On racism

I had an online discussion on racism with with someone whose points suggested that racism only happened to black people in Africa (an indvertent result of the examples he used).

His argument was, racism is "present when 'one ethnic group or historical collectivity dominates, excludes or seeks to eliminate another on the basis of differences that it believes are hereditary and unalterable' A purely academic academic challenge would require him to demonstrate how black people in Africa constitute one "ethnic group or historical collectivity" as his chosen defination suggests. In other words he may needed a "better" definition of racism

Additionally, his arguments seemed to suggest racism didnt exist before the transatlantic slave trade phenomenon. To counter I gave a few examples.
a) the Arab interactions with the Shungwaya kindgom on the Coast of Kenya and other peoples in various places that pre-date the European invasion of Africa.
b) the interaction between the Moorish people and the Romans, Spaniards and Arabs.
c) the interaction between the Iroqoius people and the French in Canada.
d) the ethnic tensions within Europe eg resulting in the breakup of Yugoslavia. What about the tensions within Switzerland among the German, French and Italian speaking "races"

Lastly I suggested a thorough examination of the terms ethnicism, racism and xenophobia first to make clear what each is or is not, then examining them from a more global perspective before localizing the examples.

My views on racism have been heavily influenced by the works of Etienne Balibar
especially "Race, nation, class : ambiguous identities" ISBN 0860913279 or 0860915425 (pbk.)(which he co-authors with Immanuel Wallerstein).
from.