[saddlebum]

Originally Posted by mmcd3182

That's a preconceived notion. Wow, we are nearly 130 posts into this thread and no one has set down a "line" for what racism is. It is hard to say. Like many words dealing with touchy issues, the meaning of racism has been skewed; it has been extremely been mis-used over the past one hundred years.

When I think of racism, I define it as any nuance of thought that someone is beneath you based solely on their race.

As for some published definitions, take the following:

racism

n.

1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

racist rac'ist adj. & n.

I believe when most people today use the word racism, they are implying the second definition: "Discrimination or prejudice based on race." At the heart of this is the first definition: "The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others. True racism seems to now only exist in hate groups. I mean by this, most people would not admit even to themselves that they think person X of race X is superior to person Y of race Y simply because race X > race Y. The idea is there, but that's not how we really perceive the word when it is said anymore. We gear more towards the second definition.

So, saying "I have a black friend" or even HAVING a black friend still allows you to be a racist, or have racist thoughts or ideas. I don't understand why so many people think if they can kindly associate with a person of another race/color/ethnicity then they could not possibly be racist. That's the bad thing about racism in the country today -- most of it is veiled in a false self-assurance that one is not racist or prejudicial.

Well hell !! Now I'm thoroughly confused as to whether I'm a racist or not, and I'm certainly not going to claim I have any black friends because that might stigmatize me automatically . At the moment I'm examining my "false self-assurance" which is confusing me even more so I'm just going back to my ole normal self and forget I ever foolishly read this thread . One thing is for sure, I can't jump .
Thank goodness, I never smoked any of that "stuff"