Again, [MENTION=5090]Apone[/MENTION], I'm saying that racism exists in America - whether the level of it is different or not makes no difference. We can excuse it as isolated but it's not; the problem is they were produced without knowledge of how another culture would react to it - meaning, there's still a lot of talking to do. If someone is offended and we're not sure why they are, it's a good idea to ask, and to get a different perspective rather than coming up with an excuse why such-and-such is okay and "not meant" a certain way.
Of course it exists-- but again, there's a difference between public and private affairs, and you're basically talking about forcing people to turn their backs on their parents, which is probably where they got their attitudes from... as well as their communities, and basically everything they identify with. The state can't just come in and say 'sorry, you have to think this way now'... people are going to rebel, and besides, the second you do that, ANYTHING is fair game.
And yes, intention IS the most important thing. If I accidentally scratched your car, apologized profusely AND paid for the damages, would it be fair of you to label me a vandal? You can't expect people to always behave in a perfect manner and understand the consequences of every action before it happens, and if they do something wrong, obviously feel bad about it and do everything they can to make it up to you, then it's probably best to just let it go. This is what happened with the magazine covers-- but of course, nobody actually heard the apology because they were too busy being outraged.
Listen: I'm not trying to say that the East is an upstanding model; far from it. But you know what's sad? I expect other nations to have some degree of racism towards the US and minority groups in the US due to what our media has produced in the past, and I expect nations that aren't the US to have a certain degree of prejudice because they don't live here and only know what they see portrayed in our news programs, TV dramas, and comedies. As much as I don't like it I don't fault them for having those beliefs because that's more ignorance and misunderstanding in cultures that continue to be homogeneous.
You know what this shows? It shows that we're willing to accept that we've made mistakes in the past, and also why it's important not to make them again. Do you know what other countries do? They rewrite their history books to make themselves look better. Or they just don't talk about it. This is why it seems like western society is so awful-- well, besides the fact that most westerners are ignorant of other cultures/assume that the west is the only guilty place-- because we're willing to accept a more honest portrayal of our past mistakes and try to learn from them in order to improve. This is because Western society is controlled by guilt and Eastern society is controlled by shame... the difference being in one case it's wrong if you feel guilty about something (meaning people will be driven to 'explain' these things away), and in the other, it's only wrong if it becomes public (meaning people will be driven to conceal their past indiscretions to avoid the shame of admitting them).
But you said "Early" twentieth century. No, racism has been continuing a lot later than that, albeit in different forms. Most people know it's wrong. But even if private organizations reproduce racist rhetoric you can't tell me that it's okay and right just because they're private organizations. By that logic, so's the Westboro Baptist Church. So's the Klu Klux Klan. Are you saying we shouldn't get angry at what they say? Because that's what it sounds like. I also didn't say we should shut the WBC or KKK into the courts and prevent them from expressing their freedom of speech rights. I don't like what they say, but I can counter-protest as well. And I will.
Still, there's no sense in bringing up the past because it's impossible to change that... what IS relevant is how far we've come, what the majority of the culture is like, what popular opinion says, etc. It's also not fair to compare present day America to ancient Sparta and say 'wow, those Greeks kill their deformed and weak children.. we really ought to do something about that'.
And OF COURSE you can get upset with what those people say, my point is that you can't force them not to say it in the first place, which is what it seems like
you're advocating.
What I'm saying, [MENTION=5090]Apone[/MENTION] - and hear me, because I'm not trying to tell you you're in the wrong - is that racism is racism is racism. Whether covert, overt, quiet or loud it still has a horrible effect. I would rather know that someone is racist and spewing venom in my direction than have someone quietly surprise me when I expected them to be one way and they were actually another. I have the opportunity to change people's minds by my presence if I know they have an ugly attitude. It's the hidden stuff that's a problem. And it's the stuff we allow and roll over and take when it's detrimental that's the problem.
I'm not upset with you, though, Apone. You are coming from it from another perspective, and we don't share the same perspective. But please don't expect me to say racism doesn't exist or that it's not a problem anymore. As for satire, it only works if everyone knows it's so far out of whack it can't be true. But we're not at the point yet in this nation where people see that New Yorker cover as total satire. If I had been the editor I probably would've nixed that cover. But that's me.
Yes, by all means, fight racism. And I never once said that it doesn't exist, I'm saying that on an institutional and even cultural level, it is discouraged in the west... you seem to be advocating a magic happy Benetton rainbow land where everyone loves everyone and is colorblind as the only acceptable way of life, and I'm saying that realistically, the west is probably ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to fighting racism.
The only reason that the New Yorker cover didn't seem so out of whack is because the Republican party is a bunch of clowns and we've come to accept this kind of thing as normal.
