I don't 'get' Racism...

[Danny Roberts]

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.

You said racism was born when the "white people", as you call them, "found" Africa. You typed it. Go and look it's further up the page! Twice!

First things first. The first "white people" to "find" (fucking stupidity of this kills me) African civilisations would have pre-dated the ancient Greeks and ancient Egypt. Now the dealings between Egypt and Greece or Egypt and Rome were in the main on an even footing, mutual diplomacy and trade and respect. For crying out loud Julius Caesar and Cleopatra had a public relationship and openly endorsed child! This is not the action of a white man who thinks he is above a black woman or racist of a black culture.

On the other hand the Romans, Egyptians and Greeks were deeply racist towards, as they called them, barbarians. The Celts, Goths, Gauls, Dacians, Franks, Saxons, Vandals, Angles and Lombards, to name a few, were the niggers of their day. Deemed as culturally inferior, their intelligence and technology shunned by prejudice Roman interlectuals, their cultures wiped out for not falling in line with Roman norms. These people were the victims of the first recorded acts of genocide. And what do all these races of people have in common? All "white people".

Racism was alive and well millennia ago and it certainly wasn't exclusively a "white people" vs Africa scenario. Seriously read a book.

 

[Comando96]

Basically... it is an excuse.

Throughout history it is just an excuse to do something. ie people with black skin are more primitive therefore as humans have dominion over the earth and animals it can be justified by God to enslave ship them from Africa to America and get them to make our sugar.

Follow this onto the American civil war one of the main sparks was that the south wanted a government system allowing states to have superior power so that on state by state basis slavery could still exist.

However often this "logical" racism or selfish material racism, leads to verbal rhetoric and ignorance led hatred. This is commonly among people where they have been brought up as children with their parents saying "all Mexicans are bad and hurt America". They, unsurprisingly then naturally dis-like Mexicans. Unless they actually get to know a bunch of Mexicans well then their image of them won't change. Unless proven otherwise... a stereotype will maintain.

Have you noticed how quite a few racists are either quite stupid... or really really selfish bastards...

To be a racist means you lack one of two things; intelligence and believe a pack of lies they have been fed. Mostly this is sad and you should try to alter their view rather than hate at them in retaliation; or you are a cold hearted c**t who has little of a conscience or soul. Basically think Hitler. Hitler didn't hate the Jews as they were poisonous... as a cultural group and their ties with family, Jews were successful and had property... property which would be useful if used by the government instead of this group of people.

Hitler was a lion feeding lies to people who were all stupid sheep who believed them. No... I'm not saying Germans were stupid... I think all nations who had been born of a greatly successful nation (Prussia) who united to form a world power (Germany) to rival the others (GB, France, Russia) and had then lost a war because the King ran away and politicians had sliced up their country and paid a great fine to gain peace... I think those people would flock to a man who charismatically promised to restore their country to the power it in their view desires, even if it meant to leave logic and human feeling behind them... or even because they were afraid to go against the mob once it was in full force.

 

[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.

Oh look! We have a joker in here!

?? what, sorry I don't get it :/

 

[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!

?? what, sorry I don't get it :/

You are rather naive to think that racism would disappear in generation or two. (Unless you were joking)

 

[tsaweeos]

Racism, sexism, country-ist and religist (if you can call those last 2 things a word) when said on the internet is to me, hollowed words. Everyone is anonymous and because of that, we are equal. Any form of hurtful words is not really being directed to one person since we don't know who is of what decent/nationality. I just see it as hater that doesn't actually hate.
They're either doing it to vent personal stress or the guilty pleasure of an occasional crude humour joke.

There are obviously better ways to vent anger and may not be the best thing to do but it's better than said person having their rage built up to the point where they lose self-control and end up punching their spouse/other in the face or possibly murder.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that if we become emotionally stronger by not allowing ourselves to be offended by a mere exhalation of breath projected vocally then maybe that will be for the better (in some way). Racism will hopefully fade out in time but not until we drop the weight of words. Censorship will get us no where.

I know there's flaws in what I said. I myself can think of a few counter-arguments (I'm a fence sitter like that) but I'm just hoping some open mindedness could challenge a different way of thinking in this discussion rather than "natural instinct" or hating on our shadows of the past (Shadows being the metaphor of racism built off past generations).


Ps: I haven't read all 9 pages of this discussion so if anyone pointed this out before me then fist-bump your monitor for I have sent one your way.

 

[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.

Oh look! We have a joker in here!

?? what, sorry I don't get it :/

You are rather naive to think that racism would disappear in generation or two. (Unless you were joking)

Looking back I know I underestimated a bit, but I don't know anyone who is racist, and at thee rate it is decreasing, in 150-200 years, who knows how much racism there will be left. As time goes on it will on keep decreasing faster as well. There will still be racism for a very long time (hence the 99%), but not nearly as much as there is now.

 

[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.

Hey dont get offended if you are one, you should know the history of your murderous cult is all...

I'm Jewish, genius. Quit embarrassing yourself.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

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.

Hey dont get offended if you are one, you should know the history of your murderous cult is all...

I'm Jewish, genius. Quit embarrassing yourself.

Heh.
He just made a complete dick of himself.
Although most religions (not the jewish people) have been complete dicks throughout history, but Christianity is one of the most prevalent ones...
But i 'm glad to see this thread is still going.

 

[MajWound]

I think I'm racist. I mutter slurs under my breath when some jackass on the road pisses me off. Then again, I use slurs for race, gender, nationality, and sexual preference all based on what I see of the driver. Maybe I'm just a hate-filled person.

 

[thick doona]

It's ignorance, these people aren't racist for any kind of logical reason, but because of a natural fear of things that are different and an unwillingness to actually think about it properly.

Acting on your natural fears is logical.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

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.

Hey dont get offended if you are one, you should know the history of your murderous cult is all...

I'm Jewish, genius. Quit embarrassing yourself.

Heh.
He just made a complete dick of himself.
Although most religions (not the jewish people) have been complete dicks throughout history, but Christianity is one of the most prevalent ones...
But i 'm glad to see this thread is still going.

Every religion that states that their leader is the one and only, is power hungry and filled with sheep.

Scientology is one of the worst though, also i don't think it claims those things. But it is just you're opininon.
But seriously, scientology is mental.
*shudders*

 

[EclipseoftheDarkSun]

Tribalism, general xenophobia, fear of others who don't have a personal connection to you/your community and thus may be less manipulatable when it comes to your personal rights/wishes/desires is imo the underlying basis for racism, close-minded religious and political bigotry.

 

[Eventidal]

Racism: driven by the need to overly generalize the people we see.

Pick out any person on the street. Look at their face, their hair, what they're wearing, their facial expression, how they walk... a combination of these and many other highly insignificant factors bring you to [usually subconsciously] make a decision on who this person is. You [think you] know what they're like, how they act, what they like/dislike, etc. You can already imagine exactly how they would speak to you, and how their voice would sound.
Do you actually know anything about them? No, but your first impressions are made quickly, quietly, and create many initial, subconscious prejudicial ideas about them.
Racism is, in a way, a part of that subconscious first impression thing. You automatically form ideas of what someone is like based on their race/ethnicity, despite the fact that it has no real bearing on their personality. I'll be honest- as I rarely even see black people, much less talk to them, the ideas of what they are in my head is formed by what I see and hear in the media. The internet, TV, radio and video games make up 95% of what I "know" about them, and 90% of that is guys acting all tough and cool, often rapping about shooting others and getting rich and idealizing women. The media doesn't paint a pretty picture of these unknown (to me) people and while I know full well that's just not indicative of black people in general, it still vividly colors my perception of them. I don't like to think I'm racist but really, we all are a bit racist. It's kind of a normal thing. The bad part of racism is when you act like those preconceptions are solid truth.

Also, people love the concept of "othering." If you perceive someone as different from yourself, you feel better about hating them, looking down on them or treating them differently than you would someone like yourself. People love to hate. They need some group to get mad at. Someone has to be the "bad guys" and if it's as simple as "the guys with different skin than me" then so be it.

 

[Lazier Than Thou]

Racism is about two things: Ignorance and arrogance.

Ignorance, because what isn't known or understood is inherently scary. You don't know what it's going to do, how it's going to behave, or if it's going to rape you and eat your skin. You just don't know and, if GI Joe is to be believed, knowing is half of the battle.

Arrogance, because people believe themselves to be superior to others. You'll find this particular brand of racism is on the rise, while the racism of ignorance is in decline.

Ignorance is in decline, because more races are mingling with others, specifically in larger and more economically stable countries. This shows us that while customs and desires may change with culture and groups of people, we know they're not going to eat our face off just because they come from a different society. More people are going to be more accepting of others, because there's less ignorance about their culture and people.

Arrogance is in the rise because the world is becoming more and more "intelligence centric." More and more peoples are focusing on the importance of intelligence and the different races are biologically different in more ways than just skin color. Intelligence can be directly related to head size, which means that Africans(in general) suffer in that department. Caucasians and Asians both excel in matters of intelligence, so both with have a more and more difficult time accepting the lower cognitive faculties of their African cousins.

This racism will likely culminate in the same ending as the last time things of this nature happened. A holocaust and purging by eugenicists. I don't know who will play the part of Nazis this time, but I figure it'll probably be the Nationalist Socialist Chinese. They're the most likely candidate, having already exterminated in the millions of their own people in the past fifty years.

The future is bleak, people. I suggest investing in lube and a sturdy table for getting bent over.

 

[Mr.Numbers]

Quoting one of my friends:

"I'm not racist. Racism is a crime, and only black people are criminals".

I don't honestly believe that, I will clearly state...I just thought it was funny and shows the mindset behind racist people.

I would also like to point out there can be a big difference between Africans and African Americans, which is a big point to consider when dealing with racists.

 

[Kalamona]

Most people assume that all people of all skin colors are the same on average. If that would be true, racism would have no point. However i think this theory is not valid.

If you know that blue people make up 50% of the prison population while they are 5% of the whole population, you can safely assume that a random blue man has a much higher percentage to be a criminal in comparison with a random non-blue man.

Thus behaving more cautiously with a blue man, or avoiding blue people altogether has its rewards: meeting with less criminals, being less of a victim. By just excluding 5% of the population from your life can result in 50% less negative experience. A tradeoff that it is well worth in my opinion.

Avoiding criminals would give even better results ofc; but skin color is pretty much visible, while intentions are not. So, the second best solution is to avoid blue people.

 

[Mr.Numbers]

Most people assume that all people of all skin colors are the same on average. If that would be true, racism would have no point. However i think this theory is not valid.

If you know that blue people make up 50% of the prison population while they are 5% of the whole population, you can safely assume that a random blue man has a much higher percentage to be a criminal in comparison with a random non-blue man.

Thus behaving more cautiously with a blue man, or avoiding blue people altogether has its rewards: meeting with less criminals, being less of a victim. By just excluding 5% of the population from your life can result in 50% less negative experience. A tradeoff that it is well worth in my opinion.

Avoiding criminals would give even better results ofc; but skin color is pretty much visible, while intentions are not. So, the second best solution is to avoid blue people.

I understand where you're going with this.

I am slightly racist towards Aboriginals here for that reason...Every one I've met has robbed me XD

Some un biased stats: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/statistics/index.html#Heading34

Most notably: Aboriginal people are 15 times more likely than non indigenous people to be incarcerated in prison, and far more are unemployed.

This is a government website trying it's best to NOT be racist by the way.


Again, I'm not racist (mostly), but it's these sort of statistics that sort of make it make sense.

Any objections to that? And yes I understand our government has screwed them over for a while, but there is a limit here guys.
That and being mugged XD

 

[Cakes]

First of all, all religions are basically the same besides buddha, shinto and such;

I hope you don't plan on studying religion in college.

second of all, where is your proof that christianity had nothing to do with it?

Are you seriously suggesting that were Christianity not the predominant religion of the Western world, slavery wouldn't exist?

Are you fucking joking? Slavery has existed literally everywhere.

Every religion that states that their leader is the one and only,

No they don't. Seriously, stop talking. You have nowhere near an idea what you're talking about.

 

[LITE992]

I don't get it. I appreciate the diversity in the world. Seeing white people all the time is boring.

 

[Epona]

So I read into the first page before I had to say something. Everyone who says "racist people are not as intelligent" should know all about racism and sexism and many other ism's because statements like the one I quoted are doing the exact same type of comparative division. You compare yourself to those who judge people based on race and then say you are smarter and therefore, better. It's all the same thing.