I've been called a racist. I won't name names, but you know who you are. The reason why I was called a racist is because I defended the Minister Louis Farrakan in a previously locked thread. Some people would like to believe that Mr. Farrakan is a racist, this is their right. But does that make me a racist because I do not believe he is a racist?

Some people have defended calling me a racist because they claim I've made racist statements. This is not true. My statements were only in defense of Mr. Farrakan, and I never categorized anyone to be a racist.

So..., my question is What is a racist? Please someone help me understand, as some people here think my comments make me appear unintelligent and don't know what a racist is, so I ask the members of the Org to please clarify...

do you think yourself superior to people of a different race or colour to you?

It's a yes or no question.


.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 2 11:29:39 PST 2002 by Thecherryloon]

2 entries found for racist.


---

rac·ism Pronunciation Key (rszm)
n.
The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

---
racist adj. & n.

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


---

racist

adj 1: based on racial intolerance; "racist remarks" 2: discriminatory especially on the basis of race or religion [syn: antiblack, anti-Semitic, anti-Semite(a)] n : a person with a prejudiced belief that one race is superior to others [syn: racialist]
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University

Louis Farrakhan has definitely made many racist comments and I would certainly consider him to be a racist.

I cannot say that you are a racist, SweeTea... but your vociferous defense of Farrakhan's racist comments doesn't make you look like a racially tolerant individual.

Here is my point:

If I defended the views of a white man who said that black people were potential humans who were not yet evolved and that black people were monkeys, I would not necessarily be a racist for defending his right to have an opinion, but my failure to condemn his statements would make it appear that I was at least somewhat in agreement.

That was my point yesterday.

I am sorry for calling you a racist, by the way.

...
[This message was edited Sat Nov 2 11:38:08 PST 2002 by IceNine]

Well SweeTea I don't believe you said anything particularly racist in that other thread. I guess everyone's tempers got a bit heated given the subject matter. It always happens when discussion turns to the topic of racism, alas.

However, I was interested to learn more about Farrakhan but it seems a shame that no-one really took the bait to defend him, discuss his ideas, writing, and agenda aside from the numerous racist comments he is attributed with. Anyone got any links, books I can read etc? I'm genuinely interested in figuring this guy and deciding for myself.

ian said:

Didn't NuPwrSoul do that?

Supernova said:

I think he did his best, but no one was really interested in discussing Farrakhan, they were too busy shouting at each other

ian said:

Ah, I see.

Thecherryloon said:

In my defense,just to make sure I have the correct understanding of what a racist is, I went to look up the word racist in my dictionary "Funk & Wagnall..." although it's 1400 pages it did not list racist by itself but as a noun of racism.

racism: An excessive and irrational belief in or advocacy of the superiortiy of a given group, people, or nationa, on racial grounds alone. race hatred; racist, n

racial - Pertaining to or characteristic of a race, races, or descent.


characteristic -- a distinctive feature; peculiarity.


feature - Any part of the human face or body.

My defense of Mr. Farrakan was the focus of his previous comments were in retaliation of the evil things (i.e. slavery, Jim Crow laws, lynchings etc... you know the history) done to black people at the hands of some white people, and not because of any particular "feature" they may have like having white skin,

No I do not white hate people because they are white. No I do not hate white people or any other people because I think I'm better than they are.

But if I defend someone who is considered racist, does that make me racist also?

That is my question.

SweeTea said:

It doesn't matter why you hate someone of another race... the comments that Farrakhan makes about white people are racist.

If a of group black people killed someone that I knew, would it be okay for me to call them "potential humans who have not evolved" or "monkeys" or other racist names? Would I not be a racist because I hated black people because of the actions of a group of black people?

What's more, the people that he is basing his racism on were in the past... I haven't done anything to any black person ever, yet I am white and am covered by his blanket racist statements.

...
[This message was edited Sat Nov 2 12:07:05 PST 2002 by IceNine]

Everyone knows what a racist is..stop playin'.

SweeTea said:

Good question!

I guess it depends what aspect of that person you choose to defend. If you choose to defend that person's work helping sick orphans or homeless kittens or helping old ladies across the street, that probably doesn't make you a racist But if of course if you defend someone's racist opinions and policies, well I'd say that would make you a racist.

I've never met anyone in the world who I agreed with 100% on absolutely every issue, so I would never be confident enough in another person to align their beliefs completely with mine and defend another person's beliefs entirely. If I found that Farrakhan (for example) shared the same beliefs as me on one issue, I'd defend his standpoint on that issue because it is the same as mine. But if he's a racist, I won't be defending his standpoint on that particular issue. And chances are if he is a racist no one would take him seriously in politics so it would be damaging for me to align myself and my arguments with his (if he is a self-proclaimed racist).

ian said:

Hey I posted an excerpt and a link from one of his defenders back in the locked thread.

teller said:

Cheers Teller I'll go check that out now.

BTW I was checking out your skeleton card stuff. Cool stuff

Maybe I have been asking the wrong questions. Maybe my first question is this:

Does slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings, church burnings, segregation, oppresstion, discrimination in jobs/housings, crossing burnings, house burnings, unfair judicial systems, justify one's anger?

SweeTea said:

Interesting question it is as well.i don't want to head anywhere else but you often hear that Hitler was a very clever man, and a master tactician.Of this there is no doubt, as time has moved on it has been deemed 'safe' to express admiration for his leadership of the Nazis, he almost achieved his aims of controling Europe.thankfully he didn't.

I couldn't begin to defend the man's beliefs though.Is Farrahkan that far removed from a Hitler.Imagine if he actually acquired some form of power.Would he improve your life, or cause misery to others?

SweeTea said:

It justified anger, yes... but it does not justify hatred of people who were not a part of that injustice... and hating people of a different race is still racism no matter what the reasons for hating them.

SweeTea said:

No.You weren't there.

Thecherryloon said:

That goes for any leader.Ask people in the middle east what they think of Bush.

Thecherryloon said:

Thats the most preposterous thing I've ever read here.

rdhull said:

Everyone knows, but will they admit it?

Wolf said:

Why?

Thecherryloon said:

I wasn't where?

SweeTea said:

Youre asking me why is what he said the most preposterous thing I've ever read here? He's telling you your anger isn't justified for the racist actions that go on because 'you weren't there'. Are you really asking why it's preposterous for him to say that?

IceNine said:

I'm glad we agree that it justifies anger. Now my next question is:

Who initiated this things?

SweeTea said:

Wolf,read and understand, I didn't fight side by side with my Grandfather in WW2.I wasn't captured and tortured in a POW camp for three and a half years and left to die with him and countless thousands of others.

I'm not angry or hateful towards Germans for it.I don't have a chip on my shoulder about it either.What's past is past.

leave anger behind.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 2 12:37:37 PST 2002 by Thecherryloon]

IceNine said:

Ian is right. I posted isht that no one responded to because they were too busy going at each others throat. What trips me out is that yall are basing your statements/conclusions on Farrakhan based on what he is reported to have said by hostile sources.

There's the dictionary definition of racism and the sociological definition of racism. We all may be subject to the dictionary definition from time to time... there is enough cultural chauvanism to go around.

But sociologically? That's a whole different story cuz it deals with the political economy of white supremacy, which of course most white people don't feel comfortable talking about because they feel that by virtue of their being white they are somehow implicated in such discussions.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 2 12:37:04 PST 2002 by NuPwrSoul]

Wolf said:

No I know why, I just wanted you to state you case clearly and I wanted somebody else beside me to state it, just to make sure I'm not the one who's crazy!

Thecherryloon said:

What if my grandfather took your grandfather for everything he had turned it into a big corporation and made millions.Then i took over the corporation and hired you as a janator making just enough to live on.How would you feel about me?Could you leave the past in the past then?

Is anybody going to see I Spy this weekend?