Define racism

This might be a little off-topic but I’ve gotta say it.

It’s not often that I find myself disagreeing with conservatives. This time I sternly disagree.

The president of Western Washington University used the word “white” when stating that the school was not racially diverse enough. He was saying that Western needed more minorities and it was the challenge of colleges and universities to do so.

He was speaking in favor of ethnic diversity, not against it. Many are referring to Martin Luther King’s comment that we should be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin. That, of course, is absolutely true. And the president of WWU would totally support that statement.

Many say the use of the word “white” goes against what Dr. King stood for, and yet Dr. King himself often used the words “black”, “white” and “colored man” to make his points. Are we saying that Dr. King was a racist?

This controversy over the president’s comments is ludicrous. There are practical times when we need to differentiate between races in order to communicate the evils of racism.

We need to define the meaning of the word racist.  I grew up in the 60’s when racism was very real and often violent. Some “white” people were violently opposed to integration and thought the white race was superior. In my last sentence am I ‘racist’ because I use the term ‘white’?

It is interesting that many liberals are siding with me on this. We have a conservative politician up here who is calling for the president’s resignation. In this “controversy” I think the conservatives are “whackos.”