is racism born out of nastiness or just ignorance and lack of education?

Question

Yes I know that it has been talked to death, but would like to hear views of people here, as I did not realise until today how many of my friends seem to be raciest or misunderstand it?

hey guys I did not post this question in the gay and lesbian section but seeing as we are here great,

Answer 1

Racism is taught/learned. No one is born into this world filled with hate or the dislike of another human being due to skin color, race, sexual preference, etc. People must learn these racism ways from either their parents, friends, television, movies, music and the list can go on.
That being said, racism is still a choice. People have to make up their own minds to hate or not to hate. People usually do not know why they hate other people either. Everytime I have discussed this with people they cannot seem to give good answers as to why they feel certain ways.
To have dislike towards another human being, I would say is natural. You can't get along with everyone. However, there is a difference when you lump an entire group of people into your hate due to one bad encounter with a single person. People cannot seem to differentiate between the two.
Just my opinion.

Answer 2

How do you define racism is as good a place as any to look at it.

Unfortunately in my experience the biggest racists are people from so called ethnic minorities.
How often have you gone into your local shop and the pakistani family serving start speaking in their native tongue while eyeing you suspiciously?
You can say thats their language but this is the UK and the language spoken here is English. Do you think you would get very far in Pakistan or India etc without speaking their language?

If I say Jade is a fat ugly white minger, does that make me sexist, racist or fatist? No it means I believe her to be all of the above. BUT if I said the Indian one (sorry genuinely dont know her name, just read all this crap in the paper) was a skinny manipulative black cow, then the pc brigade would be calling me racist.

Sorry but the ethnic minorities want equality on their terms.

Answer 3

Since this is posted in a gay area; I can tell you as an ex-resident of San Francisco that blacks and Mexicans are responsible for 80% of the gay bashing there. The victims are usually drunk residents or gay/lesbian visitors who think SF is 100% or that minorities are somehow united with gays and they make the mistake of wandering into those neighborhoods holding hands.

Why the liberal and PC marxist communities are so quiet about minority homophobia is beyond me.

Answer 4

It is nastiness, ignorance, both education and lack of education.If in a room you have children between the ages of two and four, of ever race and colour and creed,they will all play to-gether happily sharing toys, hugging each other. liking each other. They cannot talk fluently or understand everything, they have not heard adverse remarks from parents or other people. They do not notice the differences between them, they just see another child. No one has poisoned their minds, yet.

Answer 5

Racism, like Hate must be taught to children (it is not something that very young childred know how to do) This is done through their peers, parents and through the media and their environment.
Take a child with a missing toe, they will notice the difference in others, but they will not know who is "abnormal" until it is told to them. They may surmise that they are the different one if they are exposed to enough people with ten toes, and will ask about it, and the response they get, how it is explained to them will affect their perception of how they fit in (or not).

Answer 6

We are just naturally repelled by those so different from ourselves. We also have a natural fear of those different from us unless we get to know them on a more personal level realizing that we have things in common as well. Notice how we do become friends with people of different races and cultures at times, (some more than others) and feel that they are just different from the rest. Well it is actually that we got to know the person. This isn't a bad thing just natural.

Answer 7

I have come to the conclusion that, as cliched as it might sound, racism stems from a lack of confidence in or a dislike of oneself. From my personal experiences with people whom are racist, it has always seemed as though they are desperate for something to make themselves feel worthy. If you believe that African Americans or Jews or Mexicans or what ever ethnic groups you pick are naturally inferior to yourself, it gives you confidence. It is a horrible social comparison. I might not be a good person, but at least I'm not .

Answer 8

I think its nastiness. i believe that most of us are racist to a degree. whether its hating Africans or Americans because of their skin colour or their government. or laughing and judging a tribe from the amazon rain forrest or Inuit (Eskimo, how the hell do you spell Inuit???) because their way of life is so different to mine or yours.
in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with closet racism. isn't freedom of speech what we try to spread around the world? so surely freedom of thought should be even more important. its when people voice their opinion in a nasty way that racism becomes something we dont want.
so yes most people are racist. its just a taboo subject that people wont admit to. if the world learnt to be honest with themselves and each other, the world would be a better place

Answer 9

it comes from a lack of tolerance of other race/religions. it has become a way of life here in the UK as nearly every race is getting better treatment from the government than the indigenous/white/christian citizens. i don't know why this is, nor do i understand how the government could possibly not know what a powderkeg they are sitting on/creating

Answer 10

we take on the believes of of our family untill we are old enough to make our choices so its got to be the last one