Racism is bad... when you don't talk about it.
So the Obama administration has decided to boycott the UN racism forum and a bunch of other "western" countries have decided to follow suit. Their objection seems to be that a past conference described Zionism as racist. Duh. Of course it's racist. It's an ideology about defining a national identity around racial (or ethnic or religious or whatever) criteria. That doesn't mean that it's bad. Affirmative action / positive discrimination is also racist, but many people (including me) would argue that it's justified.
It's important to talk about these questions in open, inclusive forums. My gut reaction when people don't feel comfortable talking about this is that they don't believe in the morality of the policies, otherwise what's to fear?
It's important to talk about these questions in open, inclusive forums. My gut reaction when people don't feel comfortable talking about this is that they don't believe in the morality of the policies, otherwise what's to fear?