• Zephyr@sh.itjust.works
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    9 hours ago

    We’re assuming this is in the US or a western country? Racism isn’t the same everywhere. For instance in Kenya Somalians are treated very poorly and there’s a lot of racism towards them by Kenyan natives but both are people of colour. Similarly there’s a lot of hate and resentment between Kikuyu and Luo and they will know one another easily by how they look aka their ethnicity and it’s essentially racism again but both are people of colour. Similarly a Chinese person in Japan will likely face tremendous racism yet both are people of colour. Who exactly are we standing with?

    • Ashen44@lemmy.ca
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      8 hours ago

      Yes sorry, I did assume a western context, that’s my bad. I’ve only ever lived in Canada so I’m not too knowledgeable on progressive movements outside of the west. I would imagine though that the best course of action would be to state your alliance with those marginalized ethnicities in those cultures. For example, if you live in Kenya and want to see Somalians treated equally there then you should express your support for the Somalians, because not expressing that support will cause others to assume you hold the culturally “default” position, which in the case of widespread discrimination would likely mean they would assume you are anti-Somalian.

      Basically all I mean is that if you want to show that you don’t care about race or ethnicity then show support for whatever group needs it the most in your community. By doing so you’re showing that you’re willing to accept those groups even though they aren’t identical to you. Sure that might seem like you absolutely do care about race, since you’re supporting those groups on basis of who they are, but a truly “neutral” position doesn’t exist in situations like this, as choosing not to say anything at all is showing that you’re okay with whatever the current dominant ideology is.

      • Zephyr@sh.itjust.works
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        2 hours ago

        I think I tend to take more of an interpersonal approach than a group approach towards life. Group theory is a perception of society but it isn’t the only one. Generally speaking i want equitable treatment for all people regardless of the groups they happen to belong to. That’s to say I’m more individual focused than group focused. Just because someone is in a group doesn’t mean they specifically have faced any hardships in relationships to that group. In many and arguably in any country the determining factor is wealth and the power of one’s social networks. Like an individual in Kenya can most definitely avoid any issues whatsoever with their race if they are wealthy and powerful enough. I couldn’t say just because they are Somalian that they suffered the same prejudice that a poor Somalian in Kenya has. Group theory though does have a place when one is talking about statistics aka large amounts of people who share a group more so than an individual. Both perception are right and neither is wrong for the other being right.