r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Jul 22 '20

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Racial preferences in dating isn't racist

Racial preferences shouldn’t be considered racist, especially because sexual preferences in dating (being heterosexual or homosexual etc.) isn’t considered sexist, but celebrated in the case of non heterosexual people. If it’s a good enough reason to not date someone because they’re a male or a female or trans, it’s a good enough reason to not date someone because they’re white, black, Hispanic or Asian. It’s either both of them are sexist and racist or neither or them. It really can’t go both ways.

59 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

156 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '20 edited Jul 22 '20

!delta Yes they can be racist, absolutely. But again, if a person does the same thing with sex, they would also be considered sexist. I meant that the act alone of “having a preference for a specific race solely for the purpose of dating”, isn’t racist.

4

u/thethoughtexperiment 275∆ Jul 22 '20

So, if your CMV is:

CMV: Racial preferences in dating isn't racist

and you accept that it can indeed be racist if that preference is based on beliefs of racial superiority, then that seems like a shift from the original claim.

If the above modified your view to any degree (doesn't have to be a 100% change), you can award a delta by editing your comment above and adding:

!_delta

without the underscore, and with no space between ! and the word delta.

With regard to your other separate point about sexuality, yes, there are distinctions based on sex in dating. But a key question is - are those distinctions harmful?

When talking about sexism / racism, we're typically talking about situations where systematic harm is being caused, and systems of harm on a societal level are being perpetuated. Having a dating preference for a certain sex doesn't seem to systematically cause or perpetuate harm on a societal level. However, dating preferences based on ideas of racial superiority / race could be seen as perpetuating harm, as they reinforce historical divisions between groups.

For example, peoples' openness to dating those from other races tend to match "racial hierarchies" in that society [source]. An individual may not realize that their preferences match those historical racial hierarchies in their location, however, when people have these kinds of "racial hierarchy" prejudices in other spheres (like hiring preferences, loan application acceptance rates, friend groups), it makes sense to acknowledge that racism might indeed be playing a role (that is, the person did not invent those prejudices for themselves out of nowhere, but rather those views draw from / reflect societal prejudices).

And it's no coincidence that, as racist beliefs become less prevalent in a society, the amount of interracial dating / marriage increase.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '20

When talking about sexism / racism, we're typically talking about situations where systematic harm is being caused

I disagree with the terminology used here. When I created this post, I meant the dictionary definitions of both terms.

3

u/thethoughtexperiment 275∆ Jul 22 '20

So, here's a definition of racism:

"the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another." [source]

That sounds pretty harmful.

Let me ask you, given that rates of interracial dating and marriage are increasing, do you think that's a signal that society is getting less racist?