Obviously you don't even know what racism is.
Nah, I know what it is quite well, thanks. I'm just using the colloquial definition (i.e. racial prejudice) rather than the dictionary definition (i.e. hatred and/or feeling superior to another race).
There are other concepts you're tossing around - like being prejudiced . . . but the concept of making generalizations using race as a 'starting point' isn't bad unless you're closed-minded or overtly negative and refuse to change your generalization even AFTER presented with disproving facts and evidence.
Well, yes, it *is* bad. If I make assumptions about someone based on their race (until facts/evidence prove otherwise), then it's still racism. Sometimes it can have tangible, negative consequences. For example, if someone subconsciously believes that blacks are lazy, and they're less likely to judge their black employees to be hard workers, they might be less likely to promote them. They might not mean to be racist...they might not even be aware that they're doing it.
Granted, not every racial generalization is going to have those kind of consequences. My point is just that those things are extremely widespread in our culture, and so I find it pretty hard to believe that racism is mostly gone.
In a few of my business courses we've done nothing but spend time learning about business-conduct in other cultures via generalizations and conclusions. It's not racism to do so - lest everyone in the entire world is racist (by your definition - we ALL are). The key is to keep an open mind. "this is a general guideline based on what most people experience" - it is not the same as "they're all like this - so stupid."
I've had those classes too. But there's a big difference between, say, learning all the customs associated with a specific culture versus judging some random guy you just met who looks like he might belong to that culture.
If you're going to be doing international travel, it makes a lot of sense to learn those customs. On the other hand, if those classes were offering lessons on how to deal with black Americans (beyond "don't be racist"), then I'd find it pretty offensive, because there are far more cultural differences WITHIN races in this country than there are BETWEEN races.
Just because someone uses race as a component of identification or in an effort to understand someone's lifestyle or culture doesn't mean they're doing it negatively and with viciousness. . . or that it's something to be avoided.
I agree that it isn't always done with viciousness. I disagree that it's not negative and that it's not something to be avoided. If a person is making assumptions about someone based on their race, it probably *is* negative at least some of the time...and the person probably won't even be aware that they're doing it.
Now - what's with this:
Maybe - just maybe - did you ever consider that said individual is possibly trying to fit together better in a group or with another person? If someone hangs out with me and starts talking (I don't know what my accent is) - but like me . . . why is that a race-thing. Maybe it's a cultural response? Maybe it's a mental safety-response in which they're trying not to feel so 'different' than who they're with.
Why - if someone does that - do you think it's race related or a bad thing?
Maybe it helps both people feel like they have more in common?
:shrug: I fail to see how it's something to take note of - or - that it's bad. Especially since accents aren't race-related. Spite what some people think (apparently) - all 'blacks' don't talk the same and neither do all 'whites' - your accent or dialect is cultural and regional. Not race related. You are exposed to it in childhood and take it on through that exposure. You're not born with it. Don't be ignorant on this topic.
Accents/dialect is like jargon and lingo - you pick it up if needed to blend in better. . . nothing more. If you go to a business meeting you're not going to use your casual-tone and words, are you? No difference.
Well, the accents/dialect aspect of it is part of it, but when I said that people sometimes speak differently around other people depending on their race, I was referring to more than just that. It can also be the types of things people talk about. Some people are more likely to talk about certain subjects with members of one race than with members of another race (aside from touchy racial issues themselves). They might feel that people of a certain race are less knowledgeable or less interested in certain subjects than members of other races.
Maybe you need to spend some real time around a ****ty racist prick in order to see the strong difference. It seems that we've done such a solid job of wiping out strong sentiments of racism that people don't even know what it is. I know - because my grandfather was as openly racist as you could get and I had to tolerate that ****er's mouth for years when I was a kid.
Oh I know they're different. I'm not saying there is no difference between, say, someone who wants to bring back segregation, and someone who asks Asians where they're
really from (implication: not here). The latter is most likely just clueless rather than malicious. But the racist mindset behind both of those ideas is the same: the idea that people can be classified into races, which are a good predictor of the individual's personality traits, background, and interests.
Look, I'm not saying that the people who hold these subconscious racist views are bad people. I've caught myself thinking along those lines before, and had to make a conscious effort to change my perceptions. Once a person makes an effort to be cognizant of these biases, it's much easier to correct them.
Trust me - the last thing racist people want to do is somehow sound like, look like, or act like their 'hated racial group' - so no, they won't be 'talking black' if they're near a black colleague in some form of imitation (I swear - what a silly concept - have you really put a lot of thought into that one?)
The "talking black" thing is your concept, not mine. But like I said, I'm not referring to THAT kind of racism anyway. The type I'm referring to has nothing to do with a "hated racial group"; the people perpetrating it usually don't hate any racial groups and are usually unaware that they're doing it.