Racist or Not?

[daleduke17]

http://pantagraph.com/articles/2009/...c454444950.txt

I call this a racist bullshit. If white folks did this, like some commenters said, all of the "talking heads" from all over would be on this screaming racism.

Also, why is this even news? Aren't there enough REAL stories to cover instead of this tripe?

[crazylegs]

Of course it's racism, they're deciding to descriminate against a business purely on the colour of the owners skin.

[Greenday]

It's pretty racist alright, but it's not like you can tell someone where they can and can't shop. If they want to not shop somewhere because the owner is white, that is there right.

I do think if a large group of white people did this and announced it so publically, they'd be all over the media as horrible racists instead of progressive people.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I dunno. On the surface, yeah, it looks racist. But I think the motivation changes it. They aren't discriminating against white folks per se, they are trying to support black business and see how that goes. I see it more as an experiment or a social statment than anything else.

What if they were white and supporting only black owned businesses?

[kiwi]

What if they were white and supporting only black owned businesses?

but what if they were white and only supported white businesses?

I think that while the intention is good, it is actually incredibily racist in action.

You should not judge a business by the colour of the owner.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

But see, that's exactly my point. Nowhere does it suggest that they have a problem with white owned businesses. If they were racist and hated whites, and the article said as much, then yeah. Racist and nasty. But that does not seem to be the motive.

While I agree that race should not be a deciding factor in choosing who or who not to do business with, I think I am understanding that their motives are not based on who NOT to do business with, if that made sense. My understanding of it is that they are trying to put more dollars into black owned business to encourage it to thrive and grow.

I mean, the Chinese in the US have been doing it forever and nobody says anything about that. They are Chinese immigrants sticking together to support other Chinese immigrants. What is the difference?

(I can't believe I'm on the "racist side" of this debate.)

[Greenday]

Just because they word it different doesn't change what they are doing. What's left unsaid means just as much as what is said. Saying they are only going to buy from other black people is no different than saying they are never going to buy from white people.

[Cats]

I would also say it's racist. As for the intent? Sorry, not buying it. While the cause may seem noble on the surface, at the end of the day, I don't care about the skin color or the ethnic background of the pepole who own the buisnesses which I patronize. I care about the buisness practices.

Okay, so they're trying to put more dollars into the black buisness community. What's the point? A buisness isn't good or bad based only on the color of the people who run it. If a white person decided to only shop at white buisnesses to support their community (which is NO different) pepole would be SCREAMING racism (and as a white person myself, I'm not going to be a hypocrite, I would consider it so). Hey, it's the same type of cause, is it not? If it's racism if a white person does it, it's racist if any other demographic does it too.

I will say, however, that I don't think they're trying to be racist, and may not realize they are being so.

But on an ending note either way, when are pepole FINALLY going to listen to MLK and judge not by skin color but the content of character?

[Slytovhand]

Is it racist to buy American only? Is it racist to want to support your own country/team/group/state/city/whatever??

Is patriotism a form of racism?

I see what's happening in Fiji, and totally get it. Fiji has had a massive intake of Indian immigrants, to the point that now they have a very high percentage of Indians in their parliament, and they've been passing bills that help their fellow indian nationals, to the detriment of the born and bred native Fijians... so, the Fijian army (the majority of which is native Fijian) held a coup d'etat. (and, of course, the rest of the world screamed "You can't do that! It's undemocratic!!!")

So... racist? I understand why it's being suggested, but it's not much different to the way we normally do our business... we want to support someone with similar ideas/attitudes/beliefs/backgrounds as our own. This one just happens to be based on skin colour (and culture!!!) rather than, say... Yankees vs Dodgers... or Chelsea vs Arsenal supporters.

[Flyndaran]

Is it racist to buy American only? Is it racist to want to support your own country/team/group/state/city/whatever??

Is patriotism a form of racism?
....

Umm no. Racism is judging based on race. What you describe is nationalism.
In general I don't like any form of "-ism".

Also different nations have very different forms of product oversight. Product are different based on where they were made. Just look at the whole issue with poisonous crap made in China that would never have been allowed to be made in most other countries.

[Slytovhand]

Damn... yeah, ok. Shoulda said "Is patriotism a form of discrimination?"... is that better??

[Flyndaran]

Damn... yeah, ok. Shoulda said "Is patriotism a form of discrimination?"... is that better??

I would say that in theory, yes it is. In reality with large nations like the U.S. having so many unique cutlural regions, it's hard not to wander into racism or at least culturism when talking patriotism.

Besides, I consider patriotism as it is usually used, a delusion. No country is even in the ballpark of perfect, so it's a little silly to yell your love of one.
Rather than obsess over your nations' good ponits, try fixing their bad points.
That kind of patriotism I can get behind.

[protege]

It's good to see that racism is still alive and well in this country

Seriously, this is no different than if white people decided to only support white-owned businesses. If that was the case, you'd have blood in the streets, and every media outlet would be screaming about it. Yet, this is OK? It's still racist, no matter *how* you look at it.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Because white is the majority, not the minority.

Let's put a different spin on this. Is it racism when Italian Americans did it/are still doing it? Italians are now considered white. They have not always been, but now they are. They look like everyone else, mostly, so when they do exactly what the folks in the OP's story is doing, is it racism? It's not based on skin color or appearance, it's based on culture.

So I guess what I'm asking is this: if black people blended into the majority the same as Italians (or Irish or Polish, or any other race once considered non-white in this country) would you still call it racist?

[DesignFox]

The guy refused to go to the doctor to take care of his stomach problems because the only doctor in the area is white.

The mother refuses to take the daughter to get a replacement earring because she can't buy that earring from a black person.

THAT'S clear racism.

I'm sorry, but there is no reason to be choosing where you buy stuff based on the skin color of the owner. Personally, I rarely know or care who owns the business as long as the service I get is good. If the service is bad, I don't go back there. Simple!