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Originally Posted by asaris
No, I disagree. "Classism", as it's generally used, refers to discrimination on the basis of social class; it's not a more generic term that includes racism and sexism. I mention this not as an exercise in pointless semantics, but because I tend towards the opinion that classism, not racism, is the root of many ills in American society. If we used your definitions, zen_tom, I couldn't say this without self-contradiction.
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I'll agree with this. My point earlier was not that classism and racism were the same, but that racism almost always has emerged due to issues of resources. The race that has more resources has often used race as the excuse to exploit the race with less resources. In my view, race, as an invention, was made by the ruling class to justify otherwise unjustifiable behavior.
Now, we live in a complicated world where there are more opportunities for all races, so the origins of racism aren't as apparent as they used to be. However, not having knowledge of the legacies that have created racism do not mitigate the factors that have made race a function of class. It just shows that people who are racist and don't have knowledge of where their racist traditions come from are <i>really</i> ignorant and probably very scared and angry.