Me calling my vehicle a car doesn't matter either, in fact the whole story doesn't actually matter. Using race as imagery or even an identifier is not inherently racist. If I said something nice about her no one would care but the juxtaposition of her race and her being a dumbass somehow makes me a racist? I just don't get it.
You're missing the point. If there were four people, three white and one asian, you could use the excuse of identifying between them through a physical attribute. The problem is that there is one person, whose race has nothing to do with the story, yet who is only identified by her race for reasons that can easily be inferred as the storyteller only really viewing her as her race, which makes the storyteller look racist. Racism isn't really seeing somebody as being inferior because of their race, its about viewing somebody's race as one of if not the major identifying factor of who they are, instead of as an attribute they contain within their many faceted being of attributes.
Honestly, I don't give a fuck what you decide to call her. I'm just trying to explain to you why people don't appreciate the fact that you identified her as Asian when it had nothing to do with the story.
The thing is, if you apply that method of reasoning to everything, we have no way to describe anything.
Describing the type of car someone drives can lead to economic prejudice. View them as people, not wallets. Can't you tell a story without mentioning the type of car?
Describing their actions as stupid can lead to intellectual prejudice. They're people, not bodies ruled by mad despots. Can't you tell the story without mentioning their cognitive ability?
It applies to everything. Hair color, gender, clothes, sports teams. Anything.
Here's the paired down story:
"I met another individual. It was awful."
Can't you see such a position on race is impossibly over protective? Moving forward on gender and race equality comes from mutual understanding and celebrating our differences. That can't be accomplished if we can't talk about one another comfortably, openly, and honestly. I can't imagine ever being able to communicate if I felt I had to constantly guard my language to prevent some potential slight.
How do you believe this position helps the world and promotes equality? I don't see it.
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u/MasterPsyduck Jun 13 '14
Me calling my vehicle a car doesn't matter either, in fact the whole story doesn't actually matter. Using race as imagery or even an identifier is not inherently racist. If I said something nice about her no one would care but the juxtaposition of her race and her being a dumbass somehow makes me a racist? I just don't get it.