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Charlotte Preston

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Do you feel comfortable talking to someone of a different race about racial issues and stereotypes?

I love to talk to open minded people about how silly and unnecessary it is for racism to exist. We have great liberating conversations that all suggest at the end of the day that all people have the same basic needs....Peace, Love and Happiness!

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  • john allan

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    Oct 10 2012: Hi. New here, from UK. So take a chance and tell you that "race" is a social construct.....ie there is no such thing in "reality".....mainly what we call "race" was invented by a guy named A. J. Comt DeGobineau - you can probably Google him - my wife studied this for her Degree. She says "There is only one Race, the Human Race"... she was born in West Africa.
    The Neandethals might have argued this, but, according to Andrew Marr's "History of the World (BBC) , we ate some of them and drove the rest of them to extinction.

    • Juniper Blue 10+

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      Oct 11 2012: Good points John.

      I also believe that race is a social construct but this does not make racism any less destructive or "real." I think that there is value in educating people about what it means to be a part of the human race ... and to go a step further, what it means to be a responsible global citizen by living honorably.

      • john allan

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        Oct 12 2012: Thanks Juniper Blue. I think what you are calling racism is based on a false premise ie. DeGob's idea that there are separate races - there is earlier work done to try to prove criminality was related to physical appearance (believe it or not), and of course later the Nazis tried to apply this kind of thing to the Jewish people they held captive during WW2. The idea is well known these days in Sociology leading to "Demonising" of a section of society etc.
        What interests me is Why people should want to do this. It seems to me that the need to persecute others is based on low self esteem, like other forms of "bullying". I agree that the answer lies in education and rehabilitation.

        • Juniper Blue 10+

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          Oct 12 2012: Interesting perspective John. It may make more sense to use terms like discrimination, ridicule, battery, abuse, marginalization, inequality, exclusion, bullying, genocide, demonising, or other more specific descriptors to describe the phenomenon of oppression that underrepresented, underprivileged and "minority" groups experience in (generally) disproportionate degrees.

          I am not sure how language can be used most effectively to help people discuss and understand these issues. Education is essential in prevention/intervention and rehabilitation of the abusers and those targeted for abuse is also necessary. How to use language to improve our understanding?? You got me on this.


          Language can be helpful and harmful in that language has the abilty to promote ideas but also to perpetuate innacurrate ideas ( like the idea of race). Still, changes in terms, can be difficult to adjust to in that a term like "racism" or even "homophobia" has a certain established general public recognition. There may be better ways to communicate about these issues but it may take time to learn how to accurately address and describe social inequities and the roots of marginalization (etc.) behavior.

          I too, would like to better understand the "why" factor ... Yet, it seems hard to even determine and discuss the "what" here.

          Are there any liguists out there with helpul ideas in this? I am at a loss.

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