tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13054656.post9118700660163408612..comments2024-02-08T09:45:18.404-06:00Comments on The Soapbox: Three Things I’ve Learned So Far from #chapeltweetsBrian Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02043527652997919446noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13054656.post-86920262540082541332012-02-27T13:15:12.266-06:002012-02-27T13:15:12.266-06:00I like this piece!I like this piece!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13054656.post-44052625859512607092012-02-20T14:46:50.042-06:002012-02-20T14:46:50.042-06:00HI John,
You're probably right that in the wa...HI John,<br /><br />You're probably right that in the ways people often use the word "racist," the word "stereotype" or "prejudice" would be more apt. I use the term racist as it corresponds to racISM. Racism is a system like other "-ism"s (communism, capitalism, communitarianism) in which a system built on an ideology is supported and enforced through institutional and cultural apparatus. The ideology supported by racism is the ideology of race itself; the belief that humans can be divided into a given number of racial categories and ranked/ordered by those categories. This ideology is then supported and enforced through cultural and institutional means. Many of the more obvious institutional support (segregation, Jim Crow laws, etc.) have been dismantled or at least addressed. Many of the cultural supports have been addressed, but it is in this realm, I would argue, that the most work remains to be done. <br /><br />Wheaton College has relatively few institutional supports for racism, but we have many cultural ones. I would argue (along with many others) that cultural change, when pursued with intention, is best done through institutional change and active intervention. This is the strategy many now advocate at Wheaton and in U.S. society more generally.Brian Howellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02043527652997919446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13054656.post-66796009934397998422012-02-20T14:31:22.580-06:002012-02-20T14:31:22.580-06:00Professor Howell,
Would you mind advising what yo...Professor Howell, <br />Would you mind advising what your definition of the word racism is. During my undergraduate time at Wheaton, I was oftentimes frustrated by people's use of the word "racist" because I felt a more accurate representation of their opinions would have been better summed up with the word "stereotype."<br /><br />If you could clearly define your approach to this word, I believe it may help those who would otherwise oppose your opinion. Thanks so much.John Marklenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13054656.post-80496295613371101092012-02-19T23:38:57.959-06:002012-02-19T23:38:57.959-06:00*ahem*... eloquently stated in your previous posts...*ahem*... eloquently stated in your previous posts :)Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00120454509820288496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13054656.post-40348968256399426402012-02-19T23:20:55.654-06:002012-02-19T23:20:55.654-06:00My prof made an interesting point the other day, w...My prof made an interesting point the other day, when we were talking about Jeremy Lin and "how many wins it would take before we called those who had passed him up, 'racist.'" I mentioned that bloggers and commentators had mentioned his Asian-ness as a reason for why he was passed up, without calling it what it was. My prof stated that in the American dialogue about racism, it's commonly (and wrongly) understood that for something to be racist, there needs to be intent and malevolence. It's this place where the culture heavily frowns upon racism, but the understanding of racism is limited to overt and hostile acts, conjuring images of men in white hoods, when in fact, it is much more common to perpetuate and experience racism in the form of the sentiments behind things like the chapel tweets. I think people still believe that if they didn't mean something to be racist, then it's misguided and ignorant at worst, but certainly not racist. That, unfortunately, is so far from the truth.Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00120454509820288496noreply@blogger.com