Deracinate

[Slava]

No, this isn't what happened in America when we elected our first bi-racial President. All this drivel about a "post-racial" America is just that, drivel.

So, how do we go about deracinating racism anywhere? An entirely different topic, and one that doesn't belong here in the Agora.

However, the concept can be discussed. The uprooting, ripping out, eradication of something is what this word means.

From the simple weeds of your gardens, to the weeds that infest society, this is the word.

Sadly, it can also apply to refugees. They have been deracinated from their homes and homeland. Uprooted and Unwanted, a book I read in a class a while ago, could just as well have been titled, Deracinated and Undesired. Too erudite for popularity, but it means the same thing.

[LukeJavan8]

I'll buy your "drivel" aspect.
What is the definition that you seek to apply here?

[Slava]

I'll buy your "drivel" aspect.
What is the definition that you seek to apply here?

From dictionary.com: childish, silly, or meaningless talk or thinking; nonsense; twaddle.

Any talk of America being in a post-racial stage is all of the above. Just because a half-white male was elected President does not mean that racism has ended here. It is alive and well, sad to say. Thus, drivel.

Apologies for the delay in responding. This deserved a more expedited reply. Mea culpa.

[MTC]

A synonym of "deracinate" springing from the same Latin word root, ("radix" which itself means root!), is "extirpate;" to pluck out by the roots. Are you fond of tuberous roots, aka sweet potatoes? Uprooted, they are enjoyed by people across the racial spectrum.

[MTC]

Let me correct my comment about extirpate and deracinate having the very same root. Deracinate is based on "radix," for root; extirpate is based on "stirps," also "a root, stock of a tree, " but not the very same word. We'll get to the root of it, yet!

[LukeJavan8]

Keep digging!