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I've recently noticed a few people using the word 'racialist' / 'racialism' (note: not 'racist') to essentially mean "a truth-based discussion of racial and cultural traits and issues in a way that is positive, affirming, and sensitive" (in contrast to racist / racism where the focus is on negatively evaluating some races/cultures with respect to others and drawing generalizations in order to demean people and justify hatred).
This word is relatively new to me, and so I'm unclear on the extent to which recent users have departed from historical usages of the word. Though the free dictionary gives a meaning of "An emphasis on race or racial considerations, as in determining policy or interpreting events." which seems similar to the modern use.
I am a bit unsure whether to think this term is worthwhile or not. I think there is great value in our democracies and our politicians thinking about cultural differences between people and talking about specific issues faced by particular racial groups and how to address those issues and making well-informed political decisions based on real differences between cultures. But there are groups who have been unwilling to discuss issues of race, for fear of racism (who usually label themselves 'liberals', who others would call PC-police or SJWs). And there's been groups who've been actually racist (who usually label themselves 'conservative'). Many of the rest of us, both among liberals and conservatives, think that society needs to think about cultural issues, and have sensible political policies around particular racial groups who are struggling with certain issues, with immigration etc, but we face the dual problem of both the racists and the PC-police and so it becomes difficult to have a sensible public discourse on such issues while walking the knife edge of not giving either group ammunition. And more recently, of course, race has intersected with religion due to the issues surrounding Islamic terrorism and Sharia law.
Does the term 'racialism' offer a helpful way forward to be able to discuss such issues meaningfully in a non-discriminatory and derogatory way and successfully stave off both the racists/islamophobes and the PC-police/SJWs? Or is it a bit of a red herring, and just unhelpful and irrelevant?
This word is relatively new to me, and so I'm unclear on the extent to which recent users have departed from historical usages of the word. Though the free dictionary gives a meaning of "An emphasis on race or racial considerations, as in determining policy or interpreting events." which seems similar to the modern use.
I am a bit unsure whether to think this term is worthwhile or not. I think there is great value in our democracies and our politicians thinking about cultural differences between people and talking about specific issues faced by particular racial groups and how to address those issues and making well-informed political decisions based on real differences between cultures. But there are groups who have been unwilling to discuss issues of race, for fear of racism (who usually label themselves 'liberals', who others would call PC-police or SJWs). And there's been groups who've been actually racist (who usually label themselves 'conservative'). Many of the rest of us, both among liberals and conservatives, think that society needs to think about cultural issues, and have sensible political policies around particular racial groups who are struggling with certain issues, with immigration etc, but we face the dual problem of both the racists and the PC-police and so it becomes difficult to have a sensible public discourse on such issues while walking the knife edge of not giving either group ammunition. And more recently, of course, race has intersected with religion due to the issues surrounding Islamic terrorism and Sharia law.
Does the term 'racialism' offer a helpful way forward to be able to discuss such issues meaningfully in a non-discriminatory and derogatory way and successfully stave off both the racists/islamophobes and the PC-police/SJWs? Or is it a bit of a red herring, and just unhelpful and irrelevant?
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