Is racism ever justified?
Here's an editorial I read in the Daily today (third one down): http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2007/03/06/71054
The author, a Caucasian lawyer who represents Asian-American immigrants, was shocked when he found out how many of them expressed racist views toward African Americans. But as he examined it more, he discovered that this wasn’t just uneducated bigotry. Many of these people had been the systematic victims of crime perpetrated largely by African American men in their communities.
This raised some interesting questions for me. Is racism as a response to negative experiences still racism? And if so, can you call it unjustified? The problem, of course, is one of stereotyping. Just because some African American men had victimized these people, doesn't necessarily mean that all African American men were bad and would continue to victimize them.
But that doesn't change the perceptions or experiences of these Asian-Americans. From their perspective, they were the victims and targets of primarily African-American criminals. Do we minimize their pain, and dismiss their experiences? Do we criticize them for directing animosity towards African Americans in general when so many of their experiences with them are negative?
I think the short answer that many people will toss out is "Yes, we should. Racism is bad, and they're misguided for stereotyping people."
But I'm not so sure. It's easy to ride a moral high horse when you're not the victim. I'm trying to put myself in their shoes. I think that it's a natural response to be wary of people who look like a person that victimized you, especially if it's repeated over time, and especially if your friends and family all have similar experiences. It's also easy to tell people that they should rise above such experiences, without having been in that position yourself.
I'm not sure there's an easy answer.