"There is nothing wrong being racist"

[The Funslinger]

Your friend deserves to be punched in the face repeatedly.

Thankfully none of my friends are racist that I know of. If they were I'd think much less of them. Especially if they were so bad as to say there was nothing wrong with it. If it were that bad they really wouldn't be much more than acquaintances.

Yes, a punch in the face wouldn't go amiss here. Unless it, y'know... missed.

Along with that, I'd just tell him he's less than human every time he mentions race.

I see nothing wrong with being harsh to people who deserve it. To those without some horribly bigoted issue going on, I'm perfectly gentlemanly. But yes, "you are, in fact, less than human and the fact that you're even allowed to interact with normal people whilst possessing a mindset like that is atrocious."

I know it's brutal, but I can't help but antagonize horrible, horrible people.

 

[Corporal Yakob]

I've learnt to just avoid the brutal quagmire of political topic and race relation based conversations with my friends.

 

[Gralian]

People have the right to think whatever they like about anything. It's when they verbalise it or act upon it that it becomes a problem. In other words, your mate can be as much of a closet racist as he likes, as long as he never actually comes out with that shit. Unfortunately, he did, so you have to make a judgement on whether you can still respect him enough to hang around him.

I've known folks like your friend who also hate people of other races purely for the fact they are culturally "foreign" rather than the colour of their skin etc which i've always found strange because i used to picture 'racism' as just hating someone who is biologically different rather than it being a matter of ethnicity or culture. I thought if someone hates black people, they hate black people in their entirety rather than the fact they moved to the UK / US / Wherever from Uganda. It makes me wonder whether there should be two separate classifications of racism - those who hate people for being biologically different and those who hate people for being from another country. And if there was such a classification, which would you say is worse?

People can hold whatever prejudices or preconceptions they like. As long as they don't actually treat anyone differently or discriminate because of it.

 

[Woodsey]

Your "friend" is a fucking moron.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Most people I know aren't racist. I do have one good friend that I question though - he's from texas, and some of the things he's said about those from central america are shall we say.... questionable.

He is a bit of a troll though, so it may just be that.

 

[redisforever]

By it's definition? Of course not, it's not harmful. But the sort of racism your friend is talking about definitely is negative and should be discouraged.

It's not harmful, until he acts on it, and does something stupid. Of course, what he's doing is only harming him, because he just won't be friends with some people, who could be great friends, because of some stupid prejudice.

Also, your avatar... is the brick wall growing? And why?

 

[Spaggiari]

It appears that your friend would benefit from the simple joy of an intimate relationship with fast-moving traffic. Or maybe it's everyone else who'll benefit... either way you can tell him I highly recommend it.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

but he just got angry and said that being racist is his choise

Wtf? Thats even worse than just being a regular racist. If he is CHOSING to hate someone because of their race, that means he could just as easily choose not to.
If for some reason it was just a subconcious decision to dislike someone, then while it still isnt nice, it cant really be helped, people are always going to have biases. But the fact that he actively chooses and decides to dislike someone, well your friend is just an arsehole.

 

[RoyalWelsh]

I don't have any friends who are racist, or at least that I know of. But if I did have a friend like that, well, he wouldn't be my friend anymore, and that person would get a swift kick to the gentlemen's region.

Ditch you're friend, he's an ignorant douche.

 

[Something Amyss]

There's certainly something wrong with being a racist, but I really don't think it's the heinous thing people make it out to be.

Especially in this context, where he thought the best part of the movie was blacks being killed.

:|

 

[twohundredpercent]

He sounds pretty lol. I say disregard 99% of everyone on the internet and keep him around as long as he's an okay guy to be around and doesn't interfere with shit.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

The problem with being racist is part of the wider problem of being a complete fucking moron. If there was some kind of sensible logic to hating someone due to the colour of their skin then maybe, maybe I might be able to see a tiny grain of sense in racism.

 

[Eggsnham]

-Snip-

My stepbrother is... it's really freaking sad. Granted, he does seem to have become a little more tolerant of other people, but that may just be to avoid looking like a douche.

I've just kinda stopped arguing with him about it because at this point, he's made it quite clear that he's unwilling to listen to reason.

Come to think of it, I've just kinda stopped arguing with him in general. He's usually a pleasant person to be around, but he's the type of person who's opinions are set in stone and encased with diamond. In other words, arguing with him will always end with him either pissed off at you, or it won't end at all. If you're obviously winning the argument, he'll just abruptly proclaim that he's right and say that he doesn't want to talk about it anymore.

I still love him, he's family, but it's usually our families who bug us the most.

But yeah, there's no reasoning with someone who's willing to hate somebody before meeting them simply because they have a different skin color. That's the kind of thing that only they can sort out.

My advice would be to just not talk with your friend about it, and if it really damages your view of him as a person, you might just be better off not talking to him at all.

 

[FamoFunk]

Your friend is at the top of the arsehole chain.

I knew one person like that, safe to say I slowly distanced myself. It was awkward and embarrassing to know him when he spoke like that, it's not pleasant.

 

[Hollock]

My best friend in high school was openly racist towards black people, and my brother as well. All you can do is tell them you disagree and that it's an incredibly stupid outlook on life.

 

[Xanadu84]

There's a weird trend. People seem to think that free speech not only gives you the right to be an asshole, but excuses it. It doesn't. In fact, free speech lets intelligent people call racists idiots. Its just my opinion is meaningless. Ill defend anyones right to speak, but that doesn't mean your saying something worth saying.

Maybe he is right, and you cant change his mmind. In that case, let him be a Moron. Alone.

 

[Ian Lutz]

Racism is weird. It's also interesting because personal opinion never hurt anyone, it's only people who act upon it that cause problems. For example, a guy who harbours unjustified ill-will towards, let's say, Chinese, just walks down the street, minding his own business, being a normal person, no-one knows, cares, everyone is still happy. It's only if those feelings cause him to start abusing people where problems occur.

You could argue as well of course that it's all a part of free speech, just as it is that I really don't like children. Is automatically hating me for disliking children okay? Is it the same as automatically hating people who dislike certain other people based on their own traits or behaviour? Interesting questions, no?

Personally, I think people, usually the more vocal, obnoxious, annoying ones are always too quick to cry 'racism'. I mean at ANYTHING. Is one colour slightly less represented in a certain film/game/whatever than another? Did they make the bad guy Black or Asian? Oh my, they must be RACISTS! -.- Those people spoil everything for everyone, and I dislike them.

By the way, don't we have enough sensationalism these days? Can we please stop with the misleading and/or controversial headlines?

VIDEOGAMES ARE GAY! - "lol, I didn't say that, but my friend did, what do you think?"
Annoys the crap out of me. Just speak your mind. 'My friend thinks videogames are gay...' is a much better thread title.

I agree with pretty much everything you said. The fact of the matter is we cannot make everyone not racist so dwelling on the few people who are, but at the same time do not wrong the people they are prejudice against is a waste of time.

 

[OptimisticPessimist]

I think your friend is kinda right. Kinda. Now before you all skewer me, hear me out. Racism, in it's most basic form is simply to dislike someone purely on the grounds of race or nationality. And as ignorant as that is, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it. Don't get me wrong, what he said is despicable but without the context of that vile rhetoric, the core idea is fairly benign. I mean, people hate and fear eachother for a myriad of equally arbitrary reasons. Think about it; we've all gotten a weird vibe from someone now and again, or maybe crossed the street to avoid a shady character. In hindsight, those moments certainly seem silly, but wrong? Evil? Not so much. What really matters is how that paranoid instance of dislike is handled. Most people get over it and go about their day as usual because the person in question is out of sight and out of mind fairly quickly. Therein lies the problem of racism. Race is a constant. It doesn't just pass out of sight. I...honestly don't know where I'm going with this so i'm just gonna stop here before I say something stupid. Bottom line is, be racist if you want. Just don't be a dick about it.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Well, first you need to define "wrong". Morality tends to be relative at the best of times, and this isn't a legal issue. The word "wrong" is therefore amorphous. We can argue in circles all day long about what's wrong, and what's right, and everyone will be completely convinced of their own argument, because the definitions we're employing are all highly subjective and personal.

You can say, with 100% accuracy, that expressing views like those of your friend is IGNORANT. You can say that it's PREJUDICIAL. You could probably argue that it's potentially HARMFUL, both to himself and to others, as it's INFLAMMATORY. But is it WRONG? I guess it depends on who you ask.

 

[GistoftheFist]

I actually have to make sure not to pick Louis in L4D anymore. Last few times I was playing it and downed by enemies, the jagoff teammates refused to assist me because "we don't help colored folk". In a goddamn video game.