It's all about the D.R.E.A.M.

So I get a phone call yesterday from a client who just wants to make it clear that she is not racist. The reason she asked about our nationality when she first met us, she says, is because she had some bad experiences with Central and South American people, and so doesn't want to take any more chances with Filipino people.

Didn't realize the Phillippines were in the Americas.

But back to the point, judging or discriminating against a person based on their race is the very definition of racism. But "I'm not a bad person. I'm not racist," she keeps claiming. Well, I'm not going to comment on the first part (she did call to apologize afterall, but that may have been for reasons other than a simple apology), but lady, you are racist. And by your very own admission. If you're going to claim that you are not something, you should at least know the definition of it first.

The thing that gets me the most is that I'm pretty sure she doesn't really understand what racism is and the reprecussions of it. Sure, it's discrimination, but that's not why it's wrong. It's wrong because in most cases, a person's race has nothing to do with their capabilities or appropriateness for a job. Discrimination is not inherently a bad thing. When buying food, you discriminate on taste and price. When hiring somebody for a job, you discriminate based on perceived competence and experience. After all, Discrimination Rules Everything Around Me, DREAM (get the money, dollah dollah bills, y'all!). Where things go wrong is when the basis of discrimination and the target measure of performance are not related.

Now I can imagine some circumstances where racism (discrimination based on race) is justified. For instance, when producing a historically accurate film on a budget, you don't cast a Chinese guy to play the role of Mansa Mussa, African King of Mali. A person's race, however, is not related to their landscaping skills.

South America... get a freakin atlus.