Not so Black and White

[txfuncouple]

This isn't meant to start any type of drama, and as a matter of fact of you think you should make inappropriate comments, you should probably leave this forum since most of us here are open minded and excited to try new and different things.

I have often wondered what the attraction of interracial dating/sex is. I'm not saying just black/white, but people being disposed to prefer a partner that's not of their race. I have never experienced it beyond a short couple weeks dating a Chinese girl a very long time ago, so I am genuinely curious.

This is the "everything else" part of the forum so I figured this was the place for the question. Whether you're a guy or a girl that prefers a different race partner, let me know why you make that choice. I'm not trying to offend or preach or judge, just understand. I think it's perfectly fine people do this and support my friends and others without question that do and don't judge others choices. I am just genuinely curious, why the attraction?

 

[tmmmbrrr]

Posting on this thread seems to depend on whether you find yourself attracted to a person first or their race.

 

[Green_Knight]

I don't know. For me it's the person inside the skin that matters, not what colour the skin on the outside is.

Surely anything else has to be racism, pure and simple?

 

[holliday1960]

Posting on this thread seems to depend on whether you find yourself attracted to a person first or their race.

I have to agree with this totally. You'd almost have to speak to both an anthropologist AND a psychologist to get a complete picture of why some people are attracted to specific races.
I would hope that most people today choose their partners based on the individual and not a label.

A dear, life-long friend called me a couple of years ago. She was thinking of marriage and wanted my opinion. She is a southern born white girl. The man in question is black. I asked her three questions. A) Do you both love one another? B) Is he good to you and your family? She answered yes to both.

My third question was, then why are we having this conversation? (They've been happily married for two years now.) There are always going to be people who question the attraction.

For me, it is the same principle as trying to understand GLBT relationships. I am straight. There is no way I could ever understand same sex relationships. Why? Because I am straight. But, I don't need to understand.

In this day and age, true love is so rare...no one should pass up an opportunity for happiness just because someone else doesn't understand. People are people. The only difference is their individuality.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

I don't know. For me it's the person inside the skin that matters, not what colour the skin on the outside is.

Surely anything else has to be racism, pure and simple?

there goes the racism card.

why?

i have a penchant for leggy dutch girls. blonde and tanned, preferably. am i racist?

 

[Green_Knight]

there goes the racism card.

why?

i have a penchant for leggy dutch girls. blonde and tanned, preferably. am i racist?

No, for the simple reason that Dutch is not a race, it's a nationality. You're just a nationalist - or a leggist if you prefer.

 

[loveupskirt]

Everyone has certain things they are attracted to. Many women like tall men. Some like big muscles, others like thin. Same for men. Some like tall women, others short.

I happen to be very sexually attracted to many Asian women. Never been with one. Never even dated or kissed an Asian woman, but I still find many of them very sexy. A much higher percentage than white or black women. Doesn't mean I might not like her if I get to know her or that I couldn't love a black woman, only means I tend to be attracted to certain physical qualities shared by many Asian ladies.

Doesn't make me racist IMO. Just what I like.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

Everyone has certain things they are attracted to. Many women like tall men. Some like big muscles, others like thin. Same for men. Some like tall women, others short.

I happen to be very sexually attracted to many Asian women. Never been with one. Never even dated or kissed an Asian woman, but I still find many of them very sexy. A much higher percentage than white or black women. Doesn't mean I might not like her if I get to know her or that I couldn't love a black woman, only means I tend to be attracted to certain physical qualities shared by many Asian ladies.

Doesn't make me racist IMO. Just what I like.

you should take a trip out here.

 

[Green_Knight]

Everyone has certain things they are attracted to. Many women like tall men. Some like big muscles, others like thin. Same for men. Some like tall women, others short.

I happen to be very sexually attracted to many Asian women. Never been with one. Never even dated or kissed an Asian woman, but I still find many of them very sexy. A much higher percentage than white or black women. Doesn't mean I might not like her if I get to know her or that I couldn't love a black woman, only means I tend to be attracted to certain physical qualities shared by many Asian ladies.

Doesn't make me racist IMO. Just what I like.

Interestingly, the recent UK TV show Naked Attraction selected panels of potential dates by asking contestants to list some of the features they found most appealing. All the potential dates had to have at least one, preferably more, of these features. The fascinating thing was that quite often,
having selected, say, big boobs or thick cock, as a desirable feature, many of the contestants, when faced with a direct choice between big- and small-boobed women or thick- and-thin-cocked men, often went for the opposite of what they'd said was desirable. It suggested that, when it came down to it, something else was guiding their choice.

It may be that you are attracted to certain physical qualities shared by many Asian ladies - black hair, for example, or perhaps you like the fact that the average height of women in many Asian countries is below the average height of American women. In which case, you need look no further than Spain, where many of the women have black hair and the average height is only one inch greater than the average height of Japanese woman.

The fact that you have specified 'Asian' rather than black hair or shorter stature does imply a degree of racial stereotyping that, whether you like it or not, fits in with the Oxford English Dictionary definition of racism: The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. That does seem to fit what you're saying. Maybe it just goes to show that there are people around who would like to think that they're not racist but whose attitudes demonstrate that racism is, in fact, widely ingrained.

 

[bob53]

you should take a trip out here.

I have been there a few times on business.
I have also always found most Vietnamese women to be very attractive.
A lot of that was physical but I found out that there was a LOT more to it. There is a cultural thing that was woven deeply in how they were raised / mannerisms.
Yes I stuck out like a sore thumb while I was there - you don't see very many 6 foot tall blondes there.

Yes I did have a good time as well.

 

[Interested_Girl]

This isn't meant to start any type of drama, and as a matter of fact of you think you should make inappropriate comments, you should probably leave this forum since most of us here are open minded and excited to try new and different things.

I have often wondered what the attraction of interracial dating/sex is. I'm not saying just black/white, but people being disposed to prefer a partner that's not of their race. I have never experienced it beyond a short couple weeks dating a Chinese girl a very long time ago, so I am genuinely curious.

This is the "everything else" part of the forum so I figured this was the place for the question. Whether you're a guy or a girl that prefers a different race partner, let me know why you make that choice. I'm not trying to offend or preach or judge, just understand. I think it's perfectly fine people do this and support my friends and others without question that do and don't judge others choices. I am just genuinely curious, why the attraction?

I don't think that race plays a huge factor for me, because I have been attracted to white, black, brown...and every shade in between, however, I do TEND to be attracted to Caucasian (ref: I am Caucasian). That said, there are some women I have known who have completely fetishized black men. Sought out black men. Only dated black men. I think there is something to be said about this. Race can certainly be a heavily sexual and by extension partnership criterion for some.

This may also be why we have so much BBC porn on the internet. Or Asian porn, which is another very common sub-genre of porn. Interracial sex in many cultures is considered to be taboo, and like most things that are taboo, they tend to be exciting for those who choose to explore it.

Do I think it is racist? No. Unlike Green_Knight's comments, the key factor to racism is the following:
"especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races." There are certain anthropological characteristics which are a result of evolution as a means of survival, and local habitat that certain "races" exhibit (I use this lightly, because I believe we are all one race: human race). This includes skin pigment, eye shape, bone structure/formation/number of bones, stature, muscle structure. Some people are attracted to those features, we all are. It's called evolution and genetic survival. It's natural, and there is nothing racist about it.

 

[loveupskirt]

Interestingly, the recent UK TV show Naked Attraction selected panels of potential dates by asking contestants to list some of the features they found most appealing. All the potential dates had to have at least one, preferably more, of these features. The fascinating thing was that quite often,
having selected, say, big boobs or thick cock, as a desirable feature, many of the contestants, when faced with a direct choice between big- and small-boobed women or thick- and-thin-cocked men, often went for the opposite of what they'd said was desirable. It suggested that, when it came down to it, something else was guiding their choice.

It may be that you are attracted to certain physical qualities shared by many Asian ladies - black hair, for example, or perhaps you like the fact that the average height of women in many Asian countries is below the average height of American women. In which case, you need look no further than Spain, where many of the women have black hair and the average height is only one inch greater than the average height of Japanese woman.

The fact that you have specified 'Asian' rather than black hair or shorter stature does imply a degree of racial stereotyping that, whether you like it or not, fits in with the Oxford English Dictionary definition of racism: The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. That does seem to fit what you're saying. Maybe it just goes to show that there are people around who would like to think that they're not racist but whose attitudes demonstrate that racism is, in fact, widely ingrained.

Uhm, no. You are either reaching very far or looking to butt heads. In either case, not baiting me. Spanish women, many of which I do find attractive don't have the same effect on me that many Asian females do. It is what it is. I'm not going to question it. Since I'm married and not looking for anotherwoman of any category, it's a moot point.

 

[loveupskirt]

I don't think that race plays a huge factor for me, because I have been attracted to white, black, brown...and every shade in between, however, I do TEND to be attracted to Caucasian (ref: I am Caucasian). That said, there are some women I have known who have completely fetishized black men. Sought out black men. Only dated black men. I think there is something to be said about this. Race can certainly be a heavily sexual and by extension partnership criterion for some.

This may also be why we have so much BBC porn on the internet. Or Asian porn, which is another very common sub-genre of porn. Interracial sex in many cultures is considered to be taboo, and like most things that are taboo, they tend to be exciting for those who choose to explore it.

Do I think it is racist? No. Unlike Green_Knight's comments, the key factor to racism is the following:
"especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races." There are certain anthropological characteristics which are a result of evolution as a means of survival, and local habitat that certain "races" exhibit (I use this lightly, because I believe we are all one race: human race). This includes skin pigment, eye shape, bone structure/formation/number of bones, stature, muscle structure. Some people are attracted to those features, we all are. It's called evolution and genetic survival. It's natural, and there is nothing racist about it.

Very well said!

 

[Hypoxia]

I look at this as a writer of multiracial (more than interracial) stories.

Some people are attracted to sameness, to folks who have grown up much as they have, maybe in similar suburbs even thousands of miles apart. Others want difference, exoticism, a break with their past, or a chance to dominate the foreign. I recall a white USA guy offering his imported Asian wife sexually to workers at his home. Others just wander into relationships. That their new-found partner is *other* is mere happenstance. Hey, it's love! And some want to consciously break taboos, piss-off their staid family etc. Yeah, rebels.

No, it's much more than black vs white, although that's the dominant USA taboo because history. Down in California's Central Valley it's intermarriage of Latino and Southeast Asian farmworkers, or a Sikh man's Eritrean wife, or a Miwok rancheria welcoming a Maori into the tribe. Elsewhere it's a swathe from Japan to Vietnam dealing with children of local women fathered by USA troops, black or white. And worldwide, travelers bring home foreign spouses.

I've not really explored (or exploited) taboos and extreme cultural differences in my stories. Peoples of various ethnicities happen to get together and fuck. Hey, it's erotica! I even managed to work in multiracial incest. But I'm cooking stories now that go more into the taboos without belaboring stereotypes and stoking racism. Maybe I need to follow that white girl with her Maori boyfriend and Jamaican girlfriend...

 

[Green_Knight]

...Spanish women, many of which I do find attractive don't have the same effect on me that many Asian females do.

That's interesting, given that Asia stretches from Russia's western borders to the islands of Japan and Papua New Guinea in the east and from Sri Lanka in the south to Siberia in the north, and encompassing within it India, China, Mongolia and countless other countries. Even if you go by the stereotypes, that's about as diverse a collection of women as you could hope to find. There must be an awful lot of very different women - tall, short, fat, thin, small-busted, large busted, light-skinned, dark-skinned - having an effect on you. Maybe you could define your idea of what it is about stereotypical Asian women that appeals in particular.

...That said, there are some women I have known who have completely fetishized black men. Sought out black men. Only dated black men. I think there is something to be said about this. Race can certainly be a heavily sexual and by extension partnership criterion for some...

I have often wondered if this fascination with black men, which seems to be primarily a US thing, doesn't stem from the days of slavery - particularly the taboo thing. Any liaison between a white woman and a black man was then seen as strictly taboo and yet, as with many things, what you're not allowed to have will always be a temptation to some people, though back in those days I would imagine that it had the potential to be fatal to the man if caught.

This phenomenon now seems to be creeping into the UK. Before WW2 there were less than 20,000 black people living in the UK and an aide to Eisenhower reported that 'England is devoid of racial consciousness... [the English] know nothing at all about the conventions and habits of polite society that have developed in the US in order to preserve a segregation in social activity...'. When Black GIs were sent to the UK they were completely segregated from white troops and segregation was also supposed to apply to the civilian population.

Needless to say, segregation made the situation a taboo one; once again, what you weren't supposed to have had an immediate appeal for a lot of people. In wartime Britain, you weren't allowed to have an awful lot of things and avoiding restrictions had become almost an art form, so when people were told that they weren't allowed to mix...

This worked both ways - despite the efforts of the US Government and Army, many black GIs came into contact with white women for the first time, while for many white women these were the first black men they'd ever seen. Sexual fascination between the two groups was inevitable and largely the result of racist policies aimed at keeping them apart.

 

[Green_Knight]

To take this point one stage further, I wonder what would happen if we lived in a world in which all taboos were removed.

Would many of what we regard as fetishes - particularly those that are based on the thrill of the forbidden or the disapproved of - disappear or be of much less interest?

 

[policywank]

Personally I don't think that having a racial preference is inherently racist. But as expressed in pop culture and porn it often is racist. So it is something that we are very sensitive about.

The reality is that physical characteristics are a factor in sexual attraction. And there are obviously different physical characteristics between races. Likewise certain attitudes, perspective and behavioural patterns can be correlated with certain cultures which are in turn often correlated with certain races. It is logical and observable that the characteristics one finds attractive in a mate or sexual partner may be highly correlated with certain races of people.

To the extent that I like a certain set of characteristics that are largely exclusive to certain races or absent in other races I don't see the point in being overly delicate in how that is expressed. "I prefer men from race X" is close enough short form for the fact that men from that race embody many of the things that I like and find attractive. I don't owe it to anybody to qualify that further by saying I am not attracted to all the men of that race, I don't presume men of that race to all have the same characteristics and I am not so narrow-minded as to presume that men of other races might not possess the same characteristics.

If I am exposed to men from a variety of races and end up dating the ones that appeal to me and it turns out that most are from a given race? It is a logical conclusion that I prefer men of that race.

Having said that and like I said earlier what we hear expressed often does seem to have racist overtones. I find it difficult to understand the blanket preference or prohibition of attraction to any race and when I hear it the rationale usually seems to contain a racist element. For instance, I have dated black men that I found attractive and some have been the muscled bit cock stereotype. But to say that I only like black men or that they all fit the stereotype is stupid and racist. Indulge the taboo because it gives you a thrill? Ya sure. But don't buy all the nonsense and don't pretend you are a trail blazer of racial enlightenment. This isn't 1960s Alabama.

To Green Knight's last point I think the absence of taboo does take away a lot of thrill. Where I live we are comparatively racially integrated and diverse. Reality is most of the people I know don't fit the stereotypes and most of my neighbours don't much care who you are fucking. The black guy down the street is a short unathletic accountant that wears horn-rimemd glasses and has a middle aged beer belly. That is racial diversity - not Lex Steele and a blond bimbo on every block.

 

[Hypoxia]

To take this point one stage further, I wonder what would happen if we lived in a world in which all taboos were removed.

Would many of what we regard as fetishes - particularly those that are based on the thrill of the forbidden or the disapproved of - disappear or be of much less interest?

Taboos exist because the subjects are too attractive. Murder taboo, incest taboo, theft taboo, miscegenation taboo, holy taboos -- all are supposed to shield us from temptation, and all emerge from our lusts. That's all stuff we *want* to do but we'd better not...

Violating taboos supposedly brings punishment -- but from where? Society may disapprove but with a wink-and-nod depending on social status. The powerful rich guy can screw his sisters and slaves, rob his investors, flout morality, get away with murder, etc. As Voltaire (I think) said, "The law, in its majesty, forbids rich and poor alike from stealing bread and sleeping under bridges." Taboos and rules are not applied equally IRL.

IMHO racial taboos derive from fear of The Other, the outsider. They're not like us so they're not quite human. BBC fantasy is almost a bestiality fetish. Them n!ggas fuck like animals, boy-howdy! Spoiler: humans are animals. We all fuck like animals, whatever our ethnicity.

Yes, 'twould be great if racial taboos disappeared. An old SciFi trope has humanity uniting against ET-alien threats. When we see The Bugs trying to destroy terrestrial civilization, we'll forget our petty differences and struggle against the common enemy, yada yada. Even n!ggas are better than those creepy-killer mantids from Uranus.

Sad reality: We humans like our pecking orders. We like (need?) to think we're better than somebody. We can set the scale by ideology but that requires having some notion of what people think. Much easier to tag them by color and garb and other visible externalities. Alas, in most of the world, lighter-skin people have higher status than the darker-skinned. When will this change? Maybe about the time STAR TREK: NEXT GENERATION becomes contemporary.

 

[policywank]

Taboos exist because the subjects are too attractive. Murder taboo, incest taboo, theft taboo, miscegenation taboo, holy taboos -- all are supposed to shield us from temptation, and all emerge from our lusts. That's all stuff we *want* to do but we'd better not...

Violating taboos supposedly brings punishment -- but from where? Society may disapprove but with a wink-and-nod depending on social status. The powerful rich guy can screw his sisters and slaves, rob his investors, flout morality, get away with murder, etc. As Voltaire (I think) said, "The law, in its majesty, forbids rich and poor alike from stealing bread and sleeping under bridges." Taboos and rules are not applied equally IRL.

IMHO racial taboos derive from fear of The Other, the outsider. They're not like us so they're not quite human. BBC fantasy is almost a bestiality fetish. Them n!ggas fuck like animals, boy-howdy! Spoiler: humans are animals. We all fuck like animals, whatever our ethnicity.

Yes, 'twould be great if racial taboos disappeared. An old SciFi trope has humanity uniting against ET-alien threats. When we see The Bugs trying to destroy terrestrial civilization, we'll forget our petty differences and struggle against the common enemy, yada yada. Even n!ggas are better than those creepy-killer mantids from Uranus.

Sad reality: We humans like our pecking orders. We like (need?) to think we're better than somebody. We can set the scale by ideology but that requires having some notion of what people think. Much easier to tag them by color and garb and other visible externalities. Alas, in most of the world, lighter-skin people have higher status than the darker-skinned. When will this change? Maybe about the time STAR TREK: NEXT GENERATION becomes contemporary.

Some taboos exist because the subject is too attractive. But some subjects are only attractive because they are taboo. I have done lots of things that appealed to me mainly because they were forbidden only to find they weren't attractive or appealing at all.

They are all kinds of reasons things are taboo. IMO fear of the unknown or other is at least as much of a driver as any actual knowledge that the subject is attractive.

Violating the pecking order is a particular type of taboo that relates to this thread. In my experience it runs both ways. In the BBC fantasy the white girl is indulging the taboo of being with the black man.....and the black man is indulging the fantasy of usurping the white overlords. IRL those barriers are increasingly blurred and things are not so black and white. If the racial roles were reversed it is not at all clear that any of us would behave differently or better than the "other".

 

[Samsacks]

A beautiful, interesting sexy person is beautiful, interesting and sexy no matter what color, or no matter if they have "conventional" good looks. Nerds can be hotter than supermodels, BBWs more sexy than soulcyclers. The "best looking" person can be a lousy lay because they're a lousy person. Don't worry about what others' think is attractive, or what they might think of you because of what attracts you. Enjoy people for who they are and let them enjoy you.

 

[Green_Knight]

What concerns me most is the stereotyping, whereby everyone of a particular race is assumed to have near-identical characteristics. In fact, there must be more differences between individuals of a particular country, let alone race, than there are similarities, especially if you take such diverse 'races' as black or Asian.

By all means say that you like the sort of eyes that are found in some Asian women - but is that women from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Spratly Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, or Vietnam? I bet you'd find a few differences in eyes among that lot. Actually, by saying you like Asian women's eyes, you've told me nothing at all about your preferences and you might be implying that you know very little about the geography of the world and its peoples.

It's akin to me saying that I like the way all northern American people speak, implying the stereotypical drawl. There might be a fair few residents of the USA and Canada who wouldn't appreciate that.

Lumping people together by stereotype not only denies them their individuality but it does also make it easier for evil people to ascribe adverse characteristics to people en masse - Hitler and the Jews, for example. I'm sure that none of the people on here have evil intent but, by subscribing to racial stereotypes, they open the way for those who do.

We have just had the EU referendum in the UK. One of the big issues was unrestricted movement of people throughout the EU which has resulted in considerable numbers of Eastern Europeans coming here. The 'Leave' politicians were happy to exploit the immigration issue, and make claims that people only came here to take advantage of our state benefits system, take jobs from British people, etc. This stereotyping caught on with certain parts of the UK population and has led to attacks on Eastern Europeans, including one murder. Of course, the 'leave' politicians deny that they were stirring up racial and nationalistic hatred and the violence has nothing to do with them but...

Personally I don't think that having a racial preference is inherently racist. But as expressed in pop culture and porn it often is racist. So it is something that we are very sensitive about.

The reality is that physical characteristics are a factor in sexual attraction. And there are obviously different physical characteristics between races. Likewise certain attitudes, perspective and behavioural patterns can be correlated with certain cultures which are in turn often correlated with certain races. It is logical and observable that the characteristics one finds attractive in a mate or sexual partner may be highly correlated with certain races of people.

To the extent that I like a certain set of characteristics that are largely exclusive to certain races or absent in other races I don't see the point in being overly delicate in how that is expressed. "I prefer men from race X" is close enough short form for the fact that men from that race embody many of the things that I like and find attractive. I don't owe it to anybody to qualify that further by saying I am not attracted to all the men of that race, I don't presume men of that race to all have the same characteristics and I am not so narrow-minded as to presume that men of other races might not possess the same characteristics.

If I am exposed to men from a variety of races and end up dating the ones that appeal to me and it turns out that most are from a given race? It is a logical conclusion that I prefer men of that race.

Having said that and like I said earlier what we hear expressed often does seem to have racist overtones. I find it difficult to understand the blanket preference or prohibition of attraction to any race and when I hear it the rationale usually seems to contain a racist element. For instance, I have dated black men that I found attractive and some have been the muscled bit cock stereotype. But to say that I only like black men or that they all fit the stereotype is stupid and racist. Indulge the taboo because it gives you a thrill? Ya sure. But don't buy all the nonsense and don't pretend you are a trail blazer of racial enlightenment. This isn't 1960s Alabama.

To Green Knight's last point I think the absence of taboo does take away a lot of thrill. Where I live we are comparatively racially integrated and diverse. Reality is most of the people I know don't fit the stereotypes and most of my neighbours don't much care who you are fucking. The black guy down the street is a short unathletic accountant that wears horn-rimemd glasses and has a middle aged beer belly. That is racial diversity - not Lex Steele and a blond bimbo on every block.

 

[policywank]

What concerns me most is the stereotyping, whereby everyone of a particular race is assumed to have near-identical characteristics. In fact, there must be more differences between individuals of a particular country, let alone race, than there are similarities, especially if you take such diverse 'races' as black or Asian.

By all means say that you like the sort of eyes that are found in some Asian women - but is that women from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Spratly Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, or Vietnam? I bet you'd find a few differences in eyes among that lot. Actually, by saying you like Asian women's eyes, you've told me nothing at all about your preferences and you might be implying that you know very little about the geography of the world and its peoples.

It's akin to me saying that I like the way all northern American people speak, implying the stereotypical drawl. There might be a fair few residents of the USA and Canada who wouldn't appreciate that.

Lumping people together by stereotype not only denies them their individuality but it does also make it easier for evil people to ascribe adverse characteristics to people en masse - Hitler and the Jews, for example. I'm sure that none of the people on here have evil intent but, by subscribing to racial stereotypes, they open the way for those who do.

We have just had the EU referendum in the UK. One of the big issues was unrestricted movement of people throughout the EU which has resulted in considerable numbers of Eastern Europeans coming here. The 'Leave' politicians were happy to exploit the immigration issue, and make claims that people only came here to take advantage of our state benefits system, take jobs from British people, etc. This stereotyping caught on with certain parts of the UK population and has led to attacks on Eastern Europeans, including one murder. Of course, the 'leave' politicians deny that they were stirring up racial and nationalistic hatred and the violence has nothing to do with them but...

Simplistic stereotyping IMO is one of the biggest enablers of racism and all of it's ugly consequences. And those stereotypes are easier to deploy when dealing with the "other".....those that we don't really know and possibly fear.

I might add to your list of Asian countries Turkey (I doubt those east of the Bosphorus look different than those west of it), and more of the Middle East than you have already identified, plus of course the earliest indigenous occupants of the land that are so often overlooked.

The perils of simplistic references and stereotypes are clear and undeniable. And the ignorance with which some terms are used can be problematic.

But if we clear away all the semantics and drill down to a factually accurate understanding of race we do see certain prevalent differences between races. Those who refer to Asian eyes rather than Japanese (or Chinese or whomever) eyes are ignorant more so than racist. We know the point being made.

Ignoring racial differences in the interest of harmony and not giving narrow-minded racists something to grab onto isn't the same as the active denial required to conclude that those differences don't exist.

This discussion brings to mind a conversation with a very politically correct colleague. She was making reference to a recent meeting and a point that someone made. She twisted herself in knots trying to identify the speaker when I said "oh you mean the black guy." It was an easy differentiating factor as it was a small meeting and he was the only black man there. She pulled a slightly less idiotic version of "I don't see skin colour." My immediate thought (which I didn't voice) was "then you are blind or stupid." I didn't say he was dumb, good at picking cotton, had a big dick or could dunk a basketball. I just said he was black.

Subverting recognition of racial differences is society's transitional response. Our goal needs to be a society where saying "oh you mean the black guy" is no different from saying "oh you mean the guy with the moustache."

 

[loveupskirt]

There are a lot of people these days who go out of their way looking to find some malicious intent, something to be offended over
This thread illustrates that point perfectly!

 

[Green_Knight]

...I might add to your list of Asian countries Turkey (I doubt those east of the Bosphorus look different than those west of it), and more of the Middle East than you have already identified, plus of course the earliest indigenous occupants of the land that are so often overlooked...

As this is a USA-based site, I used the CIA definition of Asia from its World Factbook. Other definitions do include the Middle East.

...Subverting recognition of racial differences is society's transitional response. Our goal needs to be a society where saying "oh you mean the black guy" is no different from saying "oh you mean the guy with the moustache."...

I totally agree with you but I fear we have a way to go before we reach that state. Perhaps we could start a thread on inter-facial-hair dating.

 

[policywank]

As this is a USA-based site, I used the CIA definition of Asia from its World Factbook. Other definitions do include the Middle East.



I totally agree with you but I fear we have a way to go before we reach that state. Perhaps we could start a thread on inter-facial-hair dating.

We do have a long way to go. But I am of two minds as to how to get there. Identifying racial differences can feed into many of the negative sentiments you have identified. However, ignoring the differences and being politically correct on matters of race can also feed into frustration and a sense of disenfranchisement among certain groups that are inclined to blame the "other" for their problems.