I regret being rude, but I regard such distortion of the language as complete racist bullshit, and dangerous to my family, which is multi-racial. Believe me, my children are getting the whole picture.
I have to teach my children that my daughter can’t afford to be alone in a certain nearby small town in Maryland, and that my son can’t afford to be alone in certain neighborhoods of (also nearby) Philadelphia. This is grim reality, not rhetoric. My kids had their first personal contact with overt racism against us when the oldest was about five years old. Can you imagine explaining what an anonymous racist death threat is all about to a five-year-old looking at one?
People who object to accurate use of the word ‘racism’ are saying that only the hatred directed against my dark-skinned loved ones really matters, and my pale-skinned child can never be called a victim of racism, even if a coffin is being lowered into the ground. It’s only something worth the highest disapprobation if there’s a dark-skinned victim? Milder words are called for if a pale-skinned person suffers or dies? This callous disregard for real situations and real people, in favor of high-minded talk of “social forces” and “status”, honestly makes me viscerally angry so I will stop typing now.
Edit: the first cut of this was aimed unfairly at zikzak, who was not specifically endorsing the stance I abhor. Hopefully nobody (especially zikzak!) saw that one before I cooled off a little.
