My one and only reason for entering this discussion was to point out to crash that he happened to use the word racism in a manner that is contrary to popular usage. I believe that this has been proven by the fact that every other participant agrees that crash's usage, while perhaps technically correct if you grant that it is listed among some sociology or feminist circles as a definition, is not at all common. So uncommon, in fact, to be not at all accurate and it's usage leads to arguments about the meaning of the word. The discussion, as it was when I entered/made it, was never meant to be about opposing methods.
I am under the impression that one side of this discussion was arguing about which usage was more accurate or definition was actually correct, while the other had no interest in arguing the accuracy of the usage or correctness of definition, but instead was arguing about actual common usage. Two different arguments were being made that seemed to be about the same thing, but were different enough to have no chance at coming to an agreement or even bringing this debate to a close.
This topic had the possibility of being very interesting and high quality, but we got stuck on how people use words and spent 300+ posts talking about that instead of the actual topic.
Racism is racism is racism. Period. No discrimination necessary. No privilege necessary. No offense necessary. It doesn't matter what color your skin is; you can be racist. This is how people use the word racism/racist. This isn't merely "my say so", this is just how people use the word.
Sexism is sexism is sexism. Period. No discrimination necessary. No privilege necessary. No offense necessary. It doesn't matter what gender you are, what your sexual preference is; you can be sexist. This isn't merely "my say so", this is just how people use the word.
"Science is interesting, and if you don't agree you can fuck off." -Dawkins
™ Version 4.2
