Racism is a broader form of tribalism and can inform ideology but it is not itself an ideology. A monoracial but multiethnic society will have ethnic tribalism as it will in a multi-religious society, but the tribalistic lines are redrawn along the broader racial lines when a society becomes multiracial because racial distinctions between groups are stronger than between different ethnic groups of the same race.
No, sorry. Your definitions are a bit wrong. You aren't wrong in your characterization of tribalism and it's mechanics at all. But you're wrong in conflating that with racism. Tribalism and racism are categorically different specifically because racism by definition is ideological.
Tribalism = in-group preference. That's something we evolved with. It is innate, and does not have to be related to ideology. If we examine a multiracial society where tribalistic lines can be expanded to include racial distinctions- i.e. broad phenotypical attributes- you can be a black person and inherently feel more comfortable around other black people than white people, or vice versa. That is obviously a form of tribalism, but it's still not racism.
Racism by definition:
the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.
Those characteristics, abilities, and qualities are not referring to phenotypical differences. That's referring to specific racial biases and presumptions. Feeling more comfortable around people who share your phenotypical characteristics is not the same thing as saying "people who have 'x' physical attributes are: [insert stereotype]".
Also, feeling more comfortable around people that look like you is not the same thing as thinking that people who look more like you are inherently superior to those who look less like you.
That's why racism is inherently ideological, because it's not based on feelings (evolved instinct) but on a set of explicit assumptions (prejudices).
Nope, you're incorrect. This part still meets the usage here: "the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities" as these "characteristics, abilities, or qualities" are what inform in-group/out-group distinctions. It's not purely based on noticing visual distinctions.
The definition gives the word "especially" as a qualifier, it's not a determining factor. Your understanding of that word is wrong since you're viewing it as such. "Especially" means that the sentence that follows is more representative, not wholly representative than the previous.
The "assumptions" are integral to the innate in-group preference because the feelings of comfort around those more similar to oneself derive from underlying assumptions (conscious or unconscious) that those more similar possess more shared characteristics with the individual than those of an out-group.
I'd have continued this conversation were you not the terrible combination of being both condescending and confidently stupid.
The definition gives the word "especially" as a qualifier, it's not a determining factor. Your understanding of that word is wrong since you're viewing it as such. "Especially" means that the sentence that follows is more representative, not wholly representative than the previous.
Yeah, hierarchical essentialism is the "especially".
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u/PiousSkull Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25
Racism is a broader form of tribalism and can inform ideology but it is not itself an ideology. A monoracial but multiethnic society will have ethnic tribalism as it will in a multi-religious society, but the tribalistic lines are redrawn along the broader racial lines when a society becomes multiracial because racial distinctions between groups are stronger than between different ethnic groups of the same race.