by Ray Newman, radio and television commentator, attorney, educator, author

Thursday, September 22, 2011

APP FLAP

The fuss being made over that "Jew/Nonjew" app which identifies whether a celebrity/political figure/etc. is or is not Jewish...and the labeling of it as racist...is totally misguided.  Whether or not a person is Jewish or an American or 30 years old or older, etc. are facts...and facts are not racist.  Quite the contrary: racism is the assigning of traits to an individual simply because he/she is a member of a group to which those traits have been assigned...whether they are or are not factually true as to the particular individual.

In other words, racism is at its core a denial of individuality.  That is why it is wrong.  We may be a member of a particular race, religion, ethnicity, whatever...but from the day we are  born to the day we die we are, first and foremost,  individuals.

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