I don't 'get' Racism...
- Thread starter Sizzle Montyjing
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I can remember seeing one racist who was good enough to sit there while being questioned really harshly about his feelings, and he eventually broke down crying, and said what I think is the reason for a lot
"look at me? If I'm not better because of my skin, what else do I have?"
"look at me? If I'm not better because of my skin, what else do I have?"
I don't find the concept of racism difficult to understand, it's simple, people fear things that are different as it introduces the unknown. Whether it's irrational or not, I believe that racism is rooted in a human's natural instinct of fearing, or being wary of, what they are not used to.
Now if a person is raised in a society where you see people from all races regularly, you counteract this instinct through conditioning someone to being used to different races.
People are pack animals, if a person perceives themselves as being part of a particular group, they often automatically find other "groups" threatening.
Now if a person is raised in a society where you see people from all races regularly, you counteract this instinct through conditioning someone to being used to different races.
People are pack animals, if a person perceives themselves as being part of a particular group, they often automatically find other "groups" threatening.
Hold on a sec, are you saying that before the "white man" found the "uncivilised" black men, racism did not exist?Davey Woo said:
Is this something which in your opinion is something only "white man" is capable of?
Is it something "white man" invented?
Before the "white man" ventured out of Europe every other civilisation was living in harmony and did not discriminate against other cultures and peoples, it was something they needed to be taught?
Oh the fucking irony!
I appreciate the Morgan Freeman clip. See people for what they are. If you are a poorly dressed thug African American, and I feel uncomfortable around you, it is not racism to me. Its the fact that you have poor speech, approach me in a threatening manner and look like a shady mother fucker. I don't give a shit if your skin color is white, black or blue with poke-a-dot stripes, I would feel weird around this person.
Racism is pointless. It is just one more thing that holds us back as a species.
Racism is pointless. It is just one more thing that holds us back as a species.
Actually thats a stereotype. There are positive stereotypes like saying anyone from S.korea is automatically gonna rules at RTS, and then there are the negative ones, which we are all familiar with.Calibretto said:
Stereotypes aren't necessarily racist since they go beyond race. Needless to say they are usually just false as its just not possible to categorize a group of people with a particular trait. S. koreans may be better in general in RTS, but not all of them will be top level.
Ignoring the social and cultural reasons for racism...I'm pretty sure fear of everything different to yourself was a key survival tool at some point.
Countless years of evolution have trained us to be a neurotic, fearful and often hateful species. Our cultural expectations and ideals have changed rapidly into something that arguably doesn't line up with our biology.
Or, something...
Countless years of evolution have trained us to be a neurotic, fearful and often hateful species. Our cultural expectations and ideals have changed rapidly into something that arguably doesn't line up with our biology.
Or, something...
Human evolution has taught humans that anything - ANYTHING - different is something to be feared (The reason i think this is because i just saw a Extra credits eppisode that mentions this).
So, when ancient white man met black man (or asian, or indian etc) the first think that they noticed was "Different" Different, when taking into account the above forumula, means Fear. And the only way for man to truly defeat fear is to conquer it.
And thats what white man did.
But now for the simple fact that people of different ethnic groups arent seen as "Different" as much anymore, they arent to be feared as much.
thats how i see it, anyway.
and, also, you said
"I dont get Racism".
That makes me look up to you. i hope people like you run the world one day.
So, when ancient white man met black man (or asian, or indian etc) the first think that they noticed was "Different" Different, when taking into account the above forumula, means Fear. And the only way for man to truly defeat fear is to conquer it.
And thats what white man did.
But now for the simple fact that people of different ethnic groups arent seen as "Different" as much anymore, they arent to be feared as much.
thats how i see it, anyway.
and, also, you said
"I dont get Racism".
That makes me look up to you. i hope people like you run the world one day.
I don't either understand how people can seriously have such a skewed view of the world, but it's just another form of generalization. Generalizing in some way is something anyone of us could be guilty of if we don't stop and think.
I'm not supporting racism, but I suggest you watch a film called "Crash". Then it will make sense.
And yet most stereotypes are true if you haven't noticed. Everyone is somewhat racist, it's in our DNA to think we are better than everyone else. Also, since when is it just white people that can be racist. I've met more black people that hate white people than I've met white people who hate black people.666Chaos said:
Also just so we are clear I hate everyone equally.
Well hes both right and wrong here. Racism probably existed prior to this, but it was the whites that started shipping boat-loads of 'slaves' from Africa, simply because they were 'inferior.' So in that regard whites did kind of enforce a sort of rule of racism.Stublore said:
Now sure the Romans and other civilizations had 'slaves' and 'sacrifices' too but in these cases they were just prisoners of war, regardless of their race. You lose the war, you and your people become the slaves of the victor.
Racism does not always mean hatred. Sometimes, people make assumptions about people that they think are good (like the classic: Asian people are good at math), but which are themselves racist. Any presumption one makes about a person based on their immutable (cannot be changed) racial characteristics is racist.
I think we can do away with racial hatred, but racial stereotypes will remain forever. Even if we lose race-based stereotypes, there will always be ways to categorize people. When one perceives that a category of people tend to do or like something, a stereotype is made. The key is not eliminating stereotypes, it's realizing that we have them and still being open to the idea that a person may not conform to those ideas.
All the people here who claim to have never experienced a racist thought, you're probably lying to yourself or you just don't understand that racism doesn't mean wearing white sheets and hurting Africans.
I think we can do away with racial hatred, but racial stereotypes will remain forever. Even if we lose race-based stereotypes, there will always be ways to categorize people. When one perceives that a category of people tend to do or like something, a stereotype is made. The key is not eliminating stereotypes, it's realizing that we have them and still being open to the idea that a person may not conform to those ideas.
All the people here who claim to have never experienced a racist thought, you're probably lying to yourself or you just don't understand that racism doesn't mean wearing white sheets and hurting Africans.
You don't get racism, or are you simply feigning ignorance of the concept to make yourself appear as the most wonderfully tolerant person in the world?
Everyone is a little bit racist, because generalisation is the simplest and quickest form of understanding something foreign. It's human nature.
Everyone is a little bit racist, because generalisation is the simplest and quickest form of understanding something foreign. It's human nature.
Because people like to think that they are the best and that anything that isn't similar to them is different and therefore an easy target for discrimination.
