Quote:
Originally posted by RACooper
So if the intent, based on the discription of the costume, was to mock or ridicule another culture or ethnicity how is that not racist?
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Without meaning to sound overly (or even mildly) Clintonesque, it depends on how one defines "racism." Dictionary.com gives two definitions: (1) The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others, and (2) Discrimination or prejudice based on race. By these definitions, a prejudice-induced intent could indeed mean racism, assuming (with regard to the first definition) that it reflects a belief in the superiority of the wearer's race (something that blackface, because of its historical context, cannot help but do).
But some sociologists and the others define racism more restrictively, like the definition given by The Epitome1920 above. Even my 1962 Random House unabridged gives these (and only these) definitions:
1) a belief that human races have distinctive characteristics that determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior
and has the right to rule others.
2) a policy of enforcing such asserted right.
3) a system of government or society based upon it.
By these more restrictive definitions, only the societally-"superior" race (that is, the race with the "upper hand") or those who associate with them can be racist. Members of other races can be prejudiced or bigoted, but not racists.
Some may disagree with or not like this more limited definition, but it is nevertheless an accepted definition. Arguably, it is the more long-standing definition as well, with the "looser" definition having arisen from more casual use. That's why in a discussion like this where an important word can have more than one meaning, good communication depends on figuring out exactly what other posters mean by words like "racist" or "racism," rather than assuming they are working with the same definition that we are.
Thus, if the intent of the "Hallowe'ener" was to mock or ridicule white people, he can rightfully be considered a bigot. Whether he could be considered racist or not would depend on whether one is using a more or less expansive definition of "racist."