if I constantly rip on people of my ethnicity for those common stereotypes, why is it racist for me to do so to other groups? After all I would be treating all groups equally, wouldn't I? If I am being stopped from making jokes about other groups the same as I would my own, is that not itself racist?
My solution: Grow some thicker skin when it comes to matter of race, ethnicity, etc. I look more Italian than I do Irish. When someone makes an Italian joke to me, it's just a joke. When someone says something that is actually meant to offend me for being Italian, I don't give two shits what the guy says because he's an idiot for thinking that every single Italian person can fit into a generalization. Moral of the story, don't get your panties in a bunch over every single matter of race or ethnicity.
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Feel free to comment or criticize. I could probably say more, but I'm too tired writing to do so now.
1. It has given us a binary option
You can't be half a racist. You either are racist, or you're not racist, and frankly race relations are not a simple black and white issue like that (no pun intended). We have probably seen on the news or on the internet, when some young white college kid gets drunk and does something deemed offensive to a person that's a different ethnicity. And that kid becomes undoubtedly labeled as a racist. But my point is we use the same word (racist) to describe a kid doing a stupid fucked up thing, as we do to describe a hardened 20 year vet of the KKK. And that just seems a bit off to me.
My solution: Lets bring back the word 'ignorant.' To me, true racism requires intent. You have to actually dislike/hate a race to be a racist. If someone says something stupid, it makes them stupid, not a racist.
2. Honestly, it's not that strong of a word anymore
Calling someone racist has become a pretty popular thing in my opinion. Personally, I blame liberals for overusing the word because of oversensitivity on matters of race. And though I understand that they are doing so because they believe it is helping, I think it is having an opposite effect.
I like talking about race and ethnicity because it interests me, and numerous times I have been called a racist for saying something different. And it is increasingly easy to brush of being called racist, because you can't look at a Youtube comment section without half the people calling the other half racist. Imagine if I started calling every single shitty hotel painting a masterpiece of art. At a certain point, you don't care when someone says the created a masterpiece because there is such a large amount of masterpieces.
My solution: Cut back on the word. Being called a racist should give someone the same feeling as if someone called them a pedophile. We can achieve that by saving the word for people that truly exhibit racism.
3. It is creating a rift between each other
To me, racism and anti-racism have both relied on treating other groups differently, just in different ways.
I am half Italian, half Irish. And modern political correctness has allowed me to make insults directly relating to someone else's Italian or Irish ethnicity because we share the same background. My full Italian cousin is a bodybuilder, and I have on numerous occasions called him a greased up no brain guido (jokingly). And I got a typical Boston grown full Irish friend who I call a mic and joke about the curse of the angry Irish pinky. But for anyone else outside of our ethnic background, it is considered 'racist' to make those kind of comments. But if I constantly rip on people of my ethnicity for those common stereotypes, why is it racist for me to do so to other groups? After all I would be treating all groups equally, wouldn't I? If I am being stopped from making jokes about other groups the same as I would my own, is that not itself racist?
My solution: Grow some thicker skin when it comes to matter of race, ethnicity, etc. I look more Italian than I do Irish. When someone makes an Italian joke to me, it's just a joke. When someone says something that is actually meant to offend me for being Italian, I don't give two shits what the guy says because he's an idiot for thinking that every single Italian person can fit into a generalization. Moral of the story, don't get your panties in a bunch over every single matter of race or ethnicity.
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Feel free to comment or criticize. I could probably say more, but I'm too tired writing to do so now.
