people need stability. — csalisbury
Sure, but your post was couched in qualification, and illuminating detail. I responded to the whole of it.My point was that you're missing something if you think a person has to be evil in order to be racist
Your strawman is pretty interesting, though. — frank
Intolerance works as a survival tactic on the cultural level, not so much among individuals. It's the way it works out in the individual psyche that sucks: as a lightning rod for whatever frustrations happen to be floating in the mists. — frank
Racism arises from a misunderstanding, not evil intent. Perhaps the most abysmal aspect of racism is that it's nothing personal. The target race is just "vermin" or what have you. It's no more evil than identifying rats as pests. — frank
The idea of being intolerant of people who are intolerant of people who are intolerant of.... is interesting to me. There's a story in there (or a painting).thanks, but you’re still calling it a strawman, and adding “peace” while maintaining strawmanhood, is a bit ( is very much) like a passive aggressive smiley. — csalisbury
That's a possibility I hadn't considered. I picked up a talking-to-the-wall kind of vibe from your post.I want to know where I’m misrepresenting you, and what you actually meant. — csalisbury
It shows your willing to make blanket assumptions about a group with no reason as to why — MindForged
One of the most important reasons for seeing this is that counter intolerance is just as ugly as the primary type. — frank
My point in the OP is that malignant intolerance is a result of a misunderstanding. A side ramble was about this:
X-race fails to see the humanity of Y-race.
Y, with a psyche full of angst from having to deal with X, begins to fail to see the humanity of X
Y has fallen into the same misunderstanding as X. I would not suggest that anyone should be intolerant of Y because of that. That intolerance formed naturally. No regress. I'm not trying to congratulate myself here. There just isn't a regress. — frank
Racism is an ugly fruit of a natural plant. That's what I'm saying. The people who embrace it are not necessarily ugly at heart. One of the most important reasons for seeing this is that counter intolerance is just as ugly as the primary type. If we label racist people as vermin, we have dehumanized them and shut the door on them. We have failed to realize that people can change. — frank
A term often used to describe racists is "ignorant," which describes a lack of knowledge or understanding, implying education is the cure. — Hanover
Yes.No one is evil, clearly. To reduce human strife to anything but humanity itself seems superstitious. So I agree. — Fool
The question that interests me is What makes you morally culpable? Are certain beliefs morally obligatory? If you fail to understand what actually causes the behavior you attribute to someone’s race, is that a moral or an intellectual failure? By analogy, you wouldn’t fault a deaf guy for ignoring your calls. I’m tempted to suggest goals and desires - hell, maybe just actions. But it’s all wound up with what you believe. — Fool
"Evil" is an honorific for spectacular failures. :DIt would help to know what does qualify as evil, if anything. — Fool
This is an odd question. I would have assumed by definition that a racist is someone who is devoid of character? Outside of that we are all racist to a greater or lesser degree and not all racism is bad racism.
Perhaps one needs to define ones use of the term a little better?
Also what is "multi-racial"? — Marcus de Brun
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