Quote:
Originally Posted by augie_
1) racism is bad
2) figure out who was racist in the past
3) be racist against them
4) racism is good
leftist guide to morality and race
That seems a strange way to consider it.
'Racism is bad' isn't some axiom. It's a conclusion reached because we consider it bad that groups of people being subordinate or worse off than others because of their skin colour is a bad thing. That's why when we talk of the problems of racism we don't usually apply it in the 'reverse' case (positive discrimination) as then it's addressing the thing we consider bad rather than exacerbating it.
There's a second consideration which is that it would be best if everyone is treated as an individual - that's the ideal scenario but while the playing field isn't level then we have a moral dilemma and some of us think that a degree of positive discrimination best meets the moral objectives of achieving a just world.