It's sheer stupidity is what it is. Last night I was called a "white *****" by one of my neighbors. Skin color doesn't matter to me at all, what matters is character.
I don't 'get' Racism...
- Thread starter Sizzle Montyjing
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Racism isn't logical, you can't "get it." There is a great big world out there filled with ignorant people who believe in stupid shit. This is just another example of that.Sizzle Montyjing said:
I figure it's not the color of our skin anymore it's what we've done. White people have taken native american's land, bombed the shit out of an asian country, invaded a middle eastern country for it's resources and taken a large amount of african americans from their homes and forced them to work for us for years. At first, sure, you look different and there are more of us, we must be better. But now that we've learned to be more tolerant I think individual grudges still hold even if the leader of a country has forgiven it. I as a white person am ashamed at what we've done, but I did not participate in it nor was I even born when it happened and I don't feel I deserve the hate that some black people give me. (I live near Detroit)
Oh I know why it came about (heck we were taught about it at school repeatedly, but grew up in a very mixed culture area) and I understand why remnants of it still hang about, archaic notions and stuff like that, but what I personally don't understand is that with all people tend to talk of society and civilisation moving forward things like this still persist.
If we were all truely as enlightened and moving forward as people would like you to think then why does stuff like this still exist? Though I guess thankfully stuff like it is becoming less and less prevelant and these days it a case of "a few bad apples spoiling the barrel".
Still I've always seen it simply as this, we are all one race, human.
If we were all truely as enlightened and moving forward as people would like you to think then why does stuff like this still exist? Though I guess thankfully stuff like it is becoming less and less prevelant and these days it a case of "a few bad apples spoiling the barrel".
Still I've always seen it simply as this, we are all one race, human.
I once heard this conversation in Northern Ireland between a father and his kid:
Father: *Pointing at a housing district* "Tell me, who lives there?"
Kid: "Catholics."
F: "And what are they...?"
K: "Scumbags."
Didn't this shit end ten years ago?
Father: *Pointing at a housing district* "Tell me, who lives there?"
Kid: "Catholics."
F: "And what are they...?"
K: "Scumbags."
Didn't this shit end ten years ago?
It all comes from way back when the 'civilised' white man 'found' the 'uncivilised' black man and taught him how to live etc. Since then it's been drilled into SOME peoples heads that white people are superior to black people. (At least that's the case with white on black racism.
Racism in general comes from some people thinking it's necessary to conform, and being different (in any way) obviously doesn't conform, so naturally some people will discriminate against the people who're different.
Racism in general comes from some people thinking it's necessary to conform, and being different (in any way) obviously doesn't conform, so naturally some people will discriminate against the people who're different.
I understand it like this:
It's a basic and primitive instinct, mainly fear, of the "different" of the "unknown". Imagine the first white people meeting the first black people. To them, it was like meeting aliens. Sure, we know that the only difference between white, black, yellow, and blue people is the skin color, but back then, they didn't know that. So I think of it as a basic instinct engraved in our DNA from our distant grandads.
But nowadays I don't really see the point. A person can be crazy and stupid in all the variations of the rainbow, so racism just seems stupid to me.
It's a basic and primitive instinct, mainly fear, of the "different" of the "unknown". Imagine the first white people meeting the first black people. To them, it was like meeting aliens. Sure, we know that the only difference between white, black, yellow, and blue people is the skin color, but back then, they didn't know that. So I think of it as a basic instinct engraved in our DNA from our distant grandads.
But nowadays I don't really see the point. A person can be crazy and stupid in all the variations of the rainbow, so racism just seems stupid to me.
Originally, I think, fear of the unknown and unfamiliar, the different, helped to protect us. Fearing and being distrustful of outsiders probably was a good thing once, but its an anachronism that should have died out a long time ago.
There's a variety of potential reasons, and it can vary from person to person. Some people are very insecure and frightened of perceived differences. It's easier to notice physical differences, so they use this observation to insulate themselves. This is particularly true in times of crises, as people may try to single out an easily identifiable scapegoat to blame their problems on.
Geopolitical events is another factor. For example, it's common during times of war to vilify the enemy in order to make the prospect of fighting them more palatable. An easy approach is to attack their race and culture as cruder or simply inferior to your own. While such sentiments may die down after the end of hostilities, lingering animosity often remains that can even reignite conflict on some occasions.
Finally there's the issue of the perpetuation of ignorance. People who are raised by racist parents are far more likely to develop similar racist tendencies themselves.
Geopolitical events is another factor. For example, it's common during times of war to vilify the enemy in order to make the prospect of fighting them more palatable. An easy approach is to attack their race and culture as cruder or simply inferior to your own. While such sentiments may die down after the end of hostilities, lingering animosity often remains that can even reignite conflict on some occasions.
Finally there's the issue of the perpetuation of ignorance. People who are raised by racist parents are far more likely to develop similar racist tendencies themselves.
dyre said:
Don't feed the trolls! People ignore the fact that africans were doing pretty darn well for themselves before Europeans waded in and mucked it up. And Asians were doing very well with some fantastic tech breakthroughs. And the Native Americans had a very fantastic and spiritual culture. And the Aztecs and Mayans were doing great before the white man wiped them out by being diseased creatures. Thank god for the white man eh?
Hey we all believe things that don't make any sense whatsoever when viewed from a purely objective POV. Why do you dislike fish? Why are you afraid of heights? Why do you think Cake is better than Pie? Why do you take life advice from a 2000 year old book?
Racism (and sexism) is bad because it's a personal viewpoint that actively harms other, innocent people. Other than that: It's just another irrational belief.
Racism (and sexism) is bad because it's a personal viewpoint that actively harms other, innocent people. Other than that: It's just another irrational belief.
My guess is because people like being better then other people. Some will resort to racism to accomplish this. Plus people don't like things that are different.
People are always afraid of whats different, things that arent the same as them. Starts off as simply being cautious and applying different assumptions based on perceptions. Though negative encounters or negative connotations that go along with an experience with a different race can breed different thoughts when it comes to those races. Instead of simple differences in culture or melanin levels, hell even economic/poverty issues, they only see flaws as a result of one trait about them becoming much bigger than it really is, applying one bad encounter or one misconception to everyone that fits the bill.
Back in times of slavery and colonialism it was the white mans arrogance. They had christianity and technology. Africans and American Indians did not. So they were worthless savages.
Today it is the white mans fear. Black people have higher crime rates so the white man is cautious with them. And Indian Indians and the Chinese just won't stop breeding so we fear they could take over here. In Europe Turks and Arabs have high crime rates, questionable societal values and they breed like rabbits. No wonder people fear them.
Of course Turks and black people can be racist too. In societies in which actual discrimination is not prevalent anymore this is mostly based on some kind of an exaggerated nationalism or grudge and envy. They hold the racist society responsible for their lack of success.
Today it is the white mans fear. Black people have higher crime rates so the white man is cautious with them. And Indian Indians and the Chinese just won't stop breeding so we fear they could take over here. In Europe Turks and Arabs have high crime rates, questionable societal values and they breed like rabbits. No wonder people fear them.
Of course Turks and black people can be racist too. In societies in which actual discrimination is not prevalent anymore this is mostly based on some kind of an exaggerated nationalism or grudge and envy. They hold the racist society responsible for their lack of success.