bmadison

I take issue with this statement. I too have no clue what the 900 Pound Gorilla is, but I do know that whether public opinion is, or is not, ok with a term or an act, does not automatically make, or not make, it racist.

FOR EXAMPLE (since that is scarce today)... When I was in the Marine Corps, we had a guy (who happened to be black) who was the spitting image of Curious George (No kidding... He looked just like him!... We'll call him Corporal D). In his barracks room, he had an unreal amount of Curious George paraphernalia that he had been given over the years, because he looked just like Curious George. One day, Curious George was on TV and I called everyone into my room to see Corporal D on TV. It was funny to all, including Corporal D. However, a Lenient who was new to the unit heard it and came in to see what the commotion was. When he heard that I had referred to Corporal D as a Monkey, he commenced to screaming at me, calling me a racist and and saying that he was going to personally remove my stripes. Corporal D smoothed it out with him, explaining the situation to him, but I had never been told that monkey or gorilla could be used as a racial slur, so I was clueless while he was screaming at me. It was that day that I learned that people referred to black people as monkeys or gorillas, as a racial slur.

What I am trying to illustrate is that simply because public opinion views something as racist, or not racist, does not mean it is, or isn't. I tend to agree with others that racism is in the heart and that it is the intentions behind what is said and done that makes something racist. It used to be socially acceptable to own slaves, which was obviously a racist act, but back then, it was a societal norm. They had a War to decide whether it was racist or not.

Society doesn't necessarily consider racism towards a white male to be racist currently (i.e. Affirmative Action), but if it is treating someone unfairly due to something they cannot change, then it is racist. I understand that the original thought behind it was to help minorities be able to obtain employment in companies that might or might not use racist practices to hire employees, but it creates an environment where its not the best man or woman for the job, but the best man or woman for the job in the racial percentage that is most lacking at the time. It is intended to deny a certain race a fair chance in order to give a less represented race a chance to perform the job, even if the person of the less represented race is less qualified. So even though the idea was noble, the intended purpose is to deny access based on the color of your skin.

Remember that if Rosa Parks would have subscribed to the "don't make anyone in the room uncomfortable" rule, black people may still be sitting in the back of the bus.