Racism and Rudeness

"The people who try to divide society on the basis of ethnicity we call racists. The people who try to divide it on the basis of religion we call sectarians. The people who try to divide it on the basis of social class we call either populists or elitists."

- David Brooks

I think this was an elegant statement on racism and other means to divide us.

Beyond the very clear cases of discrimination, most stories about racism are really about rudeness. "Someone said something I found offensive concerning race".

There is a blog on the SFGate website, and the author wrote about visiting an Oakland jazz club and his outrage seeing "Happy Nigger Day" scribbled on a bathroom wall board.

Is this graffito offensive in a racial? Definitely. But is something written on a bathroom wall even worth mentioning?

I thought it was more racist to comment about the almost entirely white audience, as if personal tastes in music and friends is an attempt at discrimination.

But a comment like that I believe unites people rather than separates them. I bet everyone at the club is offended by that line (well, except the guy who wrote it), and that occasion should have been used to bring people together against racism, not make a blanket accusation against the club's patrons.

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