posic

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- Are you a racist?
- Of course!
- That's wrong!
- No, that's right.
- So, why is it right to be a racist?
- Because I am white. Being a racist means the same thing as being a white person, by the definition.
- No, the definition is different!
- That's a wrong definition. The right definition is what I told you.
- Look, here is the book which says...
- The right definition is not what is written in your book. It is what corresponds to the actual usage. Racism, as it is actually used, means what I am saying it means.
- But how about black racism?
- You are mistaken. A black person cannot be a racist, by the definition.
- I see. Now, are you also a sexist?
- Sure!
- But why?
- Because I am male. All men are sexists, by the definition. Also, all sexists are men.
- That's wrong!
- No, that's right.
...

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

chaource.livejournal.com

Did you actually have this conversation? :)

Here is an illustration:
sensitivity_training

From:

posic.livejournal.com

Of course, not. It is impossible to behave with any sense of dignity in these kinds of situations, in practice, except by refusing to appear/participate/have any conversation at all, etc. The rhetorical hights are occupied by these people; I do not believe there is any way you can win a dispute with them.

If you say you are not a racist, they will prove you that you are (as the definition of being a racist is entirely under their control). If you declare from the very beginning that you are, they would ask whether you discriminate, and how can you be sure that you don't, and then remind you that discrimination is prohibited both by law and by your employer's rules to which you have subscribed at your hiring. They hold all the cards in this game as it is conventionally played.

They have a strategy; and the only way to counter a strategy is with a strategy of you own. For the time being, I just want this imaginary conversation to sit here in my journal (complementing the "counter-entry visa policy statement"). There is no practical significance in any foreseeable future, of course.