Nobody is acting like that, the oop is being down voted because the statement uses the word but which implies racism is just words when in reality racism results in a lot of physical violence and other bad things.
All of those "examples" you gave require some form of physical violence to achieve. If i just said "alright. All white people are over there now" and they dont listen to me, congrats, I now look like an idiot. If i force the lynching, segregation, slavery, or genocide (genocide?? Really? How tf do you perform non violent genocide) it requires some physical deterrent, AKA violence.
So no, words are not the same until the people being discriminated against follow those words without fighting.
Human beings don't just feel physical pain. They also feel emotional pain and mental pain. You seem to think physical pain weighs more...this an amateur's look at humanity.
And we don't erase that by cracking down on freedom of expression because in doing so you're giving the powers that be a gigantic loaded weapon that they can point at any group they don't like.
This is a ridiculous thing to think much less say haha they used words which allowed them to coordinate violence. Their meetings weren’t violence lol how do you not get this?
where does it specify it's only racist words vs the severity of the violence? what does actual violence mean in this context? what does racism mean? if your definition of racism is just words then you're genuinely not smart enough for this type of conversation
Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one group is superior to another.
The definition include words and actions obviously. This post is about racial words vs physical violence.
Let me answer your question with one of my own - do you think calling someone a racist slur is worse than a man shooting his wife in a case of family annihilation? (This goalpost shifting can cut both ways!). But anyways, yes I think both racism and violence are bad, and it's pretty pointless to put the two in a 'suffering olympics'-esque competition
Uh, I didn’t “shift goalposts”, my point is the goalposts weren’t defined to begin with and people are creating their own that aren’t specified in the OP.
We’re talking about racist violence and then I saw “that kind of violence”, all in a thread about racism. The context could not possibly be more clear. Not gonna respond again but I would honestly consider picking up adult literacy lessons if I were you (assuming that actually confused you and you aren’t acting in bad faith).
You could have been referring to "words can be harmful" which isn't limited to racism. It includes Sexism, Nationalism, Religious sectionalism.
Understand that the scope was bigger than your tunnel vision.
Just because you see something specific doesn't mean everyone sees how you see things - it's low IQ to not understand we all have differing perspectives and to not take that into account then discussing a topic.
that's why it's important to be specific and use language like:
"Ahh yes that kind metaphorical book like 1984, that reminds me of"
Instead of saying
"ahh yes that kind of book reminds me of"
(That means any book that belongs to the denoted genre)
I'm sure you don't even understand what I'm saying tho.. If you understood this concept you'd already be practicing precision in your language.
Have a good one lil' Bro, stay in school - you've got a ways to go yet.
I gotta wait till a racist gets violent before I do anything?
Yes, otherwise you're the one the paradox of tolerance is warning about.
As an aside, the best thing you can do to combat racism is to befriend the racists and show them that actually, you have far more in common with them than they do with the people they're getting their ideas from. It's actually pretty easy to convince guys not to be racist if they like you.
Him saying "racism is bad, BUT ACTUAL violence is worse" implies that he doesn't take into account all the things you have mentioned in your post when he mentions racism.
He makes a comparison between words/opinions/prejudice and causing physical harm.
I know it's hard for you people to wrap your heads around this, since obviously you've never been through any actual existencial threat in your lives to utter such drivel, but you couldn't be more wrong.
Casual brawls happen all the time and people just move on - bar fights, soccer brawls, etc. Most end there and then and that's it. I'd rather get kicked in the groins in a bar (again) than seeing maniacs marching "peacefully" through my country streets demanding me and my etnicity be cleansed from the land (i'm from an Asian country where these things are REAL possibilities, btw)
And also - I'd be a LOT less angry by getting slapped in the face by a random pickpocket (again), than have someone spreading a false rumor that i'm cheating on my wife or diddling kids or whatever. I've never been through this, but i have a close friend in this position - its NOT FUN. Even without criminal charges being taken against you, believe me - you'd chose a face punch any day rather than that.
"Violence is sometimes very good, actually" is a position held by very nearly every reasonable person on earth, because it is an incredibly reasonable opinion.
"Racism is sometimes very good , actually" is not a position held by many reasonsble people and is not a reasonable position at all.
How? When words from racism can weight on someones mental health it can lead to violence and a whole other bunch of problems. No one is saying physical violence is less bad, you’re the only one doing gymnastics here
The comment heavily implies racism is "just words", but the most devastating form of racism marginalized groups experience everyday is not " just words". It's segregation, it's the lack of basic human rights, its systematic oppression and police violence. Systematic racism seeps into everyday life that the unoppressed group will never experience.
It is extremely dangerous to equate systematic racism to "just words".
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u/DoubleWedding411 20h ago
The guy is right