Do you consider yourself to be a racist??

Question

Do you consider youreself to be racist towards another race and if so which race and whats youre rational . Most people just somple say for eg:" Oh I dont like blacks because there skin is dark ". Or " I dont like Asians Because they stink of curry " Surely as such a smart society there must be more to it that just that .

Answer 1

I'm a Jewish guy married to a Filipina who cooks French food we drink Spanish wine we love Indian curry,chinese food and Pizza my car was German built ,my tv was made in Japan,we watch Australian soaps and the Rum I'm drinking at present comes from Cuba,my best friends are spanish,polish and Frenchmen the butter in my sandwich is from Ireland the cheese is Welsh and my neighbours are Turkish and Muslim of whom I hold in high regard,,so I guess i could say I'm not a racist,,personally I think the sooner we as inhabitants of this planet forget about race,religion ,colour and bondaries,,we should concentrate on the being the Human race and live together as one,,I'm sorry I go on a bit,,but this bacardi and coke has really hit the spot
Merry Christmas to whoever you are
Ps Asians make great curry

Answer 2

I hope I'm not a racist.
I believe that the essence of racism is generalisation.
eg. 'Asians enjoy taking bubble baths' - What? ALL of them?

When you look at people on an individual level, some will be bad, some good, some will enjoy pizza, others not. When you take a group of people, be it electricians, blacks or barmen, some will be good, some bad, some will enjoy pizza. Where racists go wrong is to associate a fault with the group itself rather than the individual. To a racist, there is no individual.

Another problem is provinence. The history of a culture that people do not consider. Take for example South Africa. It is recognised that a deprived people will have a tendency to commit crime. For centuries, South Africa was institutionally racist to the effect that they oppressed, and deprived black people. It is still, despite progress, appareant today. Guess what, with all that deprivation, squalor and bitterness, they commit crimes. So inevitably a person observing this behaviour who doesn't consider the background will say 'Black people are petty criminals'. When instead they should say 'Deprived, bitter people are petty criminals'.

Answer 3

There is much more to it than just that. Racist are the scum of the Earth. Aryan Nation, Nazi, KKK, Skin Heads, White Supremest and other Racist hate groups are no more than garbage puke. They should be scraped of the face of the Earth along with all Racist like the bug scum is scraped off a wind shield. xx

ohwiseone is not so wise America is not a race idiot. It is a very smart trend to hate Americans. But when another nation is having problems where do they run for help?

Answer 4

I agree with dicky snapples... Racism is generalisation and we are all guilty of that, however innocent we think it is. Most of the time it is innocent, I make jokes with my black friends about them being good at basketball etc but i'm not being racist, I'm just playing on a stereotype that they find amusing.
I don't think it's difficult to draw the line because we live in a society where we all know what is right and wrong and the only people doing the wrong thing are the ones with bad education!

Answer 5

I honestly don't know. I know that I am preferential towards association with people from my own culture; if for no other reason than comfort. I know what to expect; how to act, right behavior/wrong behavior, etc.

I know that I have been discriminated against by certain groups because I am white and male; (Mexicans, Blacks & Japanese). But I don't believe I have ever consciously or unconciously reciprocated such behavior.

I do not discriminate based on race, but I am unabashed when criticising what I consider to be irrational beliefs or behaviors. I think that the homogeneous nature of Japanese society is inherently racist. I think that affirmative action is reverse racism sanctioned by law. I think that people of northern european extraction are frequently scapegoated by minority groups in the U.S. for the collective irresponsibility of the particular groups.

Of course, making the previous statement inherently assumes that the judgement is being made from the dominant ethos of American society: which is WASP. From the perspective of many in the world Americans are compulsive workaholics. Values at this point become relative. If cultural values are relative; then I choose to live my life by what reason tells me I should do, and by preference of what I like. The collective values of my own cultural reference group, as well as the values of other groups can go to hell.

Answer 6

No, I don't.
None of my close friends have the same background as me and I'm always the odd one out in photos, being the one with the fairest skin. If had prejudices towards people from other ethnic backgrounds, I'd be a bit stuck at school, where, being "English", I'm in the minority.
I do know what it's like to be on the recieving end of racism.

Answer 7

we all are to an extent, but there's where the world's gone too politically correct, what is wrong with saying the food stinks if it stinks, as long as we're casting dispersions on the whole race. We all hold prejudgement of people before we meet them, i.e. the hot blond at the bar, the prejudgement could be she's stuck up, so we all hold pre-judgment it's human nature, but the only difference between a racist and normal behaviour, is we don't hate, we hold judgement but not hate.

Answer 8

What do you think of this (real story) -

One day three of my colleagues discussed the people of my race as being criminals because some suspects (of another race) were caught in a nearby restaurant which happened to cook food of my culture. They carried on for 15 mins exchanging views on the issue, ignoring my presence.

I'm in a team of eight, the other five including me, are non-English. I never seem to hear any comments of the same sort from them.

The three colleagues are all female, white, educated (at least to a degree level, one with a Master), and at their 50's.

am I being discriminated, or am I stereotyping them?????????????????

Answer 9

Racism is just a concept, and a word, which has been applied to an instinctive fear originating in the primitive parts of the brain - the 'old brain', as it is sometimes called - of the unknown. It is not a moral or intellectual phenomenon, but rather an automatic, knee-jerk reaction totally animal in nature. Humans are capable of building layers of morality and intellectual argument on top of it because they refuse to believe that anything they hold true has been arrived at without conscious high-level thought and free choice. They refuse to be scared, threatened, irrational animals. People don't choose to be 'racist' - and often they don't choose not to be: someone who is used to other races and sees them as equals and of zero threat generally holds this position because their experience teaches them that is it the case. I believe there are a lot of people who try to force themselves not to be 'racist' - highly commendable - and a hell of a lot who pretend not to be when in certain company - rather dishonest and wormlike, but broadly understandable. I think essentially that culture zips along and mutates far faster than the development of the older, animal parts of the human brain, which struggles to keep up. Those animal instincts were designed milennia ago to protect apes, then apelike early man from physical/territorial threats, and I think we have to forgive people for being unable to redirect the legacy of that mental hardwiring overnight, instead of pretending it is a synthetic 'free choice' to fear and hate the unknown, and then punishing those people for 'thought crimes'. OK, and I DON'T mean we ought to clear the names of Hitler and the KKK, yeah? Just before you all lynch me.

Answer 10

I do not consider myself a racist, but am prone to social stereotyping. However, if a guy is being a ****, he is a **** whatever his colour. I find it more annoying that the race card is played by individuals in response to someone standing up to them if they are being a ****, rather than just accepting that they are being an idiot.

If you don't want to be misread or misunderstood, don't fall into the percieved steroetype.