Real World Denver

[shinerbock]

I mean, not to get deep into this again, but I think its an interesting conversation. I just don't think an isolated use of a racial/gender/sexual slur makes you a racist/sexist/homophobe. I think for most people, theres some point where something happens to you and something like a slur or a generalization comes to mind. Its happened to me, and usually its because I get so angry that just thinking "you motherf*****" doesn't have a strong enough effect. I agree that true feelings sometimes come out in heightened periods of anger or other emotion, but sometimes you're just so angry or so emotional that you just need to dig deeper than normal. I mean, its not like they should ignore he said it, it just annoys me when something like that happens and people on the show are like, "well, he's from the south, maybe he can stay here and lose some of that ignorance." Using racial slurs doesn't make you ignorant, neither does being prejudiced. It makes you insensitive, and many people like that probably are ignorant, but they aren't one and the same.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

I mean, not to get deep into this again, but I think its an interesting conversation. I just don't think an isolated use of a racial/gender/sexual slur makes you a racist/sexist/homophobe.

Do you normally debate yourself? Didn't I already say that I don't make racist accusations so quickly? LOL.

But since you brought it up :

Let the record show that being a "racist" is not always the same thing as "racism" as in the system of racism that all racial slurs and discriminatory behaviors perpetuate. So Davis might not be a "racist" but his use of that term could arguably be "racism." Similarly, you might not to be a chauvinist or sexist man. But using certain language and feeding into differential treatment is sexism because it keeps the gender structure going at the individual, interactional, and structural levels. Same applies to people who claim not to be homophobic but use certain terms or reinforce certain ideologies and behaviors. No matter what the rationale for the use is.

ETA: Slurs and prejudice are signs of ignorance. Ignorance means you're unaware of the consequences or don't care about the consequences. Usually the latter but more openminded people (myself not included) think the former is more common.