Why are people so trigger happy when it comes to calling someone racist?

Question

Someone asked a question about why do so many black people seem to like heat and white people don't. This person had only 3 or 4 answers, and two people called him racist. How could you POSSIBLY think this is a racist question? It was not worded using slurs, no name calling...nothing bad as far as I can see.

Personally, I don't know much about other races, and I'm curious, too. I've noticed that many black women seem to have large heels...almost like they're flat footed. (I see this at work a lot. Now that it's summer, people wear sandals, and when I walk I look at the ground. I notice the feet of the people in front of me, and I've noticed this flat footed/heeled trend among black women.) Does this make me racist??? I prefer to call it curiousity.

Why are people so gung-ho to lash out and call everyone a racist for what is quite possibly a very simple question asked out of plain curiousity?

Answer 1

Here's another observation:
"THE HEAVILY CLOTHED SUMMER"
Black people are walking around with long pantsa and long sleeves, while most white people I see are in shorts and a short sleeve or tank top. Why?

If it's racist to ask, then you may be racist because you read it and are now thinking about it.

See... that makes no sense to me either, it's not being racist, it's being curious.

Answer 2

I think you are probably too young to remember the social upheavals of the '60's and 70's. I would bet you weren't even born. That's OK.

For centuries before that, caucasian Americans, especially in the South, were either slave owners, or felt that the white race was vastly superior to Africans, Chinese, Native Americans or anyone who was not of European heritage.

Those minority groups were bought and traded as pieces of property. Families were torn apart because one landowner decided he only wanted the male member of the family because his strength meant he could work harder. Left behind with another slave owner were his wife and children, who often lived in harsh conditions and had to do everything their "owner" said. Slaves were whipped, hung, raped, and murdered.

The worst part, I think, is the mental abuse of constantly being told you are inferior, dirty, stupid, and incapable of any thing other than manual labor. When that thinking becomes the mindset of the slaves, THEY believed they were incapable of much too.

Even though Lincoln 'freed" the slaves, an enormous amount of prejudice toward blacks continued in the form of "white only" restrooms, drinking fountains, restaurants, and forced areas to live apart from whites.

Thanks to Dr. Martin Luther King and others during the '60s, blacks began to realize they had power. They stopped thinking they were inferior, and gradually things like TV shows and commercials included African Americans in the cast.

This is taken for granted now, but prior to that, there were NO African Americans besides Nat King Cole and other entertainers on TV! No family sit coms. No movie roles other than "stupid acting" roles which only kept reinforcing the notion that whites were superior.

Broad generalizations like, "****** have more rhythim," or "black people like heat," continued and still continue when in fact I doubt there is any significant statistical proof of such notions. "Black people like heat" implies, although you may not have meant it, that they are still inferior and should perhaps even go back to Africa, where it is hot.

That is called racist thinking unless a statement like that can be backed up with scientific proof.

When I was young, I was taught the "Peanut butter" history of blacks. George Washington Carver invented peanut butter and that was the ONLY thing any African American ever contributed to America's history. Period!

I'm not that old. But I was around during the social changes of the late '60s. (I was also a hippie; but that's another story.)

It took decades and decades of re-education of WHITES to start to accept blacks as equals. And yet even in this day, there are white supremacist groups teaching their children that blacks are still inferior. That ALL non-whites, Jews, or races are and have always been inferior. That is extremely dangerous thinking.

It was only a few years ago that dark skinned people were called derrogatory names, which I won't right here. One of those names was used in OJ Simpson's murder trial and it upset the entire outcome of the trial.

Minority groups are still very sensitive to inuendos or racial generalizations that imply they are less able than whites. My African American friends still hear the "n" word in this day and age from bigoted whites.

Now, as to flat heels? I don't know much about the anatomy of heel bones, but I DO know for a fact that every race has identifying features to their skulls or skeletons. Forensic anthropologists can tell at a glance which race the remains of a person belong to just by looking at the skulls. These things have been extensively studied. I'm sure you could do a Google search on racial differences of skeletal remains and see what I'm talking about.

Scientific facts are FAR different from casual remarks that categorize a certain group of people as different in a negative way. Racial wounds heal extremely slowly. Your job now is to stay open-miinded and accept any one you meet as an individual, regardless of their color. You'll be a better person and be able to recognize racial discrimination more easily.

Addendum: After submitting this answer the first time, I see that your very first "commentator" is proving how racist some whites remain. Need I say more?

Answer 3

There isn't any proof of racism, so through default, sure. I feel he used to be definitely a overzealous wannabe police officer, whose behaviour in following Trayvon triggered a scuffle, which, because the smaller guy, he most probably used to be wasting, prompting him to attract the gun. However, I wasn't there, I can most effective base my opinion on what proof has emerged. Let the courtroom come to a decision what the truly details are.

Answer 4

Personally, I don't think that there is a specific answer. If people are more sensetive to their race or color or religion, then even a question out of curiousity, if it can be read negatively, will be concidered a threat to them and will be treated as such.

Answer 5

Let's just get rid of the N IGGERS already.