Everyone's a little bit racist...

[PersistentDST]

Originally Posted by naraht

I'm interested in people's opinion on the level of racism shown by the following situations...

1) "I feel that skin tone must be taken into account in determining how clothes look. For example: Light Blues look best on Fair skinned Caucasians, Purplish Grays look best on African Americans and Emeralds look best on East Asians".
1a)"... And I take that into account when hiring Models for my company's fashion shoots"

...Completely different scenario.
2) Two cashiers at the local US Grocery Store are talking to each other in Spanish, and you are in one of their lines. After your groceries are finished, you say "Gracias" instead of "Thank You".

1. It's not levels. It's just racist. It gives people excuses to exclude people from opportunities. And incorrect as well. The assumption that all of any one racial group even has the same skintone is just not well informed.

2. It's about intent. If someone is saying "Gracias" because they are just being an a-hole, thats a problem.
Sometimes, it is being polite. Sometimes, it is just speaking Spanish to someone who speaks Spanish.
My best friend lives/teaches in heavy Spanish-speaking areas, and has a lot of Latino students. She tries to implement things out of respect of the ethnicities/cultures in the classroom and neighborhood. THEN...she had my handsome Godson who is Black and Puerto Rican (and has family who speak limited English). She frequently uses Spanish (and has been diligently trying to learn) so that he will know both languages.
If people are walking up to every "Latino looking" person speaking Spanish then that's a problem. (This happens to me more times than I can count. People assume I'm every race/ethnic group mixed together, and I'm looking at them like...I'm Black...and I only speak English and a little American Sign Language.)

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Intent vs. impact...does this mean that people of color are adequately represented? If so, it's not particularly racist that the black people are wearing one color and the white people another. If it's instead used to justify hiring fewer people of color, then it's racist.

This.

[shirley1929]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I personally don't think either of those situations (grocery store or tour) are racist.

I generally feel the need to give a side-eye for situations like this (which has happened to me on more than one occasion): I am sitting in a public place and notice someone going around trying to solicit. The white folks get a "Hey there. Just wanted to stop by to see if I could interest you in xyz product" while speaking to me warrants a "What up, bro. Check this out...word, word."

Why couldn't I get the "regular" spiel? Why would you assume that I prefer "street talk"? That's why I was asking (in my original reply) if there was any other interaction -- unless the cashier has ZERO grasp of the English language (which I've never seen in my neck of the woods), they know what "thank you" is. No need for all the extra.

I don't think it's racist but it is certainly a microaggression.

Interesting example. And now that you mention it, I've probably observed it. Was the solicitor white? (Ugh, if so.) Microagression is a good word. I'm going to start using that.

Originally Posted by PersistentDST

1. It's not levels. It's just racist. It gives people excuses to exclude people from opportunities. And incorrect as well. The assumption that all of any one racial group even has the same skintone is just not well informed.

2. It's about intent. If someone is saying "Gracias" because they are just being an a-hole, thats a problem.
Sometimes, it is being polite. Sometimes, it is just speaking Spanish to someone who speaks Spanish.
My best friend lives/teaches in heavy Spanish-speaking areas, and has a lot of Latino students. She tries to implement things out of respect of the ethnicities/cultures in the classroom and neighborhood. THEN...she had my handsome Godson who is Black and Puerto Rican (and has family who speak limited English). She frequently uses Spanish (and has been diligently trying to learn) so that he will know both languages.
If people are walking up to every "Latino looking" person speaking Spanish then that's a problem. (This happens to me more times than I can count. People assume I'm every race/ethnic group mixed together, and I'm looking at them like...I'm Black...and I only speak English and a little American Sign Language.)

To the part I put in bold: If I'm honest with myself, I probably jumped in to reply to my folks speaking Spanish just to be a little a-holey. I was mildly annoyed that they were trying to have a conversation in front of me, but excluding me, and yet the cleanliness of our bathroom was important to the tour and conversation we were having. (i.e.: they wouldn't pick my location if we had nasty bathrooms). Does that make sense?