The philosopher Jacque Derrida believed that “the speaker’s meaning has no more authority than the hearer’s interpretation and thus intention cannot outweigh impact” (Lindsay & Pluckrose, Cynical Theories).
Stanford News published an article detailing stories of how language “can correspond with biased beliefs of the speakers.”
Language is incredibly powerful and affects our beliefs, systems, and society. But is language part of oppressive power?
The Left is obsessed with changing the definitions of words, which is why it is so difficult to have a dialogue with someone on the Left. You constantly have to ask them to define their terms, and you have to be quick on your feet with what you believe terms actually mean.
The postmodern idea that there is no objective truth has infiltrated our language today and has changed what words mean. One of those changed words is “racism”, and the new, woke definition of racism is often used in the faulty “social justice” agenda so prevalent in American culture today.
What does racism mean today, and what did it mean before the woke mob redefined it?
Read “Responding to Postmodernism & Relativism” to learn more!
What Racism Originally Meant
Charlie Kirk defines racism (in its original definition) as a situation when someone “discriminate[s] against another person based on their skin color or [has] a prejudice against them. […] Racism can collectivize itself, but it’s very rare in today’s America.”
Racism was originally based on skin color and tangible actions. Examples of racism in its original form include segregated dorms, schools, and seating in public transportation. Segregation (and racism) based on skin color is evil and reprehensible and should be abolished in any society, as the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s worked to do.
Racism Evolves
Today, racism has a new meaning. Critical race theory has told us that racism is present in every situation.
Steven O. Roberts, echoing critical race theory rhetoric, stated in an article, “People often define racism as disliking or mistreating others on the basis of race. That definition is wrong. Racism is a system of advantage based on race. It is a hierarchy. It is a pandemic. Racism is so deeply embedded within U.S. minds and U.S. society that it is virtually impossible to escape.” (Stanford University, Steven O. Roberts – director of the Social Concepts Lab and part of the psychology department in the School of Humanities and Sciences).
There is also passive racism, which “includes an apathy toward systems of racial advantage or denial that those systems even exist” (Stanford, June 2020).
RELATED: WHAT IS CRITICAL RACE THEORY?
Racism’s New Definition: Acting White
Today, racism has been expanded to include cultural factors, identities, critical categories, and unconscious bias.
Christopher Rufo puts it this way in an interview with Charlie Kirk:
“Today, the Left has expanded the definition of racism to include pretty much everything from square dancing and logic and objectivity and comfort […]” He states, “[These] are all [considered] elements of white supremacy.”
Rufo continues. “[They] reduce the imbalances of racial power as the fundamental dynamic. They want to basically shift those hierarchies of power.”
White people are seen as the dominant culture, and therefore, “acting white” is considered oppressive. Not only does critical race theory perceive “acting white” as including art, dress styles, hairstyles, and music, but it also categorizes “liberalism, meritocracy, science, reason, logic, punctuality, work ethic, and using organized methods (at work) to get things done” as being racist (Lindsay, New Discourses). These are seen as “elements of white culture” (i.e. racism).
You can see how the definition of racism has been adapted to fit a culture where true racism has been ostracized and mostly abolished both morally and culturally.
People Of Color Can “Act White” Too
In Acting White? Rethinking Race in “Post-Racial” America, authors Devan Carbado and Mitu Gulati state, “[W]e are using the “acting white” term loosely; sometimes to describe instances in which people of color obscure, downplay, or expressly repudiate the racial group to which they presumptively belong; and sometimes to describe instances in which people of color engage in conduct or activities that are not typically associated with people of their race.”
According to the new definition of racism, if people with higher concentrations of melanin in their skin dare to “act white” (i.e. “dress white” or “work like a white person”), they are betraying their race and culture.
If this is not a prime example of boxing someone into a segregated identity, I’d like to ask what is.
Progressively Moving Backward
Racism has expanded to include things that were not originally racist. The woke Left had to recreate racism because America had made great strides toward becoming anti-racist. To borrow Rufo’s term, America is post-racial. We may still have residual racism, which is something we should all proactively work to fix. But to state that America has widespread racism is a gross lie.
Moreover, creating new definitions for racism is a deviation from original definitions and makes it incredibly difficult to have dialogues and debates when we have to constantly double-check definitions.
Think back to the famous story of Rosa Parks when she dared to sit in the “white” seating on the bus. She gained national recognition and sparked a movement of freedom all across America.
But today, Columbia University is offering 6 different ceremonies for their 2021 graduates and is progressively moving backward by segregating students by race, gender, sexuality, and even income level (The Blaze)!
Ten years ago, this would have been unheard of, but today, it is done in defense of “equity” and progressivity. Most universities don’t have widespread racism, and most college students are not racist in America.
The woke Left needed racism to continue dividing America, so they created a new definition of racism to cow American citizens to their agenda.
Don’t fall for it. Go out armed with a defense against the woke definition of “racism”.