THERE'S AN AUTHOR. THERE'S AN OPINION. THERE'S A BOOK.
BOOK ANNOTATION:
JANE HILL, THE EVERYDAY LANGUAGE OF THE WHITE RACISM.-
WILEY-BLACKWELL, A JOHN WILEY & SONS, LTD. PUBLICATIONS, 2008. -224 PP.
The book gives a fair chance to get acquainted with some views of race relations, oppressive facts,a linguistic anthropology insight into the problem. The meaningful language expressiveness, creative or hackneyed and immitated, very often found in the media sources reveal the origins of distrust and hatred, the painful unjust rejection srereotypes, the occasional discomfort of the notion of the White racism. The study gives a reader a good understanding of what is the racism and what is/could be the anti-racism. For some, it could be as something out of place and out of time, for others- a typical feature of behaviour. The shocking words used to describe another human being are banned or are to be banned, still being a part of historical vocabulary stock of the language.
All the epochs, all the historical events that lead to the contemporary scientifically proved understanding of the equality among the races, all the Laws, as well as the actions, events and examples of different races co-existance, respect and friendship do confirm that the "White racism is the past" but many people still state they experience that disgusting and by-no-means fair experience in their everyday lives. The definitions of bias, unacceptance, prejudice, hatred do give us the possibility to see the real reasons for the existance of the historically unfair feeling of inferiority. Very often the impossibility of being sure one is acting or conducting himself/herself correctly leads to barring oneself from possible friends or acquaitances of the people of color,- to avoid the unnecessary problems caused by possible misinterpretation, misunderstanding or different mentality.
The question of advantages and disadvantages of this or that race proven statistically still is showing some disparities, what very often is taken for inequality due to cultural or even educational differences. The author of the book is right saying that the former oppressed "were never compensated for their exclusion" from the benefits created by the whole nation, the first being a part of it. The anthropological theories and studies seem to be very good evidence of the realia that existed or the ones which still exist in a society. The Folk Theory and the Critical Theories of the problem confirm the still-prevailing misbeliefs or misinterpretation of the notion known as 'racism'.
The present day strategies of the racism-focused individuals include one of the most 'diplomatic' hating actions as 'erasure', inattention, ignoring, boycotting, 'zeroing' a personality making one a non-existing being, not even human. The daily communication in regards to the long-time established stereotypes, taught, educated, prompted, professed by some groups, makes them either stronger, neutral or weaker depending on the situation and interests. They seem to have been winning all the time. They seem to be a reliable defense against the uknown, not well-known, different and, thus, mistakenly alien. It is rather a psychological issue than anything else: the man is always afraid, mistrusts another, especially if another person is different. It is a ready-made pattern: "if I am not trusted, then why should I trust another person who, moreover, is different than I am?". And again: the stereotypes can be changed only with positive actions of another (different) group. Seeing that another individual, though different, can be trusted and relied on, a stereotype-obssessed person could change his mind, slowly, gradually, but could. It is the most important assignment and task of the Society to gain that goal through Education, through opening possibilities, through Justice and Media. Experientia facet vitam. One can recognize another only in case that the other recognizes the credentiae vitae et educationim of his, too. It is a matter of time when the Sociums change or are ready to change. It is the fault of the previous well-spread theories that one race mistrusts another. Every situation is very concrete, everyone's experience is very pragmatic and practical. A suffered person won't immediately trust a representative of another group to whom he can erroneously assign negative characteristics of an 'enemy' due to the fact that he had been humiliated by one of the group's representatives.
The mass or popular consciousness tries to find its 'correctness' in historical or accidental, or, even incidental events though they haven't suffered from them directly, or, if they did, they will always be caucious about any type of communication with the previously discredited by themselves representatives of the socium, group, class, nation, race.
Only mutual business interests can pacify the possible 'rivals' for a shorter or longer time needed for the project to be completed. The stereotypes will still be alive but their priority will vanish due to the positive communication outcome and results. The diversity as to educational, personal, social, business, property, religious or other markers will always exist. The antagonism will be weakened only on the basis of the mutual interests. Neither isolation nor mixing do not resolve all the problem as the notion of the 'racism' is generated not so much in the minds of the people but in the language itself. The linguistic 'racism-marked' vocabulary is very close to that of a national bias. The linguistic competition of two or more languages that co-exist on one territory of the socium supports the lingual interdependence and enrichment through various linguistic creativity factors such as humor, joking, even mockery, friendly or not quite friendly, which in some situations can be sensitive for another party and can be taken as enimosity. The acceptance or rejection is always a regulation which has very deep social roots and personal reasons. The general human values development is the most important weapon in the battle agaist racism, bias or hatred.
It is always the issue of mentality and the vision of life that make us choose correctly or incorrectly. The same result can be obtained in different ways. Only the result is to be positive whichever were the procedures.
The book is interesting and very instructive: it gives a fair opportunity to come to the understanding of the realia of which we are already aware, about which, at times, we try not to think or are afraid of thinking. It is a mutual assignment of all to participate in the most difficult long-term campaign to illiminate the very notion of the vice, be the racism White or not.
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