Misuse and overuse of the term racism

One of the easiest things to do when facing problems is blaming someone else. It is especially prevalent in the racial tensions plaguing us as a society. This shift of blame goes in many directions: black to white, white to black and so on. Despite popular sentiment, we arguably live in most racially harmonious time in human history. Where else in the world at any given point in history have such a diverse group of ethnicities coexisted in such relative peace? Of course, there are instances of real racism in America, and denying or ignoring these instances is morally wrong. However, the line between actual racism and imagined racism is constantly being blurred. In instances of actual racism, we should come together to condemn those acts and fight to fix the wrongs caused by them. Racism is evil and should be vigorously fought by anyone and everyone with decent moral conviction. The problem in American society today is that the definition of racism is being redefined to tailor to certain agendas. These agendas aim to broaden the definition of racism to include actions and ideas that used to not be traditionally seen as racist. By doing so, racism can be claimed more frequently to justify perceived injustices and difficulties. Traditionally, racism has been defined as the actions, intents and words used to antagonize people of different races. Now, racism is being redefined as who you are and what group you belong to instead of what you actually do and say. This tribalistic, intersectional approach to race is extremely detrimental to fragile race relations because of the way it allows blame to be placed on whole groups of people rather than on individuals. It pits neighbor against neighbor and categorizes people by their skin color, not their actions and ideas. Last week, horrid comedian Chelsea Handler called Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson a “black white supremacist.” She did this because he happens to be a black conservative and, since blacks typically swing Democrat, he must be against blacks and therefore racist. Examples like this highlight how the term racist is thrown around nonsensically. Carson is obviously not a black white supremacist, but the meaning of racism has changed to include people who have different political views than the majority of their race. The solution is putting greater emphasis on individual actions than on groups as a whole. This outlook puts very little stock in blaming others and great emphasis on personal choices made by individuals. Applying this principle to racism requires us to look at the traditional definition and collectively condemning individuals who do racist things, not entire groups.