Why is any criticism of a culture considered racist?

Hey Bubba, can you throw us an example to work with?

I believe in right and wrong, but I don't believe in no morals.

Good point, pdawg.

Bubba, I was an anthropology student in college. I studied many different cultures from around the world and through out history. I never came across a culture that, as a whole, was immoral. I find items from some cultures disturbing (forced burkah wear, female genital mutilation, arranged marriages, etc).

Is it? Sheeit, my culture just don't know no better.

"Hey Bubba, can you throw us an example to work with?"

Sure. The other day I was discussing the continued plight of African Americans with my friends. At one point in the debate, I began putting some of the blame on the immature/regressive culture of African American youths. Specifically, the culture is extremely materialistic, mysoginistic, and violent. My friends immediately jumped on me and called me racist and ignorant which is absurd. Obviously, this is a personal anecdote but I've witnessed similar events in public venues and on TV.

Agreed. Apologies if that is what my message implied. I understand every culture has pros/cons and no culture is either entirely good or bad. I'm referencing the taboo nature of ANY criticism(large or small) of a culture,

PC? Dunno. No one's going to call themselves PC and tell you whether that's all right. (No one with a head outside their ass, anyway. Some of my relatives, maybe.)

Should be able to say when people are in the wrong. I hope it doesn't affect my expectations of the next person I meet, or millions that I never will, though. Most people break the mold, I think.

Ah..... remember when Bill Cosby did what you did, Bubba? He got **** for it too. I seem to have spent my mental capacity for the night. I'll be back.

Yes, it's a difficult argument to make because the backlash is inevitable, but the argument has been made before. One of the most eloquent (and therefore controversial) versions is repeatedly by given by John McWhorter, a professor of linguistics at U.C. Berkeley and a frequent contributer to newspapers, journals and other media. He often rails against the corrosive influences of hip-hop on black youths and describes much black culture as a "cult of victimization." If you aren't already familiar with it, you should look at his book Losing the Race.



You don't. I don't believe so, anyway. You just have to know enough about the culture to trust in what you're saying, and you have to trust yourself that you are being as objective as possible. The idea that members of a culture are the only ones who can comment on it is a result of extreme relativism, and a morally irresponsible view in my opinion.

Hear! Hear!

I think this is a very good question. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, left-wing militants began to attempt to work together to acheive their political ends. It didn't work out too well, but it did create an atmosphere in which one was not to criticize black misogyny and the protection of criminals (in that inner-city blacks usually won't cooperate with the police), misogyny and alcoholism among American Indians, the repressive regimes of socialist or communist nations in Asia--everyone staked out territory into which no one else was allowed to go, and all in the name of a coalition which was never successfully formed.

The "teach the children" version of this was the celebration of culture. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the good, the interesting and instructional parts of any given culture. There certainly is something wrong with refusing to face the flaws of cultures.

Ex-US Ambassador Andrew Young, catching hell yesterday for criticizing many Korean, Jew and Arab-owned grocery stores in Black areas, asks the question: Can't we speak on ethnicity objectively without it being viewed as demeaning or stereotypical?

Somehow, we've got to find a way to do that without being attacked and labeled racist simply because we're not speaking in a positive manner about people or a particular group of people.

And by the way, Mr. Young wasn't lying. Throughout the years I smoked, I found myself buying cigarettes in many stinking stores in 'the hood'. It was common knowledge that shopping in these little stores owned by people who live outside of the area was risky, at best. But because he actually mouthed the words, he's now being slammed as a racist and even his old buddies are distancing themselves from him. It's ridiculous.

agree with Set that this is a good question. historically, cultural critique was used to justify exploting native peoples in the name of *civilizing* them. i'm all for cultural diversity, but if a culture oppresses people and the oppressed consider themselves oppressed, then outsiders have a right to speak out against it. by the same token, insiders have every right to criticize their own culture...the culture should serve them, and not the other way around.

an illustrative example, i think, is the wearing of veils by muslim women. if the women themselves do not find such a requirement oppressive, then it's nobody's business what they wear. of course it could be argued that coercion is coercion, even if the coerced agree with the practice that's being imposed on them.

Eoe--

You made a point I thought of when reading the newspaper this morning.



The other-ethnic store owners deliberately set up shop in the inner city with the idea of turning a profit. Did they prevent enterprising black business people from opening stores?

Of course not. But that's certainly no excuse to sell old and rotten food. That's beyond turning a profit. That's just greed and a lack of concern for your customers' health and well-being.

Eoe--

From the outside, I didn't know about the inferior produce.

Profit margins can make goudgers of us all.

I'm sorry. Most are probably not aware of the brouhaha from yesterday. And while I do not back Mr. Young as a shill for Walmart, I do bare witness to what he says about many small grocery stores in the inner city that were owned by Jews, initially, and then Koreans in the 70's and 80's and now Arabs.

Andrew Young

Most small grocery stores, wherever they are, charge more, by necessity, having to do with volume purchased, etc. Still, I'm inclined to agree with a frowning view of some neighborhood stores and their produce. But my experience is no smart survey, and that could be done, these places still exist.

I do remember buying a bag of potato chips at a big market on Lincoln across the street from a troubled Venice neighborhood. Virtually all burned. I remember thinking at the time there'd been a bad batch dumped at that particular store that wouldn't have been dumped someplace else. Who knows, maybe the buyers never opened the bags they got so cheaply... but one gets cynical.

I know that supermarket chains have higher priced goods in the inner city.
The "logic" is that there is more shoplifting, hence a greater overhead, but this doesn't seem to be the entire story.