• zeejoo@thelemmy.club
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    7 hours ago

    Wouldn’t hating someone from another village just be like generic Xenophobia? I can’t imagine two villagers from the same Asian country but two different villages are genetically distinct enough to count as different “races”. Or are we just using “racist” to mean “bigoted”

    • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      Depends. Many Asian countries consists of many different ethnic groups. So they do see each other as different races.

    • angrystego@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      The word “rasist” is nowadays often used more widely. You’re right about the strict definition. I also think it’s reasonable to use it in a wider sense if the underlying feelings are the same, which seems to be the case here.

      • Null User Object@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        But, I mean, English already has a word for that (bigoted).

        Having, and properly using, different words for even slightly different concepts is important for efficient and effective communication. If everyone just starts lazily using one word to mean multiple similar concepts, when other words already exist for those concepts, then that just leads to misunderstandings and confusion.

        I understand that non-native speakers may not yet have the vocabulary necessary to use the correct words, but that’s an opportunity for them to learn the correct words, not an excuse to dumb down the language.