Racism.

tintarron

Really Experienced
Joined
Aug 20, 2004
Posts
128
What causes it - well, we know that - but how does it work in people's minds? I'm posting having just returned home - I live in the UK - to find there've been more bombings in London. I read it on Yahoo news - there was a messageboard - 'Have Your Say' - and it's just thronged with moronic, racist comments.

I am not a Muslim but I do have brown skin - I don't think the average skinhead could tell the difference - and frankly reactionary prejudice like this does scare and enrage me.

Is it true that everyone has racist impulses?

-t
 
tintarron said:
What causes it - well, we know that - but how does it work in people's minds? I'm posting having just returned home - I live in the UK - to find there've been more bombings in London. I read it on Yahoo news - there was a messageboard - 'Have Your Say' - and it's just thronged with moronic, racist comments.

I am not a Muslim but I do have brown skin - I don't think the average skinhead could tell the difference - and frankly reactionary prejudice like this does scare and enrage me.

Is it true that everyone has racist impulses?

-t

Its a learned behavior. I was raised in a house where racist talk and slurs were not tolerated. My mother considered it in the same catagory as profanity. My father gave everybody he dealt with repect and dignity. he made certain I did too. We may have been unique for all I know. It has served me well and I feel like I have an advantage over many people whose early learned prejudice clouds their judgement. I have met many more people and had alot of experiences I would have missed if I had been raised like most southern (USA) boys. It also seems to have given me a higher than average tolerance for idiots, which is not always and advantage.
 
bronzeage said:
Its a learned behavior. I was raised in a house where racist talk and slurs were not tolerated. My mother considered it in the same catagory as profanity. My father gave everybody he dealt with repect and dignity. he made certain I did too. We may have been unique for all I know. It has served me well and I feel like I have an advantage over many people whose early learned prejudice clouds their judgement. I have met many more people and had alot of experiences I would have missed if I had been raised like most southern (USA) boys. It also seems to have given me a higher than average tolerance for idiots, which is not always and advantage.
very well said.
I was raised differently but saw wrong around me and decided my childrenw ould be raised as you were. The world is such a wonderous place and being able to meet and discover people and places without a clouded judgment is a blesssing. You take in so much more, I believe. Not to mention are more compassionate to others.
 
bronzeage said:
Its a learned behavior. I was raised in a house where racist talk and slurs were not tolerated. My mother considered it in the same catagory as profanity. My father gave everybody he dealt with repect and dignity. he made certain I did too. We may have been unique for all I know. It has served me well and I feel like I have an advantage over many people whose early learned prejudice clouds their judgement. I have met many more people and had alot of experiences I would have missed if I had been raised like most southern (USA) boys. It also seems to have given me a higher than average tolerance for idiots, which is not always and advantage.

Sadly my (minority) household remains paradoxically racist. My father often makes comments about Muslims, blissfully unaware that to a large proportion of the population he's the same as them.
 
bronzeage said:
Its a learned behavior. I was raised in a house where racist talk and slurs were not tolerated. My mother considered it in the same catagory as profanity. My father gave everybody he dealt with repect and dignity. he made certain I did too. We may have been unique for all I know. It has served me well and I feel like I have an advantage over many people whose early learned prejudice clouds their judgement. I have met many more people and had alot of experiences I would have missed if I had been raised like most southern (USA) boys. It also seems to have given me a higher than average tolerance for idiots, which is not always and advantage.
It may be learned behavior, but there is no reason why people can't cast aside what they've been lead to believe to form their own opinions. I grew up in a very small town that has only seen one or two people of other than white ethnicity. My family never outwardly made racist comments but it was my understanding from a very young age that I would never be allowed to date a black person. This never bothered me because I was only ever around white people who all felt the same.

When I moved away to college it was somewhat of a culture shock. My school now has almost as many black people as it does white people and it took some adjusting. I had never been taught to look down on them, they're just people after all, it was just different . I didn't know how to approach them or even speak to them and it took me awhile to realize that it didn't have to be that way...there was no reason I couldn't treat them just like everyone else. I credit my ignorance at that time to fear of something I didn't know anything about. I have many friends of different races around me now and my parents don't look at it as a problem, but I'm afraid they'll never be able to look past their skin color and treat them as regular people. Like I said, they're not racist in that they are mean or hostile...they just don't know what to say.
 
tintarron said:
What causes it - well, we know that - but how does it work in people's minds? I'm posting having just returned home - I live in the UK - to find there've been more bombings in London. I read it on Yahoo news - there was a messageboard - 'Have Your Say' - and it's just thronged with moronic, racist comments.

I am not a Muslim but I do have brown skin - I don't think the average skinhead could tell the difference - and frankly reactionary prejudice like this does scare and enrage me.

Is it true that everyone has racist impulses?

-t
It is social conditioning but it is also more basic than that. Our Alphas tell us who the Omegas are and we accept that because we need some group to stand against to feel good. Thought isn't really involved ... it is just automatically spewed.
 
bill-pix-trade said:
It is easer to hate then to understand.

True. But then hate doesn't seem to come naturally and inevitably to some people at all.
 
Moon Dragon said:
Yes. We haven't evolved as much as we like to think we have.

Fair enough - I have to disagree with you, I'm trying to hold off my cynicism till I get a bit older. Then bitterly revel in it, I suppose.
 
Everyone is a little racist and most do not relise it and others are way out there with it.

My mom did not say anything racist until she got mad you see way back in the 40s and up asians were kept in the gally and laundry and never put in charge of important things on ships.

When she got mad at the one she was talking about she would say i wish they would put them in the gally were they belong and i will admit i have a little but it is towards those that make me mad no matter what color skin.

but if you look at everything you do an you will see that you have a little in you.
 
Racism although not a good thing is, in my opinion, inherent in each and every person to varying degree. the race may be different for each person, but all of us in one way or the other are inherently racist. wheather we choose to act on our racist thoughts is a different story.
 
tintarron said:
Fair enough - I have to disagree with you, I'm trying to hold off my cynicism till I get a bit older. Then bitterly revel in it, I suppose.
Gee, I sure hope you just didn't imply that I'm a bitter old fart. :rolleyes:

I wouldn't call it cynicism so much as I'd call it realism. The way I look at things, we still have to fight our base animal nature at times. We aren't anything less because we have primitive urges ... sometimes our primitive urges do allot of good in the world; but just because we add to our nature doesn't mean the old nature goes away. Learning ourselves and knowing when to let a certain side of ourselves come to the forefront is a part of life. Sometimes it is better to choose civility but we choose primate instead. It is a part of evolving as a species to collectively submerge the negative animal aspects of ourselves ... but we will never be rid of them completely.
 
Racism is wrong and while I assume most people have racist ideas instilled in them from parents or peers or whatever, an intellegent human being should see the wrong of it and take it upon themselves to not act upon them. Eventually these ignorant ideas and impulses will die from lack of attention.
 
bronzeage said:
Its a learned behavior. I was raised in a house where racist talk and slurs were not tolerated. My mother considered it in the same catagory as profanity. My father gave everybody he dealt with repect and dignity. he made certain I did too. We may have been unique for all I know. It has served me well and I feel like I have an advantage over many people whose early learned prejudice clouds their judgement. I have met many more people and had alot of experiences I would have missed if I had been raised like most southern (USA) boys. It also seems to have given me a higher than average tolerance for idiots, which is not always and advantage.


Active racism is learned behaviour but it is built on a primeaval need to protect yourself from others outside your group because then your life depended on it.

It is expressed these days by people who have not progressed into the civilised mindset and persue a Neanderthal type oulook on those different from themselves.

There are no excuses for this bad behaviour and intolerance when the spurious reasons for such discrimination just never stand objective scrutiny.
So often it is used as a political weapon to support an agenda and the gullible swarm to the cause. Notably racism is seldom about white people, funny that!!!!!!!
 
woody54 said:
Notably racism is seldom about white people, funny that!!!!!!!

It depends on where you live and who holds the power.
 
One of the hottest terms to come out of the 1990s here in America was "conditional racism".

An example: my classmates in high school were taught that Elvis was a conditional racist because the environment which surronded him (the time and the place) was conducive to racism. Therefore, his racism was forgivable.

If anyone on this board can give me an example of racism that can't be argued as being "conditional", please do so. Otherwise, I call it pure bullshit. :D
 
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RoryN said:
One of the hottest terms to come out of the 1990s here in America was "conditional racism".

An example: my classmates in high school were taught that Elvis was a conditional racist because the environment which surronded him (the time and the place) was conducive to racism. Therefore, his racism was forgivable.

If anyone on this board can give me an example of racism that can't be argued as being "conditional", please do so. Otherwise, I call it pure bullshit. :D
"Conditional racism" is just something else a bunch of hypocrites came up with to justify their behavior...they're the "good racists".

Edited to add: That just pisses me off. If people are unable to rise above the misconceptions of their time or environment, their only excuse is ignorance and being close minded sheep. "Conditional racism"....my achin' ass.
 
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I grew up around only white people too. There was never any discussion of race in our house. And that's because my parents wanted to teach us that it didn't matter. It just doesn't matter.
 
tintarron said:
What causes it - well, we know that - but how does it work in people's minds? I'm posting having just returned home - I live in the UK - to find there've been more bombings in London. I read it on Yahoo news - there was a messageboard - 'Have Your Say' - and it's just thronged with moronic, racist comments.

I am not a Muslim but I do have brown skin - I don't think the average skinhead could tell the difference - and frankly reactionary prejudice like this does scare and enrage me.

Is it true that everyone has racist impulses?

-t

Who's we? Got a mouse in your pocket? Are you pregnant? Who is this 'we' you refer to?

Ishmael
 
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