Quote:
Originally Posted by Autumn
I agree with you in a sense, Molson, but everybody has racist opinions. Everyone. So even when you respect someone enough to think they're not *a* racist, that doesn't mean something they are saying or doing or acting on isn't an element of racism. People tend to freak out as if racism is only a label for a person. But it's not about the person, it's about how we approach and react and talk about things. If we treat it as a label, we just create more polarized conversation.
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OK, but how can we reconcile that reality with the discussions surrounding an event like this? I think I see what you're saying, that if someone maybe raises the possibility that a particular view is based on a non-malicious ignorance, or a non-malicious prejudice, that maybe instead of being immediately offended and shutting down and responding angrily, we just look inward and think - hmm, maybe I am looking at this with a bias viewpoint? I totally agree, but that kind of response is much less likely when the race issue (or any bias) is set forth via a snarky bingo chart, or dismissive comments like, "stay classy FOFC", etc. If someone wants a serious discussion about the real bias we all have, I think you can approach the subject with more respect for the other person than that, and also acknowledge that you yourself have bias as well. Otherwise it comes off like you're attacking people from an ivory tower of moral perfection, and it's only everyone else that has the problem. It's the easiest thing in the world to try to invalidate others' opinions with accusations of bias, it's much more difficult to raise the issue in a manner that would encourage people to actually examine their own bias, and it's even harder to examine your own bias. Also difficult - recognizing the bias in others and still having enough respect for them to see any underlying validity in the opinion. I guess if there's a group that accomplish all that, you can have some real adult conversations. (And I'm not saying I'm particularly good at any of those things - I'm right now finding myself completely disregarding the opinions of people who I think have a racial bias towards Martin and against Zimmerman - which is exactly the sort of thing I wouldn't want people to do to my own opinions.).