Trying to get to the heart of what people think racism is. I know the legal definition but I'm seeking peoples attitudes. So is someone a racist because in the heat of the moment, after a fender bender for example someone says the N-word. Does it mean they are a bigot or do you think that they were rtying to say the most hurtful thing they could think of? It that worse than saying that all 'beaners should go back to Mexico' in casual conversation? I already know what I think. I wan't to hear what you think.
2006-09-21 03:27:52 · 12 answers · asked by Scott L 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
I think in that case, they're trying to be hurtful under duress. (Though I would sooner go to "*****" or "asshole".) I think the casual conversation is worse, because there's just no reason to try and be hurtful to somebody there.
2006-09-21 03:30:10 · answer #1 · answered by GreenEyedLilo 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Personally, I think all white people call black people the N word in private. It is just not politically correct to admit doing so. It is ignorant to say immigrant go back where they came from. White people were also immigrants and then thieves. Lets not forget the Indians. The idea behind racism is power, arguing that in order to be racist, you have to have power. So that whites (power) do not like another race, usually blacks, but we are now sharing it with Latinos. They use the power to oppress the other races. The idea what i think most people are comfortable is prejudice. Racist has such negative connations that no one wants to even be identified as one. Everyone is prejudice, there are certain groups of people, that some people just don't like for whatever reason. Whether it is blacks, whites, sex offenders, or bad drivers.
2006-09-21 10:40:30 · answer #2 · answered by upfromnutin 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I had to think this over before I answered, good question. I had a very disturbing incident happen to me a few years back. I was almost beaten up by three black people in a department store parking lot because as I drove by I had a cigarette in my left hand, elbow on the window ledge, arm up and as I drove by looking for a parking spot one of them thought I was giving them the finger - it was my cigarette. It got ugly as I walked by them and they confronted me. I think the only reason I wasn't assaulted is because I walk with a cane. Even then the woman in the group told me she was going to take that cane away from me and beat me to death with it. I was frustrated and angry and afraid but no, that word never came to mind. I think it didn't because it isn't part of my natural vocabulary or my thought processes.
I think that if people think those words privately, or tolerate any sort of racial joke-telling, or aren't vigilant against stereotyping across all racial lines, it leads to bigotry. I've known folks for years that I believed weren't bigots because they were so careful in their speech not to reveal it. Then, in some drunken moment or the retelling of a racist joke they heard at work, I realize the truth. They are a bigot, whether it is privately or publicly.
Sometimes I think people in this country have been so inundated with racial stereotypes that it takes hard work to rise above it, especially if you weren't raised to totally reject it.
2006-09-21 10:45:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you say the N-word, or any other racial epithet, EVER, it is racist. Period! I doesn't matter whether it is in the heat of the moment. That is just an excuse. If you think that way, then you are racist. If you weren't racist, then it would NEVER occur to you to call someone something like that. EVER! And all racial or ethnic slurs are equally ugly or hurtful, regardless of their reference or connotation. It doesn't matter if you say it in anger or in "casual" conversation. It's wrong!
2006-09-21 10:34:37 · answer #4 · answered by badkitty1969 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe in freedom of speech and if someone is so damned sensitive that a word is offensive to them, then that person needs to grow the fuc* up. Let people say what they want to say. People need to be mature enough to be able to deal with that and realize that you are not what people call you. You are what you make yourself. Screw political correctness. There will never be a thing such as world peace.
2006-09-21 10:36:59 · answer #5 · answered by Enough 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No, alot of people say things in the heat of the moment, or when they're really pissed. People love to throw around the word "racism". Not realizing that one day it will come back to bite them dead in the ***. You know people like Kanye West.
2006-09-21 13:28:32 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I do not like racism and calling someone the n word just means you already thought af it before you spit it out and shows you do not care of others feelings, No matter what their ethnic background is.
2006-09-21 10:35:04 · answer #7 · answered by tazachusetts 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Call people whatever you want, dude. It is their problem if they get offended by "words". Why should they give a crap what some other person thinks of them?
Sticks and stones. Morons.
2006-09-21 10:37:54 · answer #8 · answered by solid_dump 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think if you are gonna say the N- word, it would usually mean that you have some bias against that ethnic.... if you were simply just angry you would have called the person a jack@ss......
2006-09-21 10:32:18 · answer #9 · answered by Delete System32 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I think you are trying to get the racist b.s. going again. You really do need to get a life and quit picking on folks that are not of your own race.
2006-09-21 10:38:14 · answer #10 · answered by moekittykitty 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋