Why is that when someone asks a question about race that person is labeled a racist?

Question

For example:

Black people talk loud.
Asian people talk funny
White people talk like they know everything.

The more you call a person a racist for talking about the differences between our races the more you will divide us. This is America - there are many different types of people here and there is nothing wrong with recognizing and talking about our differences.

If you go around Asians alot you will notice some talk funny - this is not a stereotype and this is not a racist statement! its just an acknowledgement of a difference.

What about this: Some black people have wide noses that strongly resemble that of the primate called gorilla. Is that a racial statement?

Answer 1

I agree wholeheartedly with the heart of your message, some people are far too touchy and quick to lable others as racists and not being able to talk about our differences divides us further. But a gorilla? Really? Come on man....

Answer 2

Yes there are many different types of people. If you should rephrase your questions then it may not sound racist. Your last statement is very offensive. Any time a statement or question is offensive to a certain sect of people then it is a racial slur. There are plenty of ways to acknowledge differences besides this way. How about this, Do you think a truly racist person is nothing but a red-necked barefoot hillbilly that still uses an outhouse and they all belong to the KKK? That statement is offensive to a lot of people so I am being racist.

Answer 3

I fail to see any question about race here. You claim "why ... when someone asks a question.." Then go on to make broad generalizations. Your logic is faulty. You don't recognize differences so much as assign differences to certain types of people, that's not noticing, that's bigotry. While, I am certainly encouraging questions about race, "Why do some asians talk funny?" I don't think you are actually open to questions. We call you a racist because we are stereotyping you. You make offensive generalizations and then complain that we stereotype you. You fit the stereotype, and by the way, racists are all pig-headed fools who have trouble adjusting to society, because they are all losers.

Answer 4

It's all in the phrasing of the question that makes it seem to be racist or not. Is something TRULY race-related, or is it related to something else? Also, are you careful to say "most" or "many," or do you say, "all"? --Because it's almost never true that something is true of 100% of all people of a certain category!

FOREIGN-BORN people tend to "talk funny" when speaking English, and nowadays more than half of all of the East Asians in the USA are foreign-born. When I was a kid, growing up, almost all of the East Asian people whom I knew were born here and spoke English in exactly the same way that I do. Demographics change over time.

Talking loudly is more a characteristic of social class, not race--at least from what I've observed. And yes, I have encountered many "underclass" Black people who talked so loudly in public that it was cringe-worthy. But then, I once had a Jewish BF from a working-class NYC family who was the same way. Speaking loudly is definitely considered to be declasse if you're at least middle-class in your upbringing.

And thinking that you know everything is a human characteristic--especially among people who are either ignorant and/or stupid. I've noticed that people who actually ARE highly-intelligent and educated realize that they don't know everything...but they ARE confident with their expertise in certain areas.

Answer 5

People are way too sensitive about benign statements that while they are true are just that a statement and are opinions based on empirical knowledge. Whats worse is that anyone else in the world can say the same statement and it would not be classified as hate, yet when a person of Caucasian heritage says it, then they are branded as a racist pig.

Answer 6

The examples you cite are racist, as they make inaccurate claims about all individuals based on their race.

"Asians talk funny" for example. It simply isn't true that all people who's ancestors came from Asia "talk funny". It is true that most people who grew up in a different country with a different language or accent have accents when that differ from, say, Texan or Bostonian, or other American accents. What of it?

Your final example is offensive.

There are questions that can be asked that have to do with race that are not racist questions, but you don't seem to be talking about them.

Answer 7

You're right, I've noticed that too, that black people have wide noses.
But maybe these people get offended when you talk aobut charcteristics they can't help?
Personally, it doesn't bother me if people call me short or pick on my funny nose. Or call me fat (jokingly).
I'm always telling my husband he talks funny. He's from Georgia and I'm from Maine. Other's have noticed his accent too. But he doesn't get offended at it.

I guess some people are just over sensitive.

Answer 8

stereotyping is a form of discrimination/racism. when people ask questions that contain stereotyping, they are revealing themselves already as someone who thinks all blacks/whites/mexicans/asians are all the same, which of course is the sign of a racist. i simply answer them by explaining how their question contains stereotyping and that that's why they're being labeled a racist. they of course do not view themselves as racist. but may still feel that all white people are rude...???

Answer 9

You already know the answer. If you honestly didn't think that the statements you made weren't racist, why question your actions?Why the insecurity?

Answer 10

Because most people are being racist...we all know there are differences between people.. Why should we point it out??