From Reappropriate:
[referring to argument’s that say if someone didn’t intended to be racist, then it is not racist]
These types of responses emphasize the majority-centric view that most people have towards racism. When intent reigns supreme, then the problem with racism is not about the victim of the racist action, but the perpetrator and their intent. This outlook on racism only benefits the oppressor, who no longer has to consider the victims of his oppression. Not surprisingly, it is the same people who belong to the majority who perpetuate this self-interested treatment of racism.
Racism does not occur in a bubble, but exists as an ongoing history of racism in America. When Michael Richards made his “fork up the ass” joke at the Laugh Factory, the racism was not that Richards actually wanted to find a Black person and stick a fork up his ass, but because this paralleled a racist American history that included numerous instances of popularized lynchings. The fork metaphor (i.e., equating a Black person with a food item) futher referenced the characterization of lynchings as Bar-B-Q’s.
Similarly, Rosie O’Donnell’s use of “ching-chong”-ery occurred amidst a history of oppression against Asian Americans and Chinese Americans in this country, which had already included use of “ching chong” as a form of degrading and dehumanizing Chinese people.
You should definitly read the rest of this blog post at Reappropriate.
I do think we do make too big a deal of situation’s like Rosie and Michael Richard’s making insane and racist statements. Let me be clear, I believe these issues and situations are big deals and need to be addressed. I’m also grateful in an odd way, for such big celebrities to do such racist things, because unfortunately, it seems like that’s the only way most common folk end up talking about these things.
So, I think we need to make less a deal of racist comments by celebrities, and start making a big deal of the comments, jokes, and structural injustices around us that discriminate on race or gender.
Video Links (Warning, many use inappropriate and racist language):
My current thought when faced with this argument is to make a distinction between racism and prejudice, with the distinction (which may be completely within my usage of the terms) is that prejudice is an individual thing where racism is a systemic thing which doesn’t require prejudice to be perpetuated.
Richard,
That’s an interesting distinction to make. I don’t think as far as my language goes that I make that distinction. I do think it is important to make that distinction, between individual and systemic or structural.
Personally though I do think the word “racism” can be used to talk on both levels, just using the other words (individual or systemic) as qualifiers. Racism is a specific form of prejudice, in the same way as sexism, ageism, nationalism, etc.
Do you feel like individuals can be “racist”?