Have you ever wondered where the term racism comes from? Have you asked yourself whether or not you are a racist? No, no. You don’t have to answer that now, but consider everything you’ve ever known about racism, and turn it upside down. Surely America didn’t just make up the term because it was all bad.

Let’s take a look at some dialogue from Remember the Titans, a film which covers problematic issues of race within a high school football team that was forced to integrate in the 70’s. In a conversation between the head coach, Herman Boone, and a member from the Titan school board, Dr. Day, Coach Boone is confronted with the real reason he was asked to coach for T.C Williams High School.

Dr. Day says to coach Boone, “Folks in Carolina say you marched with Dr. King…say you stood toe-to-toe with the Klan…said you’re a race man.”

“That’s right; I’m also a family man,” the coach replies.

Would the term “race man” imply that Coach Boone is a “racist?” If you’ve seen the movie, you might consider that he is far from being a racist. In fact, he’s the key character that guides a divided town toward an apparently hopeless reconciliation. However, only by today’s definition of racism would Coach Boone not be a racist. But contrary to its modern alteration, the term “racism,” when introduced, was like today’s multi-culturalism. Racism was America’s first step toward unity amidst diversity. To be a racist was a good thing! If one was a racist, they wanted to get to know other people because of their race. A “race man” sought reconciliation among different races, and also supported the belief that diversity in race was good. Of course there came many flaws with this new paradigm, but racism also had many benefits-which have gone completely unnoticed the past few decades.

So what happened? If America still had this mentality of racism, wouldn’t things be fine? Have you pondered yet why race jokes aren’t funny just because they’re race jokes even though every other joke in the world is based on assumptions? What’s the difference between “why did the chicken cross the road” and “why did the Mexican cross the road” as both are based on assumptions? The difference is…I don’t know.

If racism received such a bad wrap, what makes multi-culturalism so much better? This I do know: it’s not better. Multi-culturalism, just like racism, focuses on race, under the names of ethnicity and culture. It basically allows you to place assumptions based on culture instead of race. And when we look into the multifaceted realm of diversity; we find that diversity includes so much more than just race and ethnicity. Multi-culturalism excludes gender, age, sexuality, and religion just to name a few. So if you think racism is bad, then don’t get caught up learning everything the multi-cultural center has to teach you.

For example, Hispanics are supposedly usually late, meaning, they can’t help it, that’s who they are; this is not a racist statement but rather a culturalist statement.So I propose either one of the two things: If you support multi-culturalism, then support racism, as well. If you don’t support racism, then don’t be a culturalist.

Otherwise, the next time you encounter someone of another race, spread love, and be a racist.

Dustin Diaz walks barefoot a lot. Email him at [email protected]. Post your comments online to Dustin’s multicultural point of view on our website, www.statehornet.com.