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Comment by crankylinuxuser | Hacker News Reader

Just this last weekend, we were going through northern Ohio. We stopped at a restaurant. Greasy spoon, one of. Smelled good outside, and lots of cars.

We ate. Good food, reasonable price. Near the end, the waitress asked if we'd NOT pay in credit card, so she wouldn't have to report the tips. I'm not terribly concerned about being a conspirator to tax fraud with someone making $2.35/hr

Then she goes into talking about her daughter who moved back in. Disabled. And when they went to the Social Security office and Welfare office, "those brown and black people always seem to get it". She went off on a soliloquy about 'us poor whites'.

Yeah, racism exists. And we've seen it in rural communities much more than urban. The worst part, is that I would bet that she didn't think she was being racist.

edit: added "not pay in credit card"

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I believe you are confusing racism with bigotry. Here is the dictionary definition of racism:

>prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

Of course superior is an objective word, but I don't see any evidence in that quoted statement where she felt superior. Honestly sounded more like self pity, jealousy and stereotyping. "Those union people get paid way more than they deserve," "Those college kids get all the breaks." The only difference is her target were "brown and and black people."

She satisfied the first half of the definition, "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race" but I didn't see the second half, "based on the belief that one's own race is superior."

I could be wrong.

You are correct. If you switch up the statement:

Then she goes into talking about her daughter who moved back in. Disabled. And when they went to the Social Security office and Welfare office, "those white people always seem to get it". She went off on a soliloquy about 'us poor black and brown people'.

Nobody would consider that statement racist.

Based on a definition of bigotry made in these comments: "stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own"

I don't think they are confusing racism with bigotry. Maybe (unhelpful) stereotypes based on race, or a racialised view of society.

I disagree with that definition of racism.

Racism is the application of social traits, be they positive or negative, across an ethnicity of people, with little to no concern for the individual.

Stating something about African Americans along with fried chicken or watermelon is racist. Assuming, that because someone is black that they must like this is racist.

In my case, it was the said assumption that "brown and black all suck the test of welfare". The unstated assumption was that they were all lazy, and "us poor working whites" should have had access to it.

Racism also goes into "positive traits" too. Stating,"Well you're Asian, so you must be good at math." Is also racist.

In the same light, but if we talk of Men or Women, its roughly the same but called Sexist. Instead of making a decision based upon racial generalizations, its sexual generalizations.

You don't see a problem in making "racism," permanently hyperbolic?

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