Tom Ellis
1 min readOct 8, 2023

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A perceptive, well-researched assessment of ethnic bias in academia. I wish, however, that you would refrain from throwing around the hateful label “racist” quite so indiscriminately. A racist is one who actually believes that his or her own ethnicity is superior to others, and acts accordingly, insulting and degrading everyone who doesn’t share his ethnicity. However, nearly all of the instances you cite are not “racist” per se, but rather reflect unconscious ethnic preferences—but this is fundamentally different from conscious hatred or contempt. And unconscious ethnic bias is a near-universal trait, not only among “whites” but every other ethnicity as well. If I, as a European-descended male, we’re to emigrate to Japan, China, or any other non-Euro-American country, I would not be the least surprised if I were passed over in favor of applicants of native birth and heritage. But I would not label my indigenous colleagues with the hateful label “racist”!

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Tom Ellis
Tom Ellis

Written by Tom Ellis

I am a retired English professor now living in Oregon, and a life-long environmental activist, Buddhist, and holistic philosopher.

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