Is Everybody Racist/Bigoted/Prejudice?

Question

Fair question. In a P.C. world if someone makes a comment about black people, muslims, Jews, Catholics and Protestants their is always a majority backlash in the name of equality.

On occassion these backlashes can be ideallic, even self-righteous and a lot of the time I feel people just say what they know is socially acceptable rather than what they really think.

Do you have any right to repremand someone who uses the word nig.ger if you've ever laughed or told a Michael Jackson joke, or made fun of chavs or Gypsies? Have you ever laughed at the jokes in South Park depicting Jews as stereotypes? Have you ever crossed the street to avoid a group of black youths, chavs or skin heads? Have you ever made fun of blondes or ginger people? Is that not a form of bigotry and prejudice?

Is there such a thing as good natured racism? Or sensible racism? Are there more socially acceptable forms of bigotry than others? Or is everyone accountable for their comments regardless?

I get the sense some people feel I may be ill qualified to fully understand the effects of racism and bigotry in everyday life. It should be said that no, I'm not black or any of the principle minorities as some responses have queried. However I have lived in Northern Ireland my whole life and although the situation here is better than it once was, I have had a fair level of experience and contact with prejudice and bigotry. I'm not placing the situation in N.I. above or below that of any other place with similar problems, I'm just wanted you all to know that I wasn't trying to be some sort of analyst sitting on the fence making judgments on the outside of an issue looking in. If that makes sense.

Answer 1

good question, this could take a week to write a concise reply. i think in a nutshell that this PC world has given everyone the opportunity to shout poor me at any point (although its sometime relevant).
1- you get deliberate racism/bigots etc who intentually mean to harm through words and actions, these are the lowest of the low and should be re-educated. with a stick

2- people who know no better, have been raised that way or generalise because of bad expiriences with individuals of a race

3- people who can be accussed of these things at any point for any reason incorrectly

4- people who activley look for the opportunity to accuse people, or who are at least quick to judge

society is so varied that even trivial actions can cause major offence, whether this be intentional or not.

people need to decide fairly which of the above catogories apply in each occasion and either ignore a slip of the tongue. or turn the other cheek

Answer 2

A great question indeed, the world is a little PC at the moment, but I think a lot of the racism n the world is blown out of proportion due to the fact that people know they can get away with using the race card in almost any situation, it is almost a way of getting the sympathy vote. As for the abuse chavs and ginger people deal with it is only a matter of time before it will be politically incorrect to poke the odd bit of fun at them which 10year's ago would have been just that "a bit of fun". Everyday we are told that the majority of people in the UK ar obese which is insulting to overweight people but yet it is accepted. The world has gone mad if someone calls someone "black" it is wrong if he calls the same black man "fat" it is accepted as a joke. The point being if you are fat you are and if you are black you are it is just people stating the obvious to get a rise of the person involved, When will it stop? Black, white, fat, thin, ugly, or just plain stupid, insults will always be made regardless.

Answer 3

I feel there are two reasons prejudice will always be with us in one form or another.

Feeling superior.
This was said to me (by someone who never could hold down a job or make ends meet) when I asked if he could afford the rent where he was moving.
"What do you think? I'm not like those muchachos from the other side of the tracks who doesn't even TRY to pay their bills!"
translation; I may be a loser but I'm not as a big of a loser as THOSE people!

Shortcut
I takes a while to know who is honest & who isn't, who is a hard worker & who isn't, etc.
Prejudice allows people to think they can look at someone & have a short cut to knowing those important things.

I suspect a lot of the prejudice blacks face today isn't racism in the strictest sense. It's not prejudice against the race, as much as the culture. In other words, "it's OK to be black as long as you walk, talk & act white." It's still prejudice.

Example: A black with a strong black dilect will be treated very differently from one who talks "white."
(I'm not talking about bad grammer, just different phonetics.)

I think of Jeff Foxworthy's joke "People hear this accent & want to automatically deduct 20 IQ points." How many IQ points do you think get deducted from someone with a black dialect?

Answer 4

I think everyone can sterotype and make generalizations. Some people are really not prejudice. I for one have never done the things you have mentioned above, even blonde jokes, since I am myself a blonde. However, people including myself can fall prey to stereotyping. This is not exactly racism but rather relying on a personal amount of information to form an opinion of something. If my information is changed then I will change along with it. Sadly many people take these sterotypes and over generalizations as pure fact and truth and this leads to prejudice and racism. Sure there are Jewish bankers, dumb blondes, and black gangbangers but its when you begin judging and entire people by this standard that it becomes racism. Its when you quit seeing the individual and being rellying on misguided information. We as humans cant help but generalize but if we are not careful this becomes a very slippery slope in which it is very hard to climb out.

Answer 5

There is no such thing a good natured racism!

Racism is an abhorrent characteristic.

I feel you are not balck and thuis do not fully understand the impact of racism on everyday life (shopping, going out, tavelling, work, interviews, etc, etc, etc) and what it is like to be publicly called such vile names (people even theough they may have said it in a school.work/social situation do not feel the need to call out to complete strangers ginger/four eyes fatty most of the time, like thye do with black people).

Sure nobody is perfect, bytut belive me like the saying goes until you have walked in anothers shoes you do not know what they fel/suffer etc. In the case of those who experince they can understand what it is like to be mistreat by society beacuse you are different, so tend not too engage in ginger/glass wearing/fattist etc "banter" as you seem to refer it.

We need equality for all in society, and that would not include treatin geveyone as vile as those who experince racism, or all bein gthe butt of a vile so called humour.

Walk theworld as a black person mate and then ask the question, really you do need to grow up, evryone else left the play ground long time agao, and matured away from such thoughts.

Answer 6

Avoiding a rough looking group of any color is common sense, and I think , that's not racist. Noticing that a particular neighbor hood, because you know it's dangerous, is not racist. Laughing at a funny joke maybe racist, laughing at a M Jackson joke is not.
I f every black, Jew or whatever is in your mind and heart a bad person because of a non choice feature then that's racist. I love South Park, but it's a lampoon...not racist. Good natured racism...no. Sensible racism...yes. I would not walk or drive through Harlem at night.[self preservation] Accountability...to whom? The Pope mentioned a statement made by another
person of his faith centuries ago ...was this racist...some think so.

Answer 7

I'm not sure that everyone could be classified as racist but certainly everyone has personal preferences and hates.

People who would cross the road because a group of coloured kids were hanging about would probably do the same if there was a bunch of white kids there. If an Asian crosses the road because a bunch of white kids are on a corner does that make him/her a racist?

Bigotry is certainly multi-cultural or cross-denominational yet racism often only seems to refer only to white members of society yet all races have an inbuilt wariness of other peoples.

I will admit that amongst two of my favourite jokes are one which would be regarded as racist by most people but another is an "anti-Yorkshire" joke and I'm from Yorkshire. I like both because they are funny, and both only work with the details as they are and other ethnic/social groupings cannot be substituted. I like them, as I do other jokes, because they are either clever, funny witty and make me laugh. Yet I work, quite happily as an older middle-aged white guy, with a group of young black lads in their early 20s who most people would be wary of if they didn't know them.

My rules for improving the world would be to spend time getting to know the people you know little of from different races/religions etc, and to learn to laugh at yourself first. Then you earn the right to laugh at others.

Answer 8

I believe it all comes from fears, hearsay, stereotypes, experiences, ignorance, egotistical, maniacal cultural leaders who say their better than everyone (and how human interact as a global tribe. Not everybody is racist or Prejudice and no one is perfect. We are all flawed in everything including our convictions. Doubt breeds caution, caution becomes fear, fear breeds hate and that leads to the darkside of humanity. The tags we put on one another to identify a person by skin tone or culture is ignorant. We are suppose to be a progressing society but all we are doing is tearing apart the fabric that makes us strong and unique.i.e. "My view": MF! You can't fly! You can't catch a bullet in your teeth! Your not better just crazy because your white (or whatever) that's not a good enough reason! All the money in the world, your history, your skills etc. doesn't make you or your knuckledraggers better FOOL!)

Answer 9

Yes...I believe, to some certain extent, everybody is. All racism is subjective...and the manner to which we are racist, and the degree to which we're racist, hinges on many factors. Among them are how we were raised by our parents, the type of education we had, our life experiences, etc.

I think that I'm typical of the kind of person who "thinks" he's not racist. All my life, people have been pointing out the differences between the races and have told me that racism is evil. This very experience has caused me to be MORE aware of differences and has taught me to keep on my toes to avoid seeming racist.

As a result, I find myself consciously and subconsciously going out of my way to appear being un-racist whenever I meet somebody of a different race. I'm more on my guard, and I usually end up (unwittingly) being condescending toward that person, or I might be easier to forgive or ignore something about him that bothers me...all out of fear of "offending." In other words, I will treat somebody of a different race (or religion, or whatever) deliberately different than somebody I'm "comfortable" with.

So it works both ways.

Answer 10

HEY dude that's actually EIGHT different questions.

Whenever humans can divide themselves into identifiable groups they will always create tension and conflict between those groups. It's natural.

OF COURSE there is sensible racism, everyone is different and we should not expect everyone to be the same. We should celebrate the differences, not bleat about everyone being equal, which obviously they AREN'T, I mean the facts are staring us in the face.