- Racism - 1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2.a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3.hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
I know it may not be popular to say so, but by the dictionary definitions I've found, racism is not specific to any one race of people and is not required to involve the ability to oppress other races unlike one's own. So, sorry black folks, but you too can be a winner! It's time to stop thinking that black folks aren't racist just because we don't have the same resources and pull to keep another race down. The fact that one believes his or her race is superior to one or all other races is enough to make one a card carrying member of the Racist Club. We cannot use color to preclude ourselves from membership. Shocking as it is, 'tis the truth y'all. Deal with it.
- Discrimination - 1. The act of discriminating.
2. The ability or power to see or make fine distinctions; discernment.
3. Treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit; partiality or prejudice: racial discrimination; discrimination against foreigners.
So this is when one thinks about something or someone or even a "group of someones" and makes a decision in support of or against based on certain characteristics. Discrimination is why I won't date the dude with the Bill Cosby sweater and windbreaker pants. I take one look at him and despite his possible charm, wit, and baby-makin' practice abilities, I refuse to give him a chance because his clothing game is not up to par in my book. Now, to be quite honest, discrimination is not always a bad thing. It's discrimination that saves me from dating someone else's husband, walking in dark alleys by myself in the middle of the night, or from investing in General Motors. Unfortunately, it is also discrimination that may keep me from getting certain jobs or from being able to rent certain apartments or borrow money from certain institutions. The fact that we discriminate at all is not a problem. As a matter of fact, it is a tenet of survival. However, the fact that we discriminate based on age, race, gender, weight, and a whole host of other physical attributes with regard to places to live, schools to attend, and businesses to work is where the problem seems to reside.
- Bigotry - 1. stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.
2. the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot. a. bigot- a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.
Alright, to put this in some of the simplest terms I can think of, a bigot is like Kathy Bates as Bobby Boucher's mother in the Waterboy. She filled Bobby's head up with all matter of tomfoolery, hogwash, ballywho, and gobbledegook and taught him to be distrustful, resentful, and argumentative with anyone who told him differently. Football was the devil, girls were the devil, and any professor who tried to tell him something different about the anatomy of the brain was the devil. Bobby's poor country mama was a big fat bigot. Archie Bunker was also a bigot (and my favorite one I might add). He didn't like anything or anyone that thought, acted, or looked differently than he did. A bigot has absolutely no room in his or her heart for acceptance, tolerance, or any of the other "be kind to one another" tactics some of us may have been taught.
- Prejudice - 1. an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
2. any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
3. unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, esp. of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.
4. such attitudes considered collectively: The war against prejudice is never-ending.
5. damage or injury; detriment: a law that operated to the prejudice of the majority.
When I was in elementary school, I learned to simply define prejudice as pre-judging someone or something. Many times we are not comfortable with a group of people or certain types of situations due to previous information we have received whether it be from the news, word of mouth, or firsthand experience. What I find to be true is that a lot of prejudice is based on stereotypes of someone or something. If we have been told by several people we know and trust that all people with brown hair are cannibals, we are prone to believe it and have an unhealthy fear or dislike for our brown-haired friends assuming that at any time, he may kills us, cut us, up, cook us, and finally, eat us. It's prejudice that makes us assume all Asian people are good at math or that all blondes are idiots. Of course it is completely unfair to make such a broad sweeping generalization given that none of us know all Asians or all blondes. Yet we still judge people in advance based on what we've heard from others or what our past experiences have been.
Now, all of these characteristics can be abominations on their own but together, they can serve to make the lives of others a living hell. These traits cause wars, deaths, collapses of businesses, destruction of families, and the tearing down of nations. And, while they are completely awful, they all are different from one another and warrant understanding a little better. With the "change" that we have experienced in America due to the last Presidential elections, the realist in me expects to see many of the qualitites increase or simply show up more often in some of our citizens. I figure if we can recognize it, perhaps we can work to counteract it. Hopefully we'll be fit for the fight.
