Racism vs. Efficiency

I heard this in a movie once, and I quite like it. I have too much fun with my Asian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan...the hell with it...Latin, Indian (oh these guys are great!), and middle eastern (These are even better!!)....now even though I have never been accused of being racist, I know that some people have, and I call people racist all the time, because it is usually true, but it makes me smile. Now...my point is...does racism = generalization? Does generalization = efficient? Does anyone see my point?

Yes to a degree. Saying most of our immigrants and latino isn't racist, it is simply true. Saying most indians (from indian, not native americans) are elitists, is again, not racist, just true. I personally don't like political correctness. I'm not discussing stereotypes here, but the flaw in your argument is that racism does not equal generalization per se. You can be racist without really making generalizations. What more, a generalization can be made that isn't opinion or a stereotype, but simple fact (as I said with most of our immigrants being hispanic)

As far as generalizations being efficient is concerned, yes, I agree they are.

Perhaps racism equalling generalization is not necessarily what is meant...but generalization being a factor or the other way around...they fit together in my head somehow...just not sure how...but that is what happens at 1:30AM. Good night!

Kenny, what do you mean by equals?
That a generalization is equivalent to efficiency?
That is far from the case. However, if you mean that generalization is an efficient way of expressing a fact about large groups of people and/or situations then that is also untrue.

I would rather say that a generalization is an efficient way of expressing common knowledge about large groups of people and/or situations. The truth of the information behind the generalization is not guaranteed by the fact that it is a generalization.

In that same vein, a generalization would not necessarily be, by definition, equivalent to a racist statement. For example, I make the following generalization about events:

"The past is doomed to repeat itself."

Unless we are of the opinion that historical events define a race, my statement cannot be rationally construed to be racist.

It is important to note that generalizations generally sacrifice accuracy for efficiency; however, it is also important to note that this sentence is a generalization if started far enough to the left.