[quote name='mykevermin']Your idea of racist and my idea of racist don't jive. Racism is, to me, permitting an unequal social order to exist because its foundation lies on some quasi-noble idea like "government noninterference." As if to suggest any government interference, for any reason, is a necessarily bad thing. I suppose that's a reasonable approach to trusting the power of government, but as a political philosophy, it's post-hoc and inherently flawed. It's not really a philosophy, but rather a hue that you've tinted your eyeglasses to.
But back to racism, it's easy to be personally affronted by the "r-word" if you're naive enough to think that, when I speak of racism, it necessarily means you're a hood-wearing, confederate flag waving, get-out-of-town-darkie saying, Lou Dobbs sympathizing hee-haw.
When I say racism, I mean that, but I also mean the benign attitude that, when confronted with the REALITY of racism inherent in not just our society, but in our economy, permeating our free market, and interfering with this noble idea of a meritocracy, it is disregarded as insignificant, as silly, as not something to worry about.
Sorry if it's not lynching, or burning crosses, or the sort of thing that makes for good photographs and melancholy Billie Holiday songs. But it is racism just the same, and the flippant disregard of the existence of racism, with the focus turned towards making sure the government doesn't do something to interfere with your white privilege (though delicately covered under the mask of a noble ideology, and not favoring continuing racism), doesn't have to involve murdered bodies to be harmful to society.
When I say "hey, guess what - large, patterned discrimination in hiring, firing, wages, and promotion still exist - and, in fact, white felons stand better chances in the job market than equally qualified blacks with no criminal history whatsoever!" - and your reaction is to be concerned about whether or not the government DOES SOMETHING about it?
That, my friend, is
ing racism. It's good old, covert, cover-my-ass-with-the-american-flag-and-capitalism racism. Wanting to continue a system teeming with racism just because it's no longera burning cross on someone's lawn? That, again, my friend, is racism.
So, yes, you are racist. I'm sure you don't think so, and you may try to bleat out some trite response about your allegiance to society and the economy, and not the government. That doesn't change, in the slightest, that your viewpoint, as of right now, advocates a return to pro-white, anti-black policies - and is therefore racist.
How do you propose establishing a genuine meritocracy (at least a reasonable one, where nepotism and class-based discrimination occur, and where race/ethnicity-based discrimination do not occur)?
Would you let the "free market" come to this conclusion?
Or are you uninterested in a genuine meritocracy since, as a white male, your position and opportunities are bolstered by the existence of discrimination? So when you find yourself doing well in the world at some point, you can kick back on your desk and think to yourself how hard you worked, and how it was your effort that got you where you are. Not, mind you, the fact that you weren't discriminated against because you happened to be white.[/QUOTE]
I just love it when ivory tower dilettantes wax philosophic about what happens in the corporate world.
I suppose your thesis explains why corporations are falling all over themselves paying huge immigration fees to bring in talent from other countries, whether this talent comes from Asia, Africa, Russia, or South America. I suppose this is why outsourcing is such a huge push for corporations in the present day. I suppose this is why illegal immigrants are willing to go to such insane lengths to get into America in hopes of landing a job. Many corporations may not make social justice a top priority but they do care about the bottom line, and making hiring decisions based on how someone looks is no good for the bottom line.
