Racism is defined as the belief that each race possesses a characteristic that makes them either inferior or superior to other races. The real defining factor between racists and the color blind is that racist use race to make decisions. With this definition, there are actually two types of racists.
The first and most textbook example of racism is the malign racist. This person is very similar to a KKK member and views some races as so inferior that they are offended that these “inferior” races have the same rights as everyone else, and as a result, can even become violent. There are not many malign racists today, but this definition almost always comes to mind whenever someone is called a racist.
The second is a benign racist. This racist is far more common and somewhat harder to spot than a malign racist. These people often subconsciously view race as an important factor in a person. Often times these people will attribute a quality of a person to the person’s race, such as saying that a person is smart, because this person is Asian, instead of focusing on the long and arduous hours this person may have spent studying. Unlike malign racism, benign racism is accepted in most culture today.
As someone who is half Caucasian and half Pakistani, my physical features reflect both sides of my family. I, however, have lived in Northern Virginia for my entire life, and my personality and experiences definitely illustrate that. People often are confused by “what I am” and often ask what ethnicity I am, some after mere minutes. The former group is just curious, which is fine, while the later implies that my ethnicity matters when giving a first impression to the same level as my personality does. My race has affected my experiences, but at the end of the day, the only reason it has is because other people deem it an important quality about me.
