> > On a couple of occasions, friends there have told me they think white babies are more beautiful than Mexican babies, and I look at them like they're crazy.
> >
> > Vida
>
> Sorry about the second post cluttering up the forum, but once I read this I have to say:
>
> If anything, *that's* racist. I don't think it's really right to say something like 'white babies are more beautiful than Mexican babies', in my opinion, when you compare one ethnicity to another and say one is better, that basically defines racism.
>
> To me, at least in this case, it's not a matter of which is better, it's which features make each one unique.
>
> -z"Can there be an ugly baby?"K


Don't think I'm jumping on you, zK, because I think the opinion you just expressed is a common one... but I also think it's based on faulty presumptions.

To my mind, an aesthetic preference for one physical type over another is one of the only judgements of relative superiority one can make *without* being racist. I would define racism, not as merely saying one race is superior to another in some respect, but as attributing to race qualities which have nothing to do with it: ie, higher or lower intelligence, moral quality, etc. But physical appearance is one of the few real objective differences between the races, and I don't think there's anything wrong with finding one physical type more attractive than another... or with saying so, provided it's done tactfully. Also provided it doesn't carry with it the assumption that one's opinion is somehow objectively right. I believe in earlier centuries white people used to assume that everybody thought black people were uglier than white people... which shows a startling lack of imagination.

So maybe it would be wrong to say "white babies are more beautiful than Mexican babies" if you meant that as an objective standard that everyone should agree to. But if you simply mean that you find white babies more appealing than Mexican babies, that's an expression of personal opinion on an objective distinction, and I don't see anything wrong with it. Just don't say it in front of the Mexican baby's mother... that still wouldn't be racist, but it would be terribly rude.

As for my opinion on the whole thing, I've found that the very most beautiful people I know are nearly always mixed-race. Just about any mix will do... I don't think I've ever met a mixed-race child that wasn't attractive.

Lire"and yes, there can be an ugly baby, I've met some of those too... but even ugly babies are cute"lyn