Casual Racism

[sarcasm_hime]

Casual Racism Is Not My Spirit Animal - great article, and could be applied to any -ism.

"[Casually racist comments] don’t have the same shock value as walking up to a person of color and calling them a racial slur. It’s not like being stung; it’s like being slowly burned, by a heat so gradual you barely notice it’s happening. Participating in

Comments

[lelola]

“I am nostalgic for a time when I could be as racist as I wanted and nobody bugged me about it and thus I would like you to just shut up now you dumb person with your stupid thinky brain thoughts trying to infiltrate the hostile and unmovable lump of granite I replaced my mind with.”
This is one of the best translations re: complaints about political correctness I've ever encountered (minus the use of ableist terminology =P).

[karisu_sama]

While I agree with the article, I'm not sure what she's trying to say in her short reference to "spirit animal". There's a number of worldwide religions that feature animal spirits / animal guides / affinity spirits in animal form / "familiars"; specifically religious paths that have historically contained some sort of shamanic component whether recently or in the past. To immediately think the use of "spirit animal" is "stealing a concept from native North Americans" is a bit of an assumption (if that's what she's trying to say about it; it isn't clear), although I can see definite grounds for objection if a term like that is used frivolously or mockingly.

[kusanivy]

Karisu - I was wondering about that too. It‘s the only comment she doesn‘t give context for.

Is she saying that unless you are First Nations you cannot claim to have a spirit animal? Or cannot claim to take guidance or have an affinity for a certain type of animal?

If you are genuine in your belief in it, than what is wrong with using the term “spirit animal“?

[lelola]

I'm not sure, but I think this may be the context she was discussing.

[pwyrzykowski]

I like the article, although it annoys me that she doesn't nuance it at all. I think there is a difference between being a racist and occasionally saying racist things through ignorance - for one thing, the latter is a lot more subject to context. I happen to know where "gypped" comes from, and so I wouldn't use it. But not having grown up in the US, I have absolutely no race associations in my head with the terms "articulate" or "well spoken", and might well use them as a compliment whether someone was white or not (although, following the scandal with Michelle Obama being called "articulate", I am now aware of what the connotations are in a US context).