The only way to stop racism is to forget race

I was thinking about affirmative action and diversity and how much it's valued today. Basically I came up with a theory surrounding that and racism. This'll sound obvious, but I'll explain it.

Until the idea of race is ignored, racism will always exist.

Of course there might be automatic innate preference over your own kind, but I'm talking about bigger issues with race. My main idea is that attempts on putting so much focus on diversity and affirmative action - supposive positive connotated words - just drag issues of race further into the ground.

Nobody should have their identity molded by their race. As long as we still have official forms asking what your race is, and categorizing someone simply by a race, problems will continue. Nobody should get a better chance at getting into a college because they happen to be a less common race. In no way do I want to turn this into an affirmative action debate, so I won't go much more into it, but my main problem is that they categorize someone by a race, and just to fill a diverse necessary quotia, rearrange a puzzle to fit in pieces that shouldn't necessarily fit, just to make it colorful to please someone for whatever means.

Back to my point. As much as the word 'diversity' is an attempt to encourage understanding, in so many ways it itself causes barriers. Diversity itself is a great thing - but forcing it isn't. It just creates a fake atmosphere in attempts to try to counter too many people being one race in an area or to unnaturally mix up a group of people.

By acknowledging race, we're still creating a problem. I don't think assimilation is by any means good - cultural identity is a great thing. But there's a difference between culture and skin color. I don't think we can take the necessary steps forward in the world until we just drop the issue in entirety. Just forget skin color - don't acknowledge it. Be like Stephen Colbert and be color-blind to race. ;)

This politically correct society is just backwards and indirectly is inneffective. All of this cautiousness and attempts to make equal races of everyone everywhere just causes problems. The term "African-American" is just a stupid term brought on by politically correctness to the extreme. If one wants to describe the tone of someone's skin, call it black. As long as whites are called whites, blacks can be called blacks.

No - I'm not addressing race. I'm addressing the color of one's skin. We can still acknowledge a skin color for the sake of easy reference. My issue is that we categorize people by their skin color. We give them a name. Lump them into a group. A statistic. Give them a set of stereotypes that they inadvertently fall into only because they already existed. Out of the billions of genes an individual has, society lumps them into one of five or ten categories, ignoring everything else, and setting them up to be subject to what they're classified by other 'classified groups.'

The only way society can truly progress beyond this politically correct and overly unneccessarily sensitive world is to just drop the issue of race. Humans are a species - we're not breeds. In a few hundred or thousand years when we've become so globalized and everyone's basically the same color, they'll laugh at how society focused on race - much like we laugh about how women were looked at differently than men, issues of slavery, etc. I really think our issue that seems so normal in today's world will just be laughable in the future.

(I know parts of this post are really unfocused, and if there's any comprehension problem based on replies, I'll edit it later)

Welll said. You should read some of Mike Adams columns on diversity. I wouldn't recommend you reading much else of his though because I don't think you'd agree. :P

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all. ... The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic. ... There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

Exactly, I like the South Park episode on it where the boys didn't understand the flag was racist because they saw them all as humans, not white people hanging a black man :P

I argued this recently, but was persuaded that it was wrong (by Mad).

She said that ignoring something is a good way to keep the status quo going. To change the problem of racism, you have to acknowledge that it is a problem, something that needs changing, and then you can do something about it. Being "colour-blind" to race, just makes people think that it's not a problem, and it is ok to carry on being racist (intentionally or unintentionally).

I argued this recently, but was persuaded that it was wrong (by Mad).

 

 

 

She said that ignoring something is a good way to keep the status quo going. To change the problem of racism, you have to acknowledge that it is a problem, something that needs changing, and then you can do something about it. Being "colour-blind" to race, just makes people think that it's not a problem, and it is ok to carry on being racist (intentionally or unintentionally).

I think we've already moved past it though, and the only thing (at least in America) that keeps it going is bringing it up all the time. We don't segregate anymore so checking your race on a resume or standardized test only seperates us further.

I actually thought of this same thing a while back, and strongly agree with the idea. However, while it would work great ideally, I doubt it would work practically.

You see, if everyone ignored race, then certainly race would cease to be a problem. I've seen it work in small groups of people, such as a certain church I know in St. Louis. They have people of several races and languages, yet they have a tremendous unity and meet everyone's needs.

However, I don't think culture as a whole would be willing to embrace the idea. If even one group held on to racism, the rest of the people wouldn't be able to forget the idea of race.

Good argument. That's why I believe that we shouldn't call everyone who has brown skin a terrorist :x . Dang racist people down here (has happened to my friend in a different school).

Good argument. That's why I believe that we shouldn't call everyone who has brown skin a terrorist :x . Dang racist people down here (has happened to my friend in a different school).

..This thread isn't abuot stereotypes and idiocy, it's about the differences in college and job applications. I agree that by taking the race section off of most forms and replacing it with a "What country were you born in." type of thing would make selections much more fair. I've had this idea before but never really ran with it(one of those ideas that you just forget when you get distracted >_>). I guess you can argue that those born on American Indian reservations could be considered a different country(Since AFAIK they don't have to follow the US laws, but I'm sure there are certain restrictions and stuff.)

People in my 4th period always put too much important in race. I hate it when someone says there treated unfair because of racism. Infact someone said that eysterday and I basically had to tell them that they were being treated as they act, not at they look.

Even if we were all one color, people would still be divided by other issues.

Take, for example, religion.

Nice idea though.

Even if we were all one color, people would still be divided by other issues.

 

 

 

Take, for example, religion.

 

 

 

Nice idea though.

I'd much rather be divided by ideas such as religion. At least when we're divided like that there is reason for intellectual debate that will ultimately make everyone more enlightened in some way.

Dividing by race does nothing good.

Even if we were all one color, people would still be divided by other issues.

 

 

 

Take, for example, religion.

 

 

 

Nice idea though.

One issue at a time, we'll get there. ;)

Looking at the world negatively like that gets you nowhere.

I don't even fully understand why people in the first place have categorised people into "races". There are just different genetic traits that could pass on as stronger or weaker, and some people might have darker eyes, some may have darker skin, some may have lighter eyes...

In most places of the world, they don't even categorise "races". In fact, this is even illegal in the European countries. Why in the States then, it is still used even on forms?

Just a sad little memory from history that was forgotten to be wiped, that or there is really much more racism in USA than the rest of the world.

USA apparently categorises people for all sorts of reasons; risk levels; how much credit they could be granted; education... Which makes no sense.

If in the first place one ethnic group committed more crimes than the another, it doesn't mean it's "just because they're white/black/yellow/blue". It probably means the society is racist and doesn't want to adapt them as members of the society, hence they get bad jobs, unemployment, discrimination ->> incentive to go for criminal activity to get food on the table.

Too many people look at the result instead of the cause.

Just because you ignore or "forget" a problem doesn't make it disappear. There will always be people that see themselves as being more superior than others whether because of their race, religion, intelligence.

Some people are proud of their race, or culture. You can't just ignore that in the name of equality if anything it will only make racism worse.

In fact, this is even illegal in the European countries.

I'm in a European country (England) and it isn't illegal here. In fact when you register with somewhere important like a university or a place of work you have to fill in a form which includes what race you are. The same was true for the census. The only difference is they use a P.C. term for it - ethnic background.

It seems as though places have ethnicity quotas to fill. You can, however, refuse the information.

It seems as though places have ethnicity quotas to fill.

What do you think about ethnic quotas?

I know what I think: By trying to fulfill ethnic quotas they are doing the exact thing they are trying to avoid: being discriminative. Employers should give jobs based solely on merit. Race, ethnicity, religion shouldn't come into it, it should be their ability.

Mind you, in this crazy P.C. world, it would take a brave company to start championing that example.

I can't say for certain whether they exist, just the existence of this very question implies that they do.

I think the idea of them is ridiculous. Assume there is a white man and a black man applying for the same job. The white man happens to be far better at it than the black man but the black man gets given the job to fill ethnic quotas - it is just plain stupid.

It isn't equality, it isn't judging people based on their merits; it's judging them based on the colour of their skin.

^ Which is derogatory to both parties. Most of the time that black man won't be happy knowing the fact that the only reason he was employed was not because of his ability, but his ethnicity.

^ Which is derogatory to both parties. Most of the time that black man won't be happy knowing the fact that the only reason he was employed was not because of his ability, but his ethnicity.

My high school had an art school merged with it that you had to apply to get in. They had ethnic quotas that had to be filled and it was really funny to see the black kids who would make jokes about how they aren't talented, they're just the only black kids who applied...

It's kind of sad that things like that happen. The drama teacher at the art school quit the art school and started working for the regular school because she was tired of auditioning talented white kids who would get cut because there were already enough white kids in the progam.

In fact, this is even illegal in the European countries.

 

 

 

I'm in a European country (England) and it isn't illegal here. In fact when you register with somewhere important like a university or a place of work you have to fill in a form which includes what race you are. The same was true for the census. The only difference is they use a P.C. term for it - ethnic background.

 

 

 

It seems as though places have ethnicity quotas to fill. You can, however, refuse the information.

..Wow, and I thought I knew something about England. However England shares a very connected history of colonialism along with the United States, I haven't heard of any other european countries with ethnic quotas for jobs.

It's a dumb system, just to have more "diversity" you must prefer one ethnicity over another. IMO it's just as dumb as the fact that recently the Norwegian government decided that all big companies must have 40% of the board members WOMEN.

Can you imagine it? Yep, nothing based on diversity or race but.. Gender. On top of that, there is a 2 year deadline to finish the "womanization" (...) and there may not even be a decent amount of women suitable for these jobs.

I've never had to fill one of these forms with race, but I always thought to insert 'elf' as a protest...

I don't like any law that deals with race. It only puts one race above the other, even if that is what it is trying to stop. I also don't care for political correctness. Having to call someone "African American" instead of "black," even though you can call "Caucasians" "white", is just reverse discrimination. And the "colour" coded method works better. For example Charlize Theron is African American (imageshack is being sucky, like normal lately. Link goes to pic). Obviously she is white, but she is an African-American.

Also don't forget that a black person may not originally be from Africa, they could be from Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad, Dominican Republic, Brazil or Australia.

Just because you ignore or "forget" a problem doesn't make it disappear. There will always be people that see themselves as being more superior than others whether because of their race, religion, intelligence.

 

 

 

Some people are proud of their race, or culture. You can't just ignore that in the name of equality if anything it will only make racism worse.

I didn't use a perfect word then. I accidentally laid out that guaranteed trap, and you took it. While the generalization that ignoring a problem won't fix it is true in many cases, in this case, 'ignoring' probably isn't the best word. What I really mean to say is to look past race to the point where it isn't an issue. A long time ago something like what your father's job was was an important thing to people - over time something like that was just realized to be unimportant and people stopped caring. I don't mean to 'ignore a problem' - I mostly mean to look past it, because its existence itself is stupid.

I didn't really want to get much into affirmative action (oxymoron much?), but since you guys are talking about it I'll say how it's affected me so far. I was talking to a black kid who said he gets tons of things in the mail from the college I want to go to. I asked him about his academics, ACT scores, all that. I was significantly ahead him in all categories, but not once got anything in the mail from the college. And I know they know I exist. I had already sent in my ACT scores months before.

The school is very heavy on affirmative action, more than most in the nation. The worst is seeing pro-affirmative action commercials, how they twist the issue to make people think they're voting for a future where everything's more fair. Obviously this reverse discrimination is the opposite of making things fair.

Also don't forget that a black person may not originally be from Africa, they could be from Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad, Dominican Republic, Brazil or Australia.

So true...