What would you say causes racism? Would you say Ignorance/ lack of knowledge or upbringing?

Answer 1

Its also fear. I think people are fearful of what they do not know and more comfortable with the familiar. I have a friend who was raised to be racist and then he joined the military and was forced to get to know all of the types of people he was taught to avoid all this life and it changed him completely. He was so surprised that most of the things he was taught were not true. So I think its possible that its a combination of fear/ ignorange and misguided upbringing rather than the lack of upbringing. Great question!

Answer 2

I would say all those things help in racism. I know when i was a kid growing up it was the upbringing. Parents were ignorant in getting the facts. So therefore since I am an adult I have gotten the knowledge to not be so ignorant about racism and now my grandchildren will have the knowledge and hopefully wont have to face racism.

Answer 3

The biggest contributor by a long way is upbringing. Children don't see color or race in their playmates or schoolmates... they see other children.
Rarely will you run across a racist whose parents or guardians weren't bigoted.
Occasionally you might find someone who became prejudice because of a bad incident but this person lacks intelligence to convince themself that ALL are identifiable by the actions or words of ONE.
I would like to add ... I know many ppl. think racism is rampant and that little has changed but f/ my own life experience of 54 yrs., I have seen it come a long way on a favorable course.
When I was a teen, if someone made a racist remark or joke, it would often start a dominoe effect w/ most ppl eager to add their own flavor of disparaging contribution. But if this were to happen today (and it rarely does) you would certainly be met w/ opposition because it's not cool to be a racist nowadays.

Answer 4

It is caused by a combination of the above. It is ignorance in that children are born pure. They learn to hate, they hear it, see it, live it, feel it, but they aren't born with it. So ignorant parent's, grandparent's, family members, friends, etc. who have a lack of knowledge about how people should treat each other bring up children who are racist and the cycle repeats as it has done for decades and unfortunately will continue to do.

Answer 5

A combination of the above. Upbringing can be overcome. But ignorance and lack of knowledge seem to be insurmountable. Maybe peer pressure also. It is easier to fit into a group then to oppose it.

Answer 6

Upbringing, lack of knowledge, and possibly some sense of insecurity or injustice. You will often find in hate groups an uderlying theme of the "X"'s get all the breaks and I can barely get by or the police pick on me because I'm "X".

Answer 7

I think that, more than anything, racism is taught. Think of KKK members, they bring their children into it. They bring their kids to the meetings and rallies, dress them up in the clothing and tell them that blacks, Hispanics, Catholics, Jews, etc., etc. are worthless. I think that racism is taught both directly and indirectly. Parents tell their kids to hate other races, make remarks about other races to their kids and so on. But also, parents do things around their kids, tell jokes, make remarks, etc. that influence how their children think as well. That, coupled with a relatively sheltered upbringing (little or no exposure to other races) causes and continues racism.

Answer 8

Learning more can certainly overcome racism, but I think I'd say that a misunderstanding about the worth of all people is probably at the heart of it. And especially a misunderstanding about self-worth, because only if you are insecure about your self-worth would you want to feel better by feeling superior to other people. Of course, self-worth can be affected by knowledge and upbringing.

Answer 9

i believe that ignorance and fear causes racism. People are quick to assume based ond the few things they see on t.v. there or over 300,000 blacks in the united states, seeing 3 on the news a week wont classify them all as murderers. They over 300,000 whites in the country know 2 or 3 whites personally doesnt speak for all. This is the same with all raaces, but instead of sitting down and speaking to other races and learning it's easier for many to assume

Answer 10

Ignorance due to upbringing. Fear. Insecurities. Lack of familiarity.