Quote:
Originally Posted by SebC
If we consider what this teacher did to be blackface, then we can no longer say that "blackface is racist" and may only say that "blackface is sometimes racist", so one should question if pushing for such an expanded definition is actually helpful or harmful to the goal of combatting racism.
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No, blackface is always racist, whether you intend it to be / intend it to carry malice or not.
This is still an example of that. It’s racist. Doesn’t make her a racist, but she did a racist thing, and has obviously acquired some education for it. We can, and should, strive to talk frankly about racist things (among other things) without people getting caught up on definitions, degrees, semantics.
Is it racist? Yeah. Is it KKK levels of racist? Obviously not. Is it a problem if people think that pointing out something that’s racist is basically the same as accusing someone of being a nazi? Absolutely. Is that a problem created by both sides? Absolutely.
EDIT: ^^^^^ basically what Windsor said. Bringing nuance into the conversation is the key here. We can call things what they are, without it meaning they’re everything ever associated with that term.
The more people realise racism isn’t all slavery and segregation, the more we can talk about what it is today, and continue progress.