Don't call me racist?

Question

I'm a white (mostly European some Indian and other random stuff) woman and I want to know if racial minorities understand that calling people racist is just as hurtful as calling you n*****, or sp** etc. I am a minority becuase of my religion and my orientation and I understand there are still problems, but not everyone eyeballing you hates you becuase of you're skin. I've worked retail for most of my life and sometime we are looking at you becuase you just walked in and its our job. Or else we're looking at you becuase you're wearing baggy clothes it its easy to stuff things in the pockets. Some times the shoplifters are Black or Spanish or White or Oriental. But when we catch a shoplifter or are watching one, so often we get hit with "Racist!" And it hurts! There is no defending it! So please think about it, just becuase a white person is looking at you even funny, don't asume he or she is racist. And if you are stealing something or acting wierd, don't call us that as a defense.

Its like that boy calling wolf, if you call us racist all the time, when its real, who's left to belive you? Thanks,
Discuss, Answer, Explain, whatever.

Whoa, OK, I guess I have to explain myself a little better. And I hope some of the people who answered in nasty ways read this.
A) I labeled myself "mostly European some Indian and other random stuff" because I wanted to be very honest, and I'm not all white. I don't think being part Indian is romantic, its just who I am and it helped build me as a person.
B)Just because I'm not an obviously different, doesn't mean I don't know discrimination.
C)People calling us racist hasn't just happend me, it has happened to many co-workers also.
D) I labeled the minorities the best I could because I wanted to be clear with out being cruel.
E) I'll admit to having some prejudices because everyone does. It comes from the people we have met in our lives.

And lastly I labeled my question what I did as a plea. I wasn't going into "Don't call me racist but blah blah blah."

I added some time to my question. I got a lot of cool info, some misinterpitions of what I was trying to say, mostly good. I'm looking for an answer still. Do people relize that calling some one racist is very hurtfull and shouldn't be something done a whim. By the way , the defination of a racist is:
"A belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."
And that is not me. Still think that I am?

Answer 1

i think people who do that to you only do it because they don't want to accept the fact that there may be something wrong with them ( baggy clothes, they may really be shoplifting, etc. ). They call you racist to make it your fault, not theirs. it's an easy way out of them dealing with their own faults.

Answer 2

How is it not racist to call Asian people "Oriental"? How is it not racist to call Latinos "Spanish"? How can you equate having your feelings hurt with a daily experience of being watched every time you walk in a store, or being accused of wearing baggy clothing in order to steal things? How is it not racist that you call yourself "European some Indian and other random stuff?" You're a white woman, just like me. You don't have any Indian ancestors, even though you think it's romantic to claim Indian ancestors, now that genocide has reduced native Americans to a fragment of what they once were. You are not a "minority" because of your religion or your orientation or anything else. You are probably one of those people who smiles in the face of a person of color, and then makes some nasty racist comment to me, assuming that I will agree with you because I'm white. You "get hit with 'racist!'" because you are a racist, just another garden variety racist ignoramus.

Answer 3

Racism isn't something that people are always conscious of. Many times when someone acts in a racist manner it occurs at the subconscious level. Like the fact that you felt the need to clearly show the derogatory terms some races are called rather than just refer to them in general terms.

Maybe you were angry when you typed the question, because that tone does seem to exist, but if you are doing your job and you are watching someone for one of the reasons stated in your question you should dismiss the claim that you are racist because your one interaction with that shoplifter, whose angry because they were caught doing something wrong depending on their situation, does not define your relations with the race in general.

Answer 4

Whether you like it or not there is such a thing as "racial profiling". Just because you are not a racist doesn't mean that others aren't. If you know you're not a racist, then don't worry about it and deal with it because racism is alive and well in America and elsewhere and we're a long way from ending it.

Answer 5

I hear you woman! I have a teacher friend with a student who kept lighting matches in the bathroom. When she called his mom, she accused the teacher of being racist. It seems like a word someone uses when they have no defense for inappropriate behavior which they do not want to take responsibility for. (P.S. I believe they KNOW we're not racist - just an excuse).

Answer 6

yea, i worked in Retail and it sucks big time. I can't stand the dumbass things that they say when they get caught stealing. They only make themselves look dumber than they already are. But don't let idiots calling you racist get you down, because that's all they can resort to when they can't defend themselves just like people calling Americans racist because we want the illegal immigrants who happen to be mexican out.

Answer 7

gosh thats too long, anyway, on racism i will say racism is as alive as all of us, racism is all over the world, well i will be specisfic and im no racist either coz im married to a white, but i cant help to say whites are really racists, and i know they cant help it, i live in spain with my husband and racism is all over, for the record just coz afew blacks were caught stealing doesnt mean all of us are thieves, the same with the three cocacola white thieves who stole the secret ingredient and sold it to pepsi, ha ha ha, thank God they were not blacks, anyway... if you are looking at blacks coz you believe they are thieves then you are generalising and stereotyping, and thats wrong it makes you ignorant, just like those white racists.

Answer 8

Real Quik. Racism exists everywhere. No matter how hard you try to deny it, it is subconsciously embedded in our minds. People have become so sensitive(pc), if you say " l like your hair", someone will interpret it to be racist, and subtle enough to mean it as a racist.

Answer 9

People over use the term "racist." When you catch a shoplifter, just tell them that it's their fault for making the stereotypes true!

Answer 10

I have worked retail for 15 yr, the public sucks, they are rude, rude ,rude, just because you are in a subservient role does not give another person the right to try to demean you. I take comfort in hoping they are just as rude in a restaurant where people can touch their food where they can't see it.