y do u think people are racist?

Question

(for everybody out there that i know is going to say "y do u ethnic people always have to ask questions about racism" can u do me a favour by not replying to this question and not posting your stupid comments like "there is no such thing as racism" or "get over it" or "go live somewhere else if you don't like it here")

Answer 1

Yeah, i believe everyone is racist in even the smallest degree from the day he or she can read or write.

HISTORY mate, It's HISTORY

I agree with effin' h!lar!ous comment on the way we are brought up and that and believe that is a major contribution too.

But back to my point on HISTORY and ECONOMY aswell.

Have you as a young man (from looking at your Avatar), ever read up or seen on some documentaries about how the British took up rule in India, Nigeria, China and in the caribean as well.

Well there you go then, you see no matter how we are in 2006 and and white ppl of Britain take a new and better view on things like race and class (or adleat they are supposed to) they would wherever they go look down on those countries and too look down on those races and colour of those countries too if they are not of the same colour of them.

The Nigerians - would always be n****** with corrupt government, the |Chinese would always be slanty eyed C***** or g***** and the Indians would always be who they used to see them as.

An ignorant and most probably poor working class white male strugling to pay the rent would see a local Pakistanian making money on an area of what should be HIS and then begin to express nasty views about him through thought and maybe then soon through the old verbal.

Then you would have a richer white male of this country about 45 or older who works in the city and knows a thing or to about past British rule and history, that would see a BlacK man posting mail through a letter box or doing some delivery work and would think things like "Well, that's all they will ever amount to, I better tip him".

OK THE ABOVE EXAMPLES ARE NOT GREAT, BUT YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN AND THE SOCIETY WE LIVE IN.

Sure of course it's not Whites (who sadly are always noted as racists). there are also Black racists, racism in Asians and too racism in Arabs.

but my main point was HIStory and where we all came from and our fathers and his fathers. The second example with the richer white male is quite evident, he would know of the British Empire, and who it ceased and helped in some ways too, he would also realise a pride in being of native British and would know that if he is Black it doesn't matter about a British passport, or birth certificate of a black man to say that the black man was born in Britain he is still going to know that he is not British naturally and would belong to a Black slavery past.

This is how young Black and Aisan man get fed up, and start being linked to crime, as seen by the police below-

young Asians (all are bombers and Muslims untill cleared)

young blacks (all of them carry knives and rob people and property)

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anyway i could go on forever and bring up f******* historic events if you wanted me to. My main answer is YES absolutley everyone is racist to certain extents, God or nature made us so we would be aware of different kinds, colours, religions whatever

I am black and have admitingly and IGNORANTLY said something about a Japanese man as he served after to people when with my girlfriend in a sushi restaurant.

We are brought up with it, we learn about it, we brethe it in a lot (especially non - whites more) when discusions/yahoo answers like this are created.

solution: more extra education needed among all age groups and colours to reduce racism (mate, it will never dissapear).

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forgive any spelling mistakes, errors or slight mistakes in writing, I am college at the time of this writing and have got to get off to launch

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thanks for reading /

Answer 2

Obviously there are different ways of defining 'racism'. Some people include every act that makes someone of a given race feel bad, or that can be taken as racist, to be racist. 'Racist' is also used to denote those who believe that the races may differ physically and/or intellectually (not an unlikely scenario). These broad and ignorant definitions of racism are fatuous and intended only to stifle open debate and thought, and to promote the vested interests of one political group or other.
Others, sensibly, conclude that 'racism' is something like the belief that one race or other is superior to all/ some other races, and perhaps therefore that the inferior races do not need to be accorded the same moral standards as others.This 'racism' is, of course, stupid and morally wrong.
So what makes people racist depends at least on what you call 'racist'. It is, of course, impossible to look inside someone's mind and see that they are racist in the true sense of the word- if I call a white American a 'honky', or a Chinaman a 'chink', I may do so because I want to upset him personally, and do not actually care about his race (although I'm liable to be called 'racist' in any case). Similarly, if I run a company that employs only black staff, that does not imply that I am a racist- only that I happen to have hired only black staff. The question of whether I believe that some races are superior to others is not solved on the basis of my actions in these cases (although one may have cause to check).
Simply put, what makes one person racist and another not is the belief that one of the people holds- that is, that some races are superior to others, and that the inferior race is taken to be morally inferior by virtue of those inferiorities.

Answer 3

Some people can be. They experienced a situation with someone of another race and from then on the rest of the race is the same. Some are raised to hate other races. No one person can answer your question with just one answer. I was raised to love all races. I am not racist and I feel so sorry for idiots who are. A racist is the most stupidiest, immature and uneducated thing a person can be.

Answer 4

I think it's a combination of things.
1) Stereotypes usually exist because of a group of people doing something (good or bad) and then the expectation of similar people to do the same is thrust upon the rest of the group. This group could be related to age, sex, race, creed, etc. Stereotypes can work against a group of people in several ways. Either it labels them as something they aren't, or it pigeonholes them and they become exactly what the stereotype says.

2) Some people feel a need to be superior to others. They play off the stereotypes, then declare themselves to be different or better than the stereotype. Many of the people who need to feel superior and pick on groups like this probably have a problem with achieving a certain status that they wanted so they have to declare themselves better than someone else based on insignificant or imaginary things.


People need to quit feeding into the Stereotypes & need to stop looking for somebody to be better than.

(Then there are the people who are just brought up by other who felt the need to be superior. The illness is hereditary - but some people do manage to avoid it.)

Answer 5

I really don't see racism as a problem anymore...let's face it we have much more important things to worry about now...

Of course, you have a few exceptions of people who focus on race and will always be racist...but the population as a whole has moved past this...or at least that is what I see...but maybe I'm blind and living in a small nut-shell of a community.

Answer 6

It is natural.

Racism is just people expressing hate for something that is different. Racists miss out on a big part of life by not appreciating God's diversity in culture and personal differences.

Answer 7

Everybody has a natural attraction to people that are similar to themselves and a natural fear of people who are different from themselves. It's just human nature. It takes a certain amount of maturity to overcome this natural defense mechanism and accept others who are different.

Depends somewhat on what you mean by "racist" too. If you employ stereotypes when dealing with people, but harbor no ill will towards them, are you racist? Let's face it - a lot of racial stereotypes have a basis in truth. Stereotypes can actually help you deal with people you don't know in their own terms. The problem is that they aren't true with everybody all the time and people shouldn't be expected or forced to act a certain way.

Also, people tend to equate "different" with "inferior". We tend to see our way of viewing the world as the "right" way and people with other values or beliefs are "wrong". Again, human nature wants to beleive that we are living our life the "right" way and an alternative view is a threat to our little comfort zone. A higher level of self actualization is required before we can entertain other viewpoints without feeling threatened.

Answer 8

I have long thought of racism as the worst human tendency. Many of history's greatest crimes against humanity have been inspired by racial hatred. Perhaps worst of all, racism is a learned attitude that seems to readily transfer from one generation to the next, so we can't seem to get rid of it.

Why? Good question. Since observing racism in action as a young boy in early 1960's southern US, I have given the subject a lot of thought. My conclusions may or may not be valid to you, but they follow for your review:
- Racism appeals to people's lowest level of gratification. It's easy, and needs no logical explanation when discussed with other racists. It also is a bully's way to feel superior to others.
- Racism is often the result of not having the personal experience of knowing people who look (or think or act) different from themselves, which results in discomfort with them or fear of them.
- Anyone different stands out. Some are admired, some are reviled. Minorities are fewer than the majority (by definition). Therefore they don't usually have the supporting infrastructure of a larger group of people who are just like themselves. In a closed setting (such as high school), this can be interpreted as weakness. Decisions by larger group to "pick on the different/ weak one" can be sparked by racism, envy, fear, pack mentality, or just plain meaness.

Answer 9

Sheer stupidity and utter ignorance. I've spent 21 yrs. in the military and realize that you can survive without relying on the talents of everyone around you. Every race, creed and culture brings a different perspective to the table. This is a beautiful thing. I guess a lot of the prejudice people live in their own little world never venturing out to see the greatness of this melting pot we call America. For the record: I'm a white, polish, catholic male.

Answer 10

A sociologist professor of mine called it the "bottom wrung" theory. No one wants to be on the bottom wrung of the social ladder, so they look for people to put on the wrung below them. If there are no obvious reasons to pick a particular group of people, he invents one, usually looking at superficial things like skin color.

Every person is heavily influenced by his/her environment. My dad grew up in rural Alabama in the mid-50's. He was exposed to a pretty racist climate. He was a smart guy, though, and tried to raise his sons with fewer racist tendancies than he had. We, in turn, try to raise our children with even fewer, and so on.

Racism isn't something that can be turned off like a lightswitch. It must be smothered over time, and at least in the US, it's getting better.

Answer 11

Ignorance; just bring 2 people of different colours in front of that racist person, and skin them off! Then, after all that skinning, ask the racist person if he sees anything different between the 2 people without the skin...