Racism is a social problem
By Tona Boyd
McGlinn Hall
We wish to quickly respond to the Dec. 4 letters written by Barry Baumbaugh and Andrew Henrick. Both express typically closed-minded white responses to racism fostered within a culture still seething with an undercurrent of white supremacy.
As to Baumbaugh's argument that we should define racism strictly according to the dictionary, we ask if Baumbaugh (associated with the Physics Department) would accept that physics terms can adequately be defined by Webster's. If so, we do not need a physics department at all, we only need the good book of Webster's. Race and racism affect our daily lives just as does physics, and so the process of continual study and redefinition of the terms of racism is no less justified.
In Henrick's column, we see an appeal to a Webster's dictionary definition from 1936. Effectively, this is a definition of racism that was written by white men back when the denial of restaurant service to blacks was considered a white man's moral duty in parts of this country. We argue that such definitions are questionable based on the context in which the were developed.
Also, Henrick asks why we view only societies as racist. We do not; we also acknowledge that individuals functioning within and supporting the racist social structures are racists. Racism is defined as participation within that racist social structure, a structure designed to consolidate power for only one race. Therefore, while non-white people can discriminate based on race, when they do so, they do not participate in the racist social structure and are, therefore, not acting racist. This, however, is not to say that racial discrimination is ever permissible.
We thank both men for speaking up and presenting their feelings. Yet, we ask that they and other people (white and non-white) viewing race through archaic status quo analyses might take some time to think about these new, more complete definitions of racism.
Tona Boyd
McGlinn Hall
Shamus Rohn
off-campus
seniors
Dec. 4
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, December 6, 2002
