Why aren't you a racist?

[Regine]

I'm not racist, I guess I'm a stupidisist. I don't wanna say that I hate everybody equally (I like some people ), but I rather hate stupid people, no matter what race, nationality or sexual orientation.
I find a lot of members of other "races" attractive, and if I wasn't seeing somebody right now, I would definitely consider dating someone that's different in race from me.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

<< Why aren't you a racist? >>

Cuz I respect people for who they are. I'm not going to give you sh!t because you were born a certain way. That's just plain stoopid.

Now... if they grow up and act like an ass --THEN I hastle them.

 

[jhu]

because i hate everyone equally. ya hear that? yeah, that means you too.

 

[Shuxclams]

<< Why aren't you a racist? >>



Because its un-american, I grew up believing that america is the melting pot of the world and I hope someday it becomes that. As for racist people I have little to no tolerance for them.


SHUX

 

[ratkil]

Not racist because I have a brain and choose to use it. Wouldn't hire the slob because he obviously made another choice on what to do with his brain.........

 

[unxpurg8d]

On this subject but slightly to one side, I'm damned tired of people claiming someone's &quot;racist&quot; because they shy away from a person dressed in gang banger clothes...big baggy pants, checked over-sized shirt, bandanas, etc.

Open note to people dressed like gangbangers: I don't care WHAT color you are, if you're dressed like that you're automatically going to get a negative reaction from me. Don't assume I'm locking my car door or moving away from you quickly because you're Asian, African-American, Hispanic, Caucasian, whatever. It's because you didn't have the good sense to understand the image you're projecting to the rest of the world. I come from an area heavily gang populated, where wearing the wrong color shirt accidently one day will get you shot in broad daylight. I'd be stupid if I stood there and tried to evaluate whether you were trying to be urban cool or really WERE a gang member, so understand that if you choose to look like that you automatically will trigger negative reactions in others. Heh. Don't get all indignant and yell &quot;racist&quot;, consider how your own mom would look at a stranger dressed that way.


SilentBob, where do YOU live, that you're not wary when strange people come up to your car??? It's nice to be nonjudgmental of others, but not to the point of a total lack of common sense. Sigh.


As for being racist, I don't consider myself racist, but I do admit to certain biases. Bleached blondes driving a Camaro, ANYone who deliberately chooses to annoy me by going through the checkout line at the store when they don't have everything they want and send their friend running through the store collecting more junk while I have to wait, kids who aren't polite enough to let older people go through a door first, women who yell at their husbands in public....gee, the list is endless.

 

[Isla]

Having been judged by others based on my looks, I am much less likely to judge others for superficial reasons.

I pay attention to a person's words and actions first.

Babies do not know racism or prejudice. Babies only want to be loved, and if you do this for them, your color does not matter.

Why people lose this understanding as they grow is beyond me....

edit: After reading this thread again, I should define what racism means to me:

Judging a person negatively based on something they cannot change:

skin color

This can also be applied to physical handicaps.

 

[Isla]

You are right on, unexpurg8d...

Dressing like that is an action.... I will judge people based on their actions, and if they want to act like creeps.... well, don't look at me!

 

[Mday]

well.............

everyone is prejudiced.

the extent to which one is prejudiced differs from person to person.

 

[thebestMAX]

Hey, JHU

I am still waiting for my Ministers Certificate from you so I can get a tax break. Uh, dont we have to have meetings or services or something? There are 2 of us now. BTW, nobody has signed up here for the suicide cult either.

 

[Suicidal]

Everyone is prejeduce to a certain degree, it's human nature. If someone tells you they're jesus like and judge not lest they be judged then they're full of it. I think racism is a bit stronger than prejudice though. A prejudice person wont burn a cross in some guys front yard.

 

[ratkil]

<<Bleached blondes driving a Camaro>> ah........hmmmmmm........nevermind.........

 

[lowtech1]

Isla &amp; unxpurg8d

As you mentioned that judging people base on their look other than their skin colour is prejudice...but what is your though on culture &amp; religion?

Personally, I feel that judging a person base upon their culture &amp; religion is somewhat beyond prejudice, and could be class as racist.

I have had many instances that others judge me base upon my look, race, culture, religion, education &amp; occupation, but it didn?t stop me from disagree (prejudice) against the Muslim ideology, which causes many arguments/debates between my Muslim friends &amp; I. My Muslim friends are great men, but some of their Islam values I totally disagree with. My ignorance &amp; ideal is base upon my Western &amp; Asian experience that I uses to judged the Islamic culture, which make me a racist because I haven?t live or studied the Islam culture &amp; religion in-depth to make educated &amp; logical conclusion.

 

[Ranger X]

<< Everyone is a racist to some point >>


Yes, I've been saying that all along. I hate people who try to deny the fact that they're human. By nature, we judge and we prefer certain ethnicities over another. Don't give me that crap about how you view everyone in the same light because no one does. If you view everyone in the same light, would you marry just any old girl or guy? I mean, they're people and viewing everyone in the same light would mean that you don't judge based on their physical characteristics. I am racist to a point and I'll admit it because I'm not a coward who'll hide behide the justifications of why he or she isn't a racist.

If you laugh at a comedian telling ethnic jokes, that makes you a racist, shouldn't it? I mean, why should it be funny if everyone is &quot;equal&quot; and that you see everyone like you're colorblind. Their joke should sound like he's mocking the entire human race. To me, that's a load of $h|t.

 

[tom3]

Like many have said, you're confusing &quot;Racism&quot; with &quot;Prejudice&quot;.

I am fully aware of the diversity and differences around me. And from experience, I have learned that people from a certain background, be it race (there is no such a thing as race, btw), natioinaility, personal upbringing, region they are from, religious beliefs etc. possess common characteristics. It's called cultrure. I may dislike a certain behaviour, and I may find that a certain ethnic group is more likely to possess this behaviour. But it would be wrong of me to catergorize all members of that ethnic group and say that all **** people do that. Even more wrong for me to dislike this group of people based on this knowledge.

When I see a person for the first time, I admit that deep within me there exists some preconceived judgement based on the person's appearence, but I don't let these thoughts influence me. These baseless judgements are either disputed or confirmed as I get to know the person.

You are talking about generalizing and lumping people in groups based on their race. I am telling you that this generalization does not only apply to someone's ethnic background. For instance, when you meet 2 people of the same ethnic background, and find that one of them is from the east coast, and the other from the west coast, you naturally form prejudices in your mind, based on your experience and knowledge of people from these regions.

The above is different from racism. A racist is a person who differentiates people based on their race alone, and despises people based on their race alone. This person puts people into classes, making one &quot;race&quot; more superior than another. He/she can be outspoken or quiet about it, but the person is a racist anyhow.

 

[qacwac]

the rich guy with the beautiful wife and three kids is in just as much need of a Savior as myself and the drug addict who beats his wife and kids. If I look at it in that light then I'm not racist or prejudiced. But I'm not perfect and I can't say that I always look at it in that light. It is one thing I striving for tough

 

[gohan]

When I had Aolhell I used to go into chat rooms alot. Sometimes someone would instant message me and we would talk for hours. Most of the people ask me what nationality I am. I ask &quot;does it matter, we are just talking&quot;. The other person says &quot; it doesn't matter but I want to know anyway&quot;. When I tell them, most never respond back or say &quot;i'm not a racist but I can't talk to you anymore&quot;.

WTF is up with this?

 

[AaronP]

So SilentBob, would you feel as safe walking through South Central in the middle of night as you would walking through a white neighborbood?

 

[kassy]

Gohan -I wish I could work that one out.
I still remember showing friends and family a picture of my husband (the one whose picture I didnt shoot the snotters out of ), and the look of surprize that showed on their faces only to be followed by the words &quot;Oh he is Japanese&quot;. My standard reply was and still is &quot; You're sh*ttin' me?? I never noticed before, well holy sh*t, thanks for pointing that out&quot;
I have heard some very nasty things that have been said to him, I can't explain the anger that runs through me at the time. I actually think he deals with it better than I do.
My Dad is extremely racist, but despite this I am happy to say that I prefer to judge people on their deeds rather than appearance, whether it be skin color or the fact that they have an arm growing out of their forehead.
Assholes come in all shapes and colors.

 

[AaronP]

why is it that corn fed white people from happy happy suburbian or rural areas (and mid and small sized towns) are so idealistic and pure and righteous in their values and sayings about racism. BUt you pull a blue collar guy out of Gary Indiana or Detroit Michigan and they are just the oppisite?

People try not to be racists, but when night in and night out, they see robberys, rapes, murders, gang stuff, drug stuff and all that garbage on the news or in thier neighborhoods, they change.

Unfortunatly, for whatever reason, 80% of these crimes are commited by blacks, and people's prejudices against blacks just start to seep more and more into their being until it can't be reversed.

 

[kassy]

Ok, I have to ask.
Did America as whole not expect some social reprecussions of the racial double standards that were in place until a mere 30 to 40 years ago ? (actually read that as ANY country including my own )
This is not an American bashing question, so please dont take it as one.

 

[tom3]

Now that I give it some more thought, the disagreement here seems to be a simple one, the definition of racism.

We all agree that forming prejudice is an inevitable part of human nature, but the magnitude of the prejudice is the real question here.


Consider the following cases, from mild to extreme:

1. All human beings are equal, I supress all my prejudices and treat everyone as a human being.

2. From experience and knowledge, I find a particular ethnic group are prone to commit crimes (as an example of a behaviour). I'm concious of this therefore I am extra careful when I am around people from this ethnic group. I am still completely open to being friends with someone in this group.

3. From experience and knowledge, I find a particular ethnic group are prone to commit crimes (as an example of a behaviour). Because of this knowledge, I suspect people from this ethnic background of commiting crimes before there is evidence. ie. a cop pulls a person over thinking that he looks &quot;suspicious&quot; because of his race. or a store owner catches a person leaving the store thinking that he's stolen because he belongs to this ethnic group. It'll take some time for me to be able to befriend someone from this group.

4. I dislike people from a certain ethnic group. I avoid them, and will not befriend them.

5. I hate people from a certain ethnic group. I think they should not have existed in the first place.

When do you start to call a person racist?



I fall into group 2 myself, and I don't consider myself racist.

 

[tom3]

<< Unfortunatly, for whatever reason, 80% of these crimes are commited by blacks, and people's prejudices against blacks just start to seep more and more into their being until it can't be reversed >>



I doubt the validity of this statement, especially since you used a percetage.

If you were saying

<< majority of crimes are commited by blacks >>

, then I have this to tell you. This phenomenom is the result of poverty, personal upbringing, social inequality, and social oppression. Much more so than the color of one's skin. If you honestly believe that a black person who grew up in the same suburban environment, same finacial background, similar family upbringing, and similar education as a white person is more likely to commit crimes than the forthmentioned white person, you are wrong.

While I firmly believe that a person's surrounding and background does not justifiy his/her actions, I also believe that the former has a strong influence on the latter.

 

[AaronP]

Red Dawn wrote: &quot;Do you have statistical proof to back that statement or is it just another ignorant racist stereotype?&quot;

-----

yeah, 20 years of watching the 9:00 news on WGN.

ohh yeah, and www.crime.org

 

[AaronP]

I NEVER said that the reason for the high crime rates among blacks was just because they were black, in fact I said &quot;for whatever reason&quot; because I DO NOT know the reason, nor would I care to speculate.