Racism, nigger and the misuse of language

Some things in life are just sad. A math major who can’t calculate the right tip to leave at Applebee’s is sad. A Native American named Custer is sad. An animal rights activist wearing leather shoes is sad. A meth addict who’ll only eat organic food is sad. In short, ignorance is sad – particularly by those who ought to know better. At the linguistic epicenter of ignorance in the field of social activism is the horrendous overuse of the word “racism.” Ethnic minorities of all educational backgrounds inappropriately hurl allegations of “racism” with stunning regularity and shocking indifference… and shame on them. Words carry specific meanings, and – if we’re going to rely upon language to convey specific thoughts and ideas – these meanings are important. The misuse of the word “racism” has greatly injured society’s ability to accurately identify ACTUAL racist behavior from other misdeeds, effectively dulling our perceptive senses and our ability to provide an effective remedy.

Take the word “nigger,” for example. The word “nigger” is not and never was a racist word. Its meaning has absolutely NOTHING to do with racism. There is not a single racist sentiment in the sentence: “Fuck you, nigger!” The word “nigger” is an epithet, not an espousal of racism. Are you confused? Let’s examine the meaning of racism:

First, a few comparisons for clarity’s sake: a racist is someone who espouses racism, just as a capitalist is someone who espouses capitalism. Let’s take the comparison further: a capitalist is someone who believes in the superiority of the capitalistic system of economics; he does not necessarily hate or dislike communists. A polygamist believes in the superiority of a matrimonial system with multiple life-partners; he does not necessarily hate or dislike monogamists. A monotheist believes in the superiority of a belief structure entailing the existence of a singular deity; he does not necessarily hate or dislike atheists. Likewise, a racist is someone who believes in the superiority of one race over another within a certain context; he does not necessarily hate or dislike the other races. Racism, hatred, and a rabid dislike of other ethnicities carry ZERO correlation… in and of themselves. They are separate, autonomous entities.

People who hate other races aren’t racists; they’re bigots. A bigot is someone who dislikes a specific person because of his or her group affiliation. And most of the people using the word “nigger” (outside of a handful of blacks who use the term as slang for “friend” – or shitty black comedians who use the word in lieu of writing a decent fuckin’ punch line) are bigots, not racists. A bigot’s hatred needs not depend upon notions of superiority. The bigotry can be linked to almost ANYTHING AT ALL.

Furthermore, a bigot doesn’t necessarily make individual assumption about someone’s personality or characteristics based upon group identity. Bigots just flat-out dislike another group – and WHY they dislike this group depends upon the bigot. Some bigots dislike Jews… not because of what Jews believe or an assumption of how they behave, but because they believe Jews are historically responsible for killing Christ. Other bigots dislike those from other geographic regions because of how they vote on Election Day. And some bigots dislike minorities because they’re insecure about their own shortcomings – or because they’re just assholes. Bigotry doesn’t necessarily have ANYTHING to do with racial assumptions.

In fact, there’s a completely separate word for the act of making assumptions about other people based upon group identity, and this word is “prejudice.” A prejudice could be good or bad, positive or negative, based upon the context and situation. Someone seeing a Latino person picking up garbage outside of an expensive house might presuppose that the individual is a hired hand rather than homeowner; such a belief is based upon a prejudice. It’s not necessarily racist, nor is the belief necessarily borne of bigotry. Hey, if you know that the neighborhood is predominantly white – and the lawn crew is predominantly Latino – then you’d simply be prejudging the situation based on race-based demographics.

What, then, is a racist belief? Well, some racist beliefs are innocuous: stating that the average white person is better at basketball than the average Asian person because whites tend to be taller than Asians – and being tall is an advantage in basketball – is racist; it’s the presumption of racial superiority within a specific context. Believing blacks can run or jump faster than whites – or have bigger dicks – is also racist. Sometimes racism can be almost humorous; feeling more comfortable in a hospital because a doctor has a Jewish last name could be defined as racist, if you believe that Judaism is a racial identity. And of course, racism can take upon far more ominous forms; believing one race is greedy, lazy, or intellectually inferior is racism of the WORST kind.

Someone using the word “nigger” is typically an indication that the speaker is a bigot who harbors race-based prejudices. A leftist’s support of race-based affirmative action policies is typically an indication that the espouser holds a prejudice regarding ethnicity and opportunity. And someone who believes that all Hispanics are lazy, inferior, and corrupt is a racist bigot with numerous prejudices.

Why bother with these distinctions? Why split these linguistic hairs? The answer is that one needs to correctly identify the problem before embarking upon a solution – and changing the mind of a racist takes a different approach than rebutting a bigoted belief or a race-based prejudice. Often times, racism can be combated intellectually – and bigotry debunked emotionally – and prejudice eliminated through experience. One size does not fit all, and these minority activists that incessantly use the word “racism” to cover all three categories are doing a disservice to the cause they presumably support. Racism, bigotry, and prejudice, carried to extremes, are responsible for numerous abominations throughout human history – but the cure for these societal ills is NOT to treat all ailments with the exact same vaccine or label. A deliberate approach – based upon the nature of the disease – makes much more sense.

Doing anything less… would be sad.

-JKD