There was this ugly incident on the train involving an uncivilised indian.

Question: is the above sentence racist?


The idea of racism seems to be linked to comments that involve a race. But there is nothing more defining then his race. What if I changed it to: it was a man in his mid-30s, wearing a dark-coloured, collared, long-sleeved shirt, whoose skin happens to be dark. Vague huh? So, if I just use the word 'indian', the stereotype picture kicks in. Coupled with the word 'uncivilised', it does wonders in making one picture a not-so-affluent, angsty indian picking a fight.

But if I phrased the sentence differently...

There was this ugly incident on the train. Ugly, because it involved an indian. An uncivilised indian.

Now, this would smack of racism, because I appear to be targeting a specific racial group to the exclusion of all else.

one question: If I targeted my own race, would I be guilty of racism? Or reliability enhanced as thought in social studies?



PS: I really had a bad encounter with a different race on the train yesterday. But the above ideas are just an academic study. My personal views are not expressed here.