I don't 'get' Racism...

[Alon Shechter]

Because it's easy on our minds, if X is bad then all X's out there must also be bad.
It's simple, thinking this way, while being a peace-loving friendly person that loves everyone regardless of race, religion or sex is harder.
If a black guy stole your wallet, won't you be a little more cautious around black people?
And don't say no, you're programmed to think that way.

 

[TheAmokz]

Pretty straight-foward, i just don't understand racism.
Why are people Racist?
What is it about the colour of you're skin that makes you 'better' than others?
I just can't put my finger on it, why is there racism in the world?
To me it doesn't make any logical sense.
So, what are your thoughts on this?

Racism is a belief that your race has superior attributes (like intelligence) than certain other race, and you use that to justify their unfair treatment. Its not about skin color. You could say that its more radical version of racialism.

Note that racism is not same thing as racialism.
I think i have lost count on how many times i have been called a racist for believing that there are different human races, and some have higher average IQ than others.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

I lived in a town 30 miles away from my closest city in Scotland before moving to London when I was 19. I've never seen a point to random racism, but at least someone can see what has pretty much been put in my head for about twenty years!

I always try to be understanding, no matter what (with some exceptions)

I was no different, i got a lot of racist thoughts of a plumber once (those thoughts are gone now, when i was around 13 i was changing everyday),
like wise i got the notion that all people who drive 4x4's to be pricks off of my mum.

Although i still haven't found any evidence to support that 4x4 drivers are not pricks.

 

[HandfulofWolf]

Mostly it's in the way they were brought up. But other times it's simply that they enjoy being able to hate something. Being able to put someone down for something that they had nothing to do with, this is especially true if there's a group of them. Much in the way everyone gets bullied for anything else.

 

[Zeema]

i don't understand it at all as Trezu says 'Humans hate things just because there different'

Personality is all that matters and

i HATE IT when someone goes 'Im not racist i have a Black Friend'

 

[Kalamona]

Ah, it is time to say something.

I don't know about other countries, I speak about my country.

In my country the gypsies are like the 5% of the population, but prison population is like 50% (80% in youth prisons), based on documentary movies about hungarian prisons.

I've been a victim of robbing/stealing/cheating a few times, and was provoked on the streets, and about 50% the time the offenders were gypsies. This is similar to the experience of my friends.

That means the average gipsy crime rate is much higher than the average non-gipsy crime rate.

That means if a gypsy asks for change, asks for a cigarette, asks what the time is, I behave much more cautiously as opposed to a white, asian, or black (black people mostly come to my country to learn). That also means that i avoid gypsies whenever possible.

I do not do this because i feel superior, i do this to reduce the possibility to get a negative experience. If i can reduce the possibility of getting a negative experience by 50% just by excluding 5% of the people from my life, this seems like a great tradeoff to me.

I do not care whether this is racist or not, just or not. It is logical. Maybe it is morally not acceptable to some. But morals change every century or so, while logic is eternal.

 

[darthzew]

People don't naturally like things that are different. It's literally part of a defense mechanism. It's natural psychology to be wary of that which is different. We've seen it time and time again in history and not just with race. Racism is a terrible, terrible thing, but sadly it's also natural.

 

[Danny Roberts]

Migration, interracial relationships, and multiculturalism over hundreds of years have made this a moot point.

excuse me? this wasn't said to make a point or propagate an opinion. These are the historical and cultural reasons for racism. There's nothing to moot and no point to be made it's just fact.

 

[Danny Roberts]

Hmm! That's a really insightful summary.

It's unfortunate that adaptively favourable traits include outright asshole-ish behaviour.

I've experienced racial discrimination before, and it really sucks to be a victim of such a stupid thing. I'm friendly, educated, hard-working, polite, benevolent in every way, and yet nothing but the colour of my skin matters to racists and it deems me worthy of random abuse on the street.

Even though I live in a country where racism is publically frowned upon, there is still a population of "closet" racists who have feelings of contempt and dislike towards racial groups. It is up to the individual's personality how overtly/agressively they express racist attitudes, but there is very subtle racist behaviour everywhere you look (politics, workplaces, etc.).

I don't think mankind will ever be rid of it.

Oh we will in time. With each generation these aspects of our nature are being ironed out (in the developed world in any case). As education and cultural diversity increase and strengthen racism will go the way of fear of witches. As much as people today can be cunts to those of another race it was much much worse 100 years ago. With each generation this will become less of an issue, we still have a ways to go but it'll be phased out. Hopefully within our lifetime.

 

[Stammer]

Racism is just an extention of stereotypes. Sadly enough most stereotypes are more true than a lot of us think. And if for some reason you don't like a particular stereotype about a culture of people you're going to be racist.

 

[Moeez]

Migration, interracial relationships, and multiculturalism over hundreds of years have made this a moot point.

excuse me? this wasn't said to make a point or propagate an opinion. These are the historical and cultural reasons for racism. There's nothing to moot and no point to be made it's just fact.

Your fact is outdated.

 

[Danny Roberts]

Migration, interracial relationships, and multiculturalism over hundreds of years have made this a moot point.

excuse me? this wasn't said to make a point or propagate an opinion. These are the historical and cultural reasons for racism. There's nothing to moot and no point to be made it's just fact.

Your fact is outdated.

Facts can't be outdated. Are you being purposefully stupid? I'm not endorsing this state of affairs it's just the way it is.

 

[Cakes]

Pretty straight-foward, i just don't understand racism.
Why are people Racist?
What is it about the colour of you're skin that makes you 'better' than others?
I just can't put my finger on it, why is there racism in the world?
To me it doesn't make any logical sense.
So, what are your thoughts on this?

Back in the far flung past of europe, the white people found african people and thought "Hey, they look different, I don't like that, therefore they are lower than I" and racism was born. Now, there is much debate as to whether this was intentional, as at the time the africans were in their tribal state, and could have been seen as "barabaric" by the whites.

This process has continued with every tint and shade of skin pigment up to this very day.

TL;DR: People are assholes who feel the need to be better than others, so why not use a visible indicator to "prove" it.

christianity was a HUGE factor in slavery, as christ was the "right"religion. They didn't like that religion as they were black. So once again, christianity puts our civilisation back hundreds of years and people still fail to see it....

Horse shit. White people grew fond of slavery, these same white people happened to be Christian, so they managed to justify it through their religion. The religion itself made literally no difference.

 

[Cakes]

Religion, especially Christianity, tells us what we should believe, and most Religions believe that those who do not worship the same God(s) as that Religion are heathens and should be destroyed.

I'm interested in what you think "most religions" is, because this isn't true at all. Quit making shit up.

You've been on these forums since 2009, I thought you'd be used to this by now?

Oh sure, I just can't resist calling people on it.

 

[cobra_ky]

On the first point, you are wrong. When looking at races, one does not compare one of each race and call it a day.
I'm sure there are Africans out there who are smarter than I am, and I'm also sure I'm faster and stronger than some Africans. By your logic, if we find a single African who is smarter and weaker than I am, we've conclusively proven that that is the case for any pair of black/white people you could possibly choose.
But it's not. Genetics is a science of averages and the averages clearly point out that what I have said is true. It is that simple, again, read "The Bell Curve". Or "Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports And Why We're Afraid To Talk About It."

If you actually believed that, you wouldn't be saying things like:

So yea. I'm racist, I guess. In the sense that I am in no way inclined to consider the average African my intellectual equal.

So who told you that you're an average caucasian? For all we know you could be well below the intellectual level of the average African.

<a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_fallacy>There's a wikipedia describing exactly how you're wrong about this.

 

[Danny Roberts]

Pretty straight-foward, i just don't understand racism.
Why are people Racist?
What is it about the colour of you're skin that makes you 'better' than others?
I just can't put my finger on it, why is there racism in the world?
To me it doesn't make any logical sense.
So, what are your thoughts on this?

Back in the far flung past of europe, the white people found african people and thought "Hey, they look different, I don't like that, therefore they are lower than I" and racism was born. Now, there is much debate as to whether this was intentional, as at the time the africans were in their tribal state, and could have been seen as "barabaric" by the whites.

This process has continued with every tint and shade of skin pigment up to this very day.

wait... you think racism didn't exist before the african slave trade? Seriously is this forum full of idiots? I feel like I've entered a.... well a forum. I had higher hopes for the escapist's user base

 

[Zukhramm]

Everyone is racist, yes OP, even you. You may not realize it, but you are and there's not really a lot you can do about it other than try to ignore it. We're a social species and as a social species we have a tribal mentality that is hardwired into our brains from 3MA of evolution.

Depends on what you're talking about when saying "racism". You're talking about mistrust, stereotypes and discrimination. What comes to my mind when I hear the word is not that but rather an ideological beliefe that certain people are superior or inferier due to their race, which I'm sure is an opinion everyone does not hold.

 

[FallenTraveler]

wait... you think racism didn't exist before the african slave trade? Seriously is this forum full of idiots? I feel like I've entered a.... well a forum. I had higher hopes for the escapist's user base

No, but white people are a pretty good example... I never said the slave trade had anything to do with it either. I said it helped lead to it, but not that that's where it started.

Racism started with hate, plain and simple. People have been hating each other since the beginning of time.

edit: since the beginning of humanity.

 

[C95J]

It's dying out now anyway. Give it maybe a generation or two, and pretty much 99% of all racism in the world will be gone forever.

 

[TheAmokz]

It's dying out now anyway. Give it maybe a generation or two, and pretty much 99% of all racism in the world will be gone forever.

Oh look! We have a joker in here!