When racism is ok

Shock horror, right?

First let me define words. I’m not gonna be using the crap definition used by some to mix in class and power into the word to make it seem like only “whites” can be racist. I’ll just use the normal definitions.

racism
n. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
n. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.
n. The belief that each race has distinct and intrinsic attributes.
More at Wordnik from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

I gotta say, I’m shocked at this definition and the ones I’ve been finding during my search. Why? Because I kinda thought that racism is linked to “hate” but that word is wholly missing from this definition. It’s like the root notion of the word is mainly a focus on differences, not necessarily hate. Of course, this buttresses the idea I had in mind when I started this post.

What is a race? It’s a group of people that have common ancestry and are of the same familial history or stock. This group is distinguished from others by physical characteristics.

Now let me look at racism and the definition I have listed and see whether they are inherently evil or not. I’ve seen people claim that racism is a sin. Again, is it?

The first definition listed says that race accounts for differences in human character or ability. I personally don’t believe this to be false. In my experience, race is a factor in the differences in human character. And since race includes differences in physical characteristics, and certain races seem to do better in different activities, as can be seen in sports like basketball or running, then it makes sense that race, someone’s “genes” or inherent traits, can be, and probably are, a factor in someone’s ability.

The belief that one race is superior to another isn’t necessarily evil either. If I think my family is better than the others, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to mistreat others. It’s just a belief, a point of view. If it doesn’t result in harm to others, then what makes it evil? What makes this belief harder to condemn is if it’s actually true. As far as I know, certain races on a whole are better, are superior, at technological and political advances than others. Some races on a whole are more athletic and have better physical prowess than others, hence they have their superiority. How can that be condemned?

So imagine, I think my race is better than others and that race is a factor that separates groups in terms of mindset and physical ability. That would make me a racist. Is that a bad thing? In and of itself, I don’t think so at all. In fact, I think it’s ok.

What about the next bit? Prejudice and discrimination based on race.

Now when I look for the meaning of “prejudice” I find that is bogged down by emotionally-loaded language or biased langauge. The same “American Heritage Dictionary” goes down this path severely where prejudice is kinda ripped away from its root, to pre-judge, to judge one before knowledge, which can have negative and positive connotations, and burdened with descriptions such as “unreasonable preconceived judgements” and “unfairly” and “irrational.” I’m just going to go with the simple definitions.

prejudice

(ˈprɛdʒʊdɪs)n1. an opinion formed beforehand, esp an unfavourable one based on inadequate facts2. the act or condition of holding such opinions3. intolerance of or dislike for people of a specific race, religion, etc

…..[C13: from Old French préjudice, from Latin praejūdicium a preceding judgment, disadvantage, from prae before + jūdicium trial, sentence, from jūdex a judge]Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/prejudice

So, again, because of the limits of the human mind, the first definition refers only to a necessary shortcut humans use to negotiate the world. I personally cannot investigate every single person that I interact with and therefore I will make an opinion beforehand based on inadequate facts. Since my time is limited, I have to judge how to best use it, which means cutting away time from studying individuals. I believe people do this in general. For example, if I know a gang notorious for violence is about, I’ll advise my child not to interact with any individual part of that gang. I do not have adequate information about the individual, but I’ll make a judgement that it is best for my child to stay away from any individual that is part of that gang. Even if the gang is not notorious for violence, but is simply called “a gang,” then I’ll still advise my son to stay away. Inadequate facts, yet opinion drawn.

Now such prejudice but using race as a factor, it’s hard for me to judge that as bad, irrational or unfair. Why? Because I believe there are differences between races. So judging prejudice would have to be a case-by-case decision.

There’s no point in commenting on the second definition since it’s just a reflection of the first.

Now intolerance of or dislike for people of a specific race, is that bad? “You’re white/caucasian so I won’t tolerate you [in some form] and I don’t like you.” Is this definition talking about an inner feeling and preference or an outward action? And if these feelings or actions just result in me keeping to my own, what’s the issue? Is there some rule that I should love everyone equally? Is there some rule that I should love and tolerate every race equally? I don’t think so.

Look, if a person prefers their own people to the extent where they don’t want to be around other groups, then what sin has occurred?

Maybe I’m just not getting it.

What about racial discrimination? First, what does it mean to discriminate? It’s still related to judging, but this time you distinguish between one thing and another, normally in order to treat one thing differently to another. It’s about creating distinctions.

So is treating one race differently to another based on race bad? Well, the problem here is that, as far as I’m concerned, there are differences between races. Added to that, people have certain familial feelings to their own race, and, rarely, to another race they see as superior in certain ways. If one has familial feelings to their own race, then just as it is natural to give one’s own family preferential treatment, then, by extension, one may give one’s own race, familial/ancestral stock, preferential treatment.

I was thinking that even when it comes to strangers, I discriminate. I don’t trust my secrets to strangers. That’s discrimination between those close to me and all others. Interesting. Anyway, maybe that’s off-topic. Maybe it’s not.

Anyway, since the Jewish Bible itself, the law of the Jews that God gave to Moses, preaches discrimination, unequal treatment, where outsiders and foreign residents cannot get into certain offices, then how can I see discrimination, racial discrimination, wrong in and of itself? It’s God’s standards that I use to judge the world, and I don’t use the world’s standard to judge God. Since God is the foundation of morality, it would be stupid and arrogant of me to treat him as if the morality of people is above God himself.

So, although there may be case-by-case issues, on a whole, and maybe in principle, I don’t condemn racial discrimination. I also like the idea of general freedom of association and dissociation. So …

In fact, since the law of God gives backing to some racial discrimination, that now makes racial discrimination not only “ok” but possibly, sometimes, even righteous and wise. And yes, I’m saying that because it is commanded to the Jews by God, there may be some rational principles that make it advantageous for a group of people, a racial community, to make certain opportunities available only to people of their own race and not to strangers.

Is racial discrimination always ok? I don’t know. I’ll have to think about that more. For example, two boys playing football, one’s chinese and the other is anglo-american. If the mother of the chinese boy takes her son away only and simply because the other boy is anglo-american, then that doesn’t seem justified, does it? It is her choice, but what are the grounds of that choice. But normally when life throws such situation at you, and you are excluded from opportunities because of race or other reasons, it would seem that the choice that remains is to find another opportunity. What other choice is there? Sure, you can try to convince the other person using reason. But unfortunately what is done too often is to use force and coercion from alleged “authorities” to impose yourself on the unwilling. Is that the proper way to do things?

Anyway, so far, I haven’t seen anything terribly bad about racism. And the next part of the definition doesn’t help me either. It just says, “the belief that each race has distinct and intrinsic attributes.” That’s weak. Again, it’s just a belief. And, if it’s true that the main races are Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoliod, then it’s hard to see how this belief is incorrect or bad.

So, is racism always bad or evil or immoral? Now, I’m more sure than ever that it is mainly not bad at all, and actually is quite ok. There are occasions where it may even be good and needed.