Racism is a religion I do not (and will never) subscribe to
Not everything is "racism"
Far too often I see videos where black people, or gay people, or marginalized people, are accusing others of racism. While there are legitimate instances of racism there are also some instances which probably aren't true racism but which merely make others look racist. Looking racist and thinking as one are not the same thing. Just as an atheist can look like a thiest but actually still be an atheist. I state racism is a religion because it's based on beliefs, on pseudo-science, on faith, on stereotypes, on tradition.
See these videos for examples:
What do these videos mean? Well in my opinion some instances may in fact be based in racism but we cannot assume all instances are racism. Some instances may be a matter of preference. Who people choose to date, marry, befriend, are a matter of preference. What would determine if it's racism? It's about the belief in stereotypes and in race itself. If a person does not want to date certain races or outside of their race specifically to preserve their race then yes they are racist. If a person does believe in racial stereotypes and because of these stereotypes they refuse to date people of a certain race then yes they are racist.
What about racial slurs? Racial slurs are disrespectful and rude. In fact there is no justification for using racial slurs if the intention is to befriend a person or any person assigned to that race. But if a person is upset, drunk, on drugs, they may say things out of anger that they don't actually believe. We have to distinguish between people who say it out of "pissed off" and people who actually believe in and think in that way.
What is racism exactly?
Racism is the belief in the concept of race even when science shows otherwise. Racism is the belief in racism stereotypes. Racism is not being drunk and saying the N word or any other word. Racism is not about what a person says but it is about how a person thinks about other people. A person can never in their life say a racial slur and be extremely racist. A person can say racial slurs and be dedicated to anti-racism.
Distinguishing between the true racists vs the people who communicate like racists
- True racists may or may not use racial slurs. You can identify a true racist only if you know how they think of other people.
- A true racist believes in the racial stereotypes whether they be considered positive; (Asians are good at math), (blacks are good at sports) or negative. It is the belief in race itself and the belief in these stereotypes which makes someone racist.
- Following the data and the science does not make someone racist. If data for example shows that blacks in a certain community are prone to commit violent crime and someone cites this data as a reason not to want to live in that community then they aren't racist. The data supports their argument and they have a data driven processs for arriving at a logical conclusion. To be racist is to ignore the current data; ignore the results from science, and instead go with faith, stereotypes, belief.
- To choose to date or marry certain people of certain appearances or of a certain race does not necessarily mean racism. It is common that tall people have it easier in certain cultures than short people. It is common that people with lighter skin may have it easier in dating than people with darker skin in certain cultures. What we are dealing with here are beauty standards and while there may be some who specifically have the agenda to preserve racial purity or who are believers of race it is also possible for someone to not be racial and still find certain traits more beautiful than others.
Conclusion
It's not always obvious what is and isn't racism. Very often people will label others racist with minimal evidence or clues about how that person thinks and or makes decisions. In other cases there can be people who never once say a racial slur and who seem anti racist but who think and make decisions in ways which are totally racist.
An example being if a well meaning white person gives economic favoritism to a black person because they believe that the black person is poor. It's very possible that the black person could even have more money than they do but because of the racial stereotypes perhaps a well meaning white person can assume "black = poor" and treat them accordingly. Another example is if a black person is in college and their white friend assumes they are on some sort of sports scholarship. These are instances of true racism and the person who thinks this way is actually racist perhaps without even realizing it.
Beauty standards are influenced by cultural norms. Beauty standards differ between and within cultures. This could mean that tall pale white people do have the advantage in "attractiveness" in a certain culture, at a certain time period, in a certain location in society. This does not mean everywhere in the world has the same notion of what "attractiveness" is. Who people date, who people marry, who people find attractive, are all influenced by culture, by tradition, by the knowledge they have (or don't have) about themselves and the world. People who have traveled, experienced more people and cultures, may for example have a broader list of traits they find attractive over time.
At the same time just like some people are gay and some are straight it may be that some people just have preferences. If a person is straight it does not mean they are homophobic. If a person chooses to live the straight lifestyle and only data the opposite sex then it does not mean they hate homosexuals or fear homosexuals. If a person chooses to only date people of a certain type then it's their choice to make.
I am not sure the author of this piece has a clear understanding of racism, racial prejudice, or just how pervasive many of these ideologies are. Generally, when speaking academically or socioeconomically, "racism" means the way in which various power structures discriminate against groups of people based on their race in a negative and detremental way. Policies like redlining, police brutality and it's lack of punishment, and exclusionary governmental tactics that see people in camps, reservations, ghettos, etc. "Racial prejudice" is typically used to note certain people not getting along due to racially motivated reasons or poorly thought out stereotypes. Colloquially, we use the word "racism" to describe every type of racial discrimination, but are seldom looking to be exceptionally accurate when doing so.
A major aspect of racism is "power" for instance, and it isn't mentioned at all. Also, there seems to be a greater focus on who is or is not racist without enough focus on the conceit of the article that Racism is a religion. Also, the breakdown of "true racisim" and "not true racism (I'll call it 'fake racism") is not described well enough to help me understand how or why the author broke things down in that way.
As far as beauty standards are concerned, due to a long history of racism, plunder, and racial profiteering in the united states, beauty standards are absolutely affected by racism. People are able to like who they like for whatever reasons they wish, but excluding peoples of a different race from one's romantic interests is most definitely racially motivated and prejudiced.
In other words, it's not "not racist" just because preference is involved. It's still racism. It just not as or affecting as something like burning crosses or lynch mobs.
Racism is about more than what people think, and very much about how they act and what they do. Because the most racially prejudiced things to me are how people don't really read books on or study racism enough to give themselves a greater understanding of it before commenting as if they were authorities. Books like The People's History of The United States, the work of Ta-nihisi Coates for the Atlantic and his own book "Between The World and Me", and several other Black and Brown Authors do a great job of outlining race, racism, and the insidious networks and thought processes that keep it around and en vogue.
I am the author. Of course I know how prevalent racial prejudice is. It is particularly prevalent in the United States (more than in any other country in my experience so far). But in a country such as Thailand for example it is known that lighter skin is a common beauty standard. That beauty standard has nothing to do with race and more to do with what that population currently finds to be in fashion in terms of physical traits.
When you mention redlining and legal policies that is systemic racism. That is perhaps the worst of racism because it's built into the law. That kind of racism may or may not be the result of racists but what I do know is that for various reasons (power grabs etc) people look to create scapegoats in society. So I do not know 100% whether people who back for example "for profit prisons" are racist or if they just own shares in these industries. It is not as easy to determine the motivations of people when economic incentives are promoting certain creations of certain kinds of laws.
In my opinion racism is based entirely on how the person thinks. A person who is racist must adopt the ideology of race to even be considered a racist. A person can be ignorant, create bad laws, and generate negative consequences, without even being an actual racist. A person can do it out of greed and simply use race to justify a power grab as I said before. A person in power may use race ideology to divide the people out of power as a means of justifying their own position of being in power.
For example an old white male could use race ideology to justify why white people such as himself deserve to be in power. Suddenly it's natural law and justified by something such as IQ, or by God who for whatever reason chose him for divine rule. If you look back at history you will find that royalty used these similar justifications (God says I should be in power). Then of course these individuals promoted Christianity and religion as this helped them to maintain and justify their position of power.
Racism helps certain people to justify the unfair advantages they may be receiving. This goes on both sides actually because you can be of any race and receive an unfair advantage merely because of your race. The point is that in a world without race ideology then everyone should be given a fair chance without any group being given an unfair advantage due to perceived stereotypes (Blacks good at sports, Asians good at math, or whatever).
In terms of History of the United States I am well aware of the past. I'm more interested in how do we change the future. We agree race ideology is a bad idea so what can we do about this? Certain people will seek to benefit from any ideology that is in place to maintain or grow their power. This is true of religion, ideology, etc where if a certain religion is popular in a part of town then the politician may befriend the priests/monks.
I suggest you travel more and see if this is true in practice. There is not a lot of data which reveals what goes on in the subconscious of people who decide not to date certain people. In my own opinion though I doubt 100% of people who have preferences are also racist. So there are people who aren't racist who still have preferences and how do you know which group of people make up the majority of the people who for example refuse to date black people for example?
In my mind, I always simplified racism to when people think they are actually better than someone or someone is lower than them simply based on skin color or race. For better or worse, that’s my simplification.
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Racial supremacism you describe. Racism is to believe in race. A white or black supremacist is obviously racist and elitist. A racist just believes race is something scientifically valid.