Mark Cuban was recently asked his opinion on Donald Sterling, and his racist behavior. Mark's response was intended to be one with the meaning of, do not condemn a person for having a prejudice in some manner, cause we all have them.
He used some examples of stereotyping, and how he might act in a certain situation. Though he was not being racist, I can see how one part of the comment could come off as racist. But I think, and remember I do not speak for Mark, he was just saying, I am not in a position to be his judge and jury, and you probably are not either, and here's why, then he gave the 2 examples of stereotyping.
Using a stereotype is not on its own a racist action. Saying something that sounds racist does not make one a racist.
What is racism?? http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racism
Beliving a race is superior to another, and has a right to rule the other based soley on the aspect of race. Being a racist is one who follow this belief. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racist?s=t
Now am I saying it is ok to make certain jokes or use certain words considered racist? No, I have done those things in the past, and they where wrong. But in that moment I did not beleive I was superior just cause of my race, and my actions reflected that.
I grew up and live in Texas, and at times have been guilty of making jokes about Mexicans, even at times making negative comments about the illegal immagrants here. Does that make me a racist??? No it does not, does it make me a person who says stupid things, sure at times. But I do not use the race of an individual to control how I am going to treat them, or think about them. And i certanly do not think I am better then them. Yes I might fall victim to stereotyping in certain situations, but when I actually have to decide how to treat the person, the race has nothing to do with it, and in my opinion, that is the way it should be.
In my job I have many times had to dicide who to hire to work for me, and I can proudly say, I have interviewed people of many races, and never has the race been a deciding factor. I did once tell an individual I could not hire them, cause I did not think they spoke English well enough, and the lack of that skill was due to the fact they where from another country, and though they had American citizenship. I felt the position required better communication skills, and if I had a hard time undertanding them one on one, how could a group of people do with them in a setting with a lot of distractions? And they would be in that environment. So the decding factor was their skill set, not the race. If they could develope that skill set then it would be a different matter, no matter the race.
It has gotten to the point in todays world that a white person cannot say anyting negative about a person of another color, without the racsim card getting played, even when the comment has nothing to do with race. And you know what it does, it makes poeple numb to it. so do not go whining when actual racism happens and no one notices due to you crying wolf all the other times. Also when you do cry wolf, make sure your not yourself even more guily of the racism/bigotry your condemning.
So remember this, no matter what race you are, you have steroetypes in your mind about people of other races, and at times they effect your thoughts of a person, we are all guilty of it. Just do not let those thoughts control your lifes actions.
We all laughed at White Men can't jump. That alone does not make you a racist.
No comments:
Post a Comment