Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertoad
Racism is about race. The term you are seeking is "prejudice".
It will not serve you to expand the definition of racism for your own personal purposes.
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Historically speaking, tw is correct. English is; however, a living (i.e. evolving) language. Tw's disposition towards lagging behind the times by not recognizing contemporary vocabulary use, which relies on the first sense of the word "race" in this context (sense
1 below) as do other words based on that root, is certainly distracting if not actually detrimental to his writings. His loss; but, sometimes it's true that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Related vocabulary has been discussed in the Cellar before. It may be useful to expand on it here. You can get tw's rationale by following the bold type:
race(2) 1. any of the different varieties of mankind, distinguished by form of hair, color of skin and eyes, stature, bodily proportions, etc. ... 2. a population that differs from others in the relative frequency of some gene or genes ... 3. any geographical, tribal,
or ethnic grouping 4. ... 5. ... 6. ... 7. ... 8. ...
racial 1. of or characteristic of a race;
or, ethnic group 2. Of or between the races
ethnic 1. [Now Rare] of nations or groups neither Christian no Jewish; heathen 2.
designating or of any of the basic groups or divisions of mankind or of a heterogeneous population, as distinguished by customs, characteristics, language, common history, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45
I've though of prejudice and discrimination as thoughts or actions of an individual while racism is more society. If so, the lines are very blurred.
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racialism 1. A doctrine or teaching, without scientific support, that claims to find differences in character, intelligence, etc. that asserts the superiority of one race over another or others, and that seeks to maintain the supposed purity of a race or the races 2. [i]same as RACISM (sense 2)
racism 1.
same as RACIALISM (sense
1) 2. Any program or practice of racial discrimination, segregation, persecution, and domination based on racialism
The word "racialism" meant doctrine or teaching which is more the purview of society; but, that word fell by the wayside in colloquial use in favor of the word "racism" which took on its meaning. The word "racism" originally meant program or
practice without specifying institutional or individual practice; so, it was used for both. There was a movement to eliminate the second sense of the word(s) entirely and elevate the social status of the label/issue to an exclusively societal one (non-individual) in order to make it even more of a government responsibility. Advocates say it helps bring appropriate recognition to the issue. Opponents say it's a step toward focusing liability on the government and other large groups with an eye towards reparations. In any case, it's no longer PC to say that what some individual is doing is racism: only social groups can do that. The question is: If only social groups can do racism, does that mean that no individual can be a racist and therefore can't be solely held liable for such actions?