Re: discussion on this morning's @jvsshow

[royalmarriage]

Am I alone in thinking that, quite frankly, eleven years into the 21st century, racism really ought to be a thing of the past? Along with all other forms of bigotry, frankly...

Comments

[tehexile]

I think the problem is that racism and other forms of bigotry are linked to some pretty fundamental flaws in human nature, and while specific examples of it such as prejudice against certain groups come and go fairly quickly with their historical context, it would take a lot more to get rid of, say, fear and suspicion of anything that isn't the same as you. After all, sudden changes can genuinely mess up people's lives, and having different people in your environment can drastically change it.

I also think they're ruining their attempts to get rid of racism by making it just too big of a thing. I volunteer for the CAB and, apparently, one of the things that they consider a serious threat to them, so much so that they would have to breach confidentiality (along with suspicion of a terrorist threat, worries that not passing on the information would endanger the client etc.) is 'accusations of racism'. Now, if someone was accusing the CAB of being a neo-Nazi organisation and was faking proof of it or something, I would understand, but why should accusations of racism be treated any differently to, say, really poor customer feedback? There's a guy who accuses me of racism every time I go in Access Space, even though he knows its just him personally I don't like. The staff know about this so they don't listen to him, but it makes me angry that he could get me thrown out if the staff didn't know me well.

[if0x.livejournal.com]

Racism ought to have been consigned to an ignominious grave long, long ago, but is still ugly and prevalent today. And believe me, I know, as I have to contend with being treated like a second class citizen depressingly frequently.