What makes a person a racist?

Question

and no i am not asking to spark arguements between people, but I am hoestly asking. And I don't mean examples like the reason why you don't like black people is because they were baggy pants. I want to know the cause the reason why. I am not tying to offend anyone I am just trying to see others point of views.

and please no dictonary terms. I want to know what you think. And you don't have to be a racist to answer. See the reason I ask is because my husband and I are a bi-racial couple and we catch alot of slack being married and stationed down in the south. (not saying the name of the state or town but starts with a G and ends with an A) but we have noticed it every where from St. Louis (where people stare) to Chicago to Alabama. I think the only places we feel comfortable is Oklahoma, Kansas, Ny, California, Texas, and PA.

Answer 1

Ignorance.

Answer 2

Racism is when a person makes judgements about another person based on a perceived 'difference'. Usually the difference is skin colour and cultural traits of a particular group. Its just prejudice. Usually these same racists are intolerant towards lots of points of 'difference' such as religion, education, income, status and the like. I live in Australia and I wish everyone could see just how racists the attitudes towards the Australian Aboriginal people are. But I do think racism is a learned behaviour from parents and communities.
Best wishes to you and your family.

Answer 3

I used to think a racist meant a person who automatically judged someone by the color of their skin. But now I'm not sure. You see, I've been called a racist for the simplest of things. People these days aren't allowed to voice an opinion which differs from others, without being called a racist. So I guess a racist is anybody who has a mind of their own.

Answer 4

Fear I think. People are afraid of having their power taken away, and afraid of change. When a certain group is in power, they LIKE having authority over another group of people - they don't want to give up that power because they are selfish, and they expect the other group of people to be as malicious and self-centered with their power as they themselves are, which means shi* is gonna suck.

I'm not racist, but this is just something I've notices with people who are racist - they feel threatened by the other group in some way. They want to keep the privileges they have, even if it is at the expense of others.

And let's get this shi* straight - not everyone is racist. Racism is defined as " 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." Everyone is AWARE of the stereotypes of each race. And yeah, white people aren't usually good dancers.......but I don't believe that your ethnicity determines your inherent ability to do ANYTHING.

Answer 5

Unfortunately the term racist has been adopted by leftist idealogues in their aim to re-shape society to their choosing. They are excellent in wars of words and have adopted newer terms of homophobe and xenophobe into their arsenal. They use this namecalling to both stifle debate as well as make themselves look intellectually superior and put thier opponent on the defense, despite the fact that they cannot win their views on the merits alone so they resort to name kid.

Racist, homophobe, xenophobe and any other term the left misuses is merely a shallow attempt by them to guide the course of any discussion. I have been labelled all three and am proud of that, as it shows my opponents are simplistic idiots who can do nothing but call names like a playground idiot.

Answer 6

The majority of guys my daughter dates are black, she is white. I raised her not to be racist. To be me racist means that you have some misguided notion that people of color are not as good as you are in some way. We live in Arkansas where she goes to the U of Ark. The people in Fayetteville, AR are much more open than the people in our small town. But what I have noticed is that with each new generation it gets better and better. My parents are racist. Even when I was a teenager I knew that was wrong. I questioned them all the time. I recently told them because my daughter is 23 that she dates black guys. They were very upset and asked me what I was going to do about it...lol. I said nothing, there is nothing wrong with it. It's very sad to me that good christians like my parents can be racist. My daughter says usually the worst are older men. She said they will stare at them in a restaurant giving her a bad look. I just don't understand how someone could not like someone because the color of their skin is not the same. I do believe its worse in the south and I believe from an early age my parents were told that black people were to clean their homes, work in their fields. My mother says that she played with her housekeepers daughter every day but she was not allowed to go in her house through the front door. So many other stories they tell, my dad tells of his Uncle opening his grocery store on Saturday night for the black people to shop in private. Another thing about my father that is confusing, while he definately was racist he helped our maids daughter go to college in 1963 and that was unusual for black women in Alabama to go. So while he didn't believe the races should mix, he believe they should have better lives. I hope I helped. It's hard to write totally what it was like growing up in TN, AL and AR. I have to say one more thing, I remember in AL as a child seeing the KKK driving around and the Grand Wizzard lived downt he street from us. My dad always told us to stay away from him.

Answer 7

To start off, I'm not racist at ALL. In fact, I have a friend who's practically a big brother to me who's black/african-american/whatever you'd prefer to be called. Looks should mean NOTHING. But my dad and some of my old friends are. So I'll base thoughts off that.

One possibility could be that they feel uncomfortable around something different than themselves. (Different races, different appearances, different backgrounds, etc.) Rather than admit their weakness, a racist person might shun the source of their discomfort... (no.. wait.. that'd be themself, not the other person. whatever you get where i'm going.)

OR maybe it could be that that's what they've been told. if someone's parents are dumb***es and think like racist stuff, maybe the son/daughter doesn't think for him/herself and just trusts that whatever daddy says must be right sort of deal. (sort of like what possibly happening with my dad?? i don't really understand.)

Ahh. I give up. Well, those're some of my thoughts in any case. I've been wondering about this some myself, so it should be interesting to see what other people think....

Answer 8

i think its a combination of things. upbringing, experiences they've had in their life, the friends they hang around, how intelligent they are (and even sometimes i think thats a stretch), and ignorance because they've never dealt with someone of another race. those are just a few ideas that popped into my head.

i'm sure there's tons more answers to explain it. for every racist out there i'm sure its a different combination of those answers that made them the way they are.

Answer 9

Everyone's a little bit racist
Sometimes.
Doesn't mean we go
Around committing hate crimes.
Look around and you will find
No one's really color blind.
Maybe it's a fact
We all should face
Everyone makes judgments
Based on race.

Everyone's a little bit racist
Today.
So, everyone's a little bit racist
Okay!
Ethinic jokes might be uncouth,
But you laugh because
They're based on truth.
Don't take them as
Personal attacks.
Everyone enjoys them -
So relax!

Everyone's a little bit racist
It's true.
But everyone is just about
As racist as you!
If we all could just admit
That we are racist a little bit,
And everyone stopped being
So PC
Maybe we could live in -
Harmony!

Answer 10

(so how is the weather in GA..I think that's what you are talking about). I think it has to do with the way they were raised. My dad is big time racist (not that I am proud of it) and my brother, as he got older started making the same comments, etc. I am NOT racist so thank God it stopped and didn't spread to me. People are just ignorant..ignore them..they have to have somebody to talk about to raise their self esteem