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 Originally Posted by OngBonga
If racism is subconscious, then is it even fair to judge people for it?
When we talk about people who still cling on to Nazi ideology, or any other political and social movement that has clear hatred for people based on their ethnicity or colour, this is clearly conscious racism. People might not be open about it, but you can't lie to yourself, can you? You can't sanely think both "maybe Hitler was right" and "I'm not antisemitic".
I understand people are not so willing to expose their racist opinions in the modern age. That's great. If people are forced to completely supress their racism, then are they even racist any more? People can think whatever the fuck they like, it's what you say and do that matters.
The vast majority of true racists, they can't hide it forever. There will be red flags, and strong opposition to immigration would be one of them, but it's ok to wait for someone to show their true colours before we judge them. Judging someone because they share some traits with racists, but haven't actually proven themself to be racist, is that how we want our society to function?
Getting rid of racism means forcing people to understand that we as a people are not going to allow racism to play a role in our society.
It's not forcing people to stop thinking thoughts we disagree with. Unfortunately we can't control what people think, and even if we could, is that any better than hating people for no good reason? Is that a better society?
People who are racist now might not be in a year or two. And people who aren't racist now might be in the future. It's a fluid, not a solid.
Here here!
> If racism is subconscious, then is it even fair to judge people for it?
I mean... judge people on whatever you choose. If you chose race, that's racism.
If someone is acting in a racist way, it's fair to judge them as acting racist. Racism in the UK is not at all the same as racism in the US, I'd wager. Hard to tell as a white guy in both places, but the UK seems much better about it than the US, what with our history of slavery that the US gov't allowed to continue until the 1940's in at least 1 documented instance. Add on the conspiracy of lawmakers to criminalize anything they saw as "black culture." Add on the conspiracy of banks to keep imposing redlining practices well into the mid 1990's. Add on more and more and more... many documentaries more. The insidious morphing of old, obvious racism into new, hidden racism isn't ancient history. It's not like, "We had the civil war and then everything was fine." It's not, "People in my generation aren't responsible." here.
It's the million tiny things I get to take for granted as "normal" or "how it should be" as a white cys male that people who don't fit those 3 words do not get to take for granted. Without my awareness of those advantages, I denied white privilege still existed. I was subconsciously racist. It was judgement worthy. Someone took the time to show me the subtlety of it, and then pointed me at a bunch of documentaries and histories of *my own country* that I'd never been shown.
Now I'm much more aware of all this. Am I still subconsciously racist? Almost certainly. But I don't want to be. And I am 100% willing to educate myself if I'm simply informed what I need to look for.
> You can't sanely think both "maybe Hitler was right" and "I'm not antisemitic".
C'mon, ong. You've met people, right?
Famously, the fucking head of the KKK constantly proclaimed he wasn't racist.
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