racism

[carrie721]

this topic was touched on briefly in the philly roll call thread, and i'm curious what other people have to say about it.

at what point are a person's observations considered "racist" and "offensive"?

the audiences at the stevie and lindsey shows i've been to have not exactly been, um, a rainbow coalition of all creeds and colors. they've been made up of white people. OLD white people, to be specific.

is THAT racist? or ageist?

i see a lot of people -- here and elsewhere -- who are quick to jump on anyone who makes such observations and call them racist and offensive. but is merely describing your experiences discriminatory?

that just doesn't wash with me. i don't want to live in some orwellian newspeak society where simply using racial descriptors and acknowledging physical differences among people gets me in "trouble." we don't live in a homogenous culture, so why pretend we do? almost nothing in pop culture or other realms of art and media has universal appeal to people of all backgrounds. so why on earth is it so "offensive" to recognize that simple truth?

thoughts?