Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[korian]

it is a hard one. we know the definition of racism, but what if you make a negative generalisation about a sub-culture? for example, if i say that surfers are a bunch of narrow-minded homophobes (purely hypothetical) it might be a generalisation, but it can't be classed as racism can it?

it's negative in its use, and it might offend, but it's not racist based on the definition of racism. nor is it ethnocentric. yet it still negatively portrays a group of people.

what would it be classified as? and answers such as 'being a f$$kwit' need not be forthcoming. i'm trying to clearly delineate between generlaisations, racism, or even ethnocentrism.

[khyber]

funny you say that korian...
the wife was friends with "many, many surfers" when she worked in resort towns....(the bush parties were pretty nuts i guess) and everyone of them that she tried to met, was INCREDIBLY homophobic and generally red-neck.....

[korian]

well i grew up on a beach in sydney and now live on the gold coast and have surfed since i was 5. it's not an easy sub culture to live in/with if you're not the 'norm' the parameters of norm for many hardcore surfers can be quite skewed.

but it was only a hypothetical example. it could have been anything.

it seems stereotypes, generalisations and racism can be intertwined somewhat and hard to distinguish between in different situatons or at given moments.

again, i think context and intention determine a lot of what a comment might or might not be.

[rapier]

Discrimination is a natural, unavoidable and essential part of life. Equality is a human fantasy, a social construct, a theory that has never and can never exist in reality. If you're recruiting a receptionist for your company, you discriminate between the candidates based on criteria such as looks, ability, people skills, education, experience, whatever. Are you then going to accuse the manager of discrimination because he rejected the less attractive/less educated candidates? Its absurd... wether you're looking for a girlfriend, employee, friend, whatever..you discriminate on a huge variety of different factors, getting the best suited person available for the job at any one time.
If my hagwon depended on hiring white teachers rather than blacks who taught english equally as well because of the perceptions of the parents, of course i'd do it.. a business is not a charity.
"Skin color" is just a byword, a catchphrase from the 80's whole trendy anti-apartheid madness.
everyone is incredibly different, person to person, "race" to race, and so on. Skin color amounts to about 1% of the differences between "races" (do they even exist?).