Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

In several topics of importance to applied ethics it is frequently difficult to find uncontroversial propositions from which to begin a substantive discussion of the relevant ethical problems. This phenomenon is perhaps most familiar in discussions of abortion, where simply describing the competing positions to be analyzed and evaluated is an activity fraught with controversy. Less familiar, or at least less frequently acknowledged, is the extent to which substantive discussion of the ethical dimensions of racism must begin with assumptions that, to some, will seem as controversial as any assumptions shaping discussions of abortion. But consider three propositions that many, including the author, believe to be fundamental to any discussion of the ethical implications of racism. 1 Racism is morally wrong, and should not be embodied in the beliefs and actions of individuals, or in the practices and institutions of social groups, cultures, or nations. 2 Racism exists (even in many circumstances where it is the subject of official condemnation), and in its most virulent manifestations continues to have socially and economically important consequences for those unjustly affected by it. 3 The effects of even virulent forms of racism can be powerfully mitigated, and sometimes even eliminated, by collective, and sometimes individual, efforts of determined moral agents. All three of these ... log in or subscribe to read full text