Everyone's racist

Right. My first post in this neck of the woods. I'm planning to write an essay on racism - my point being, everyone's racist. My view is that racism is being partial to someone because of that person's race. The argument doesn't necessarily mean that everyone thinks that we should kill the Jews or that we should only hire people of a certain race. My supporting arguments are

a) There's a sense of us versus them instilled in people at a very young age. This can be seen in families (us vs. the people not in our family), countries (us vs. other countries), genders (boys vs. girls) et al. There's a feeling of "We must prioritize ourselves." For example, at school, if you have an assignment, and your classmate doesnt, you wouldn't turn in the assignment saying that it is your classmate's. The natural reaction would be to try to help the classmate make a last-minute assignment but that's it.

b) Being racist is a reasonable response. In places where white people are middle class to rich while black people are poor to middle class, crimes would be mostly done by black people because they lack money. If you're walking on a dimly lit street late at night in that place and the only other person there is a black person, it would be normal to be more guarded. Correct?

I'd like to know what others think about this.

Mm, on the title, you're making a generalization. I'm sure there's people out there that aren't racist. Your arguments also seem to lean more towards over-all discrimination rather than racism. The second point would also assume back in medieval times, people would discriminate against peasants. So is this about racism or discrimination?

Zoltea said:

Mm, on the title, you're making a generalization. I'm sure there's people out there that aren't racist. Your arguments also seem to lean more towards over-all discrimination rather than racism. The second point would also assume back in medieval times, people would discriminate against peasants. So is this about racism or discrimination?

Click to expand...

No, the title is quite correct. Everyone is racist. I've said this before, but it's worth saying again: the world isn't divided into people who are and aren't racist; it's divided into people who make an effort to stop being racist and those who don't.

If you're walking on a dimly lit street late at night in that place and the only other person there is a black person, it would be normal to be more guarded. Correct?

Click to expand...

This is a good way of illustrating the matter. It's a very normal reaction, yes, if rather irrational.

I think the individualist society illustrated in point A is more geared towards Western upbringings. That's very true, but you might want to look at collectivist societies to see if there's a contrast.

Everyone's a little bit racist
Sometimes.
Doesn't mean we go
Around committing hate crimes.
Look around and you will find
No one's really color blind.
Maybe it's a fact
We all should face
Everyone makes judgments
Based on race~

...Yeah I think that basically sums it up for me. I think everyone's a little bit racist at times but it doesn't mean everyone's going to go round spouting out slurs or stirring up hatred towards the flavour of the month.

Now not big judgments, like who to hire or who to buy a newspaper from -

No!

No, just little judgments like thinking that Mexican busboys should learn to speak goddamn English!

Right!

Anyway, Western Society seems to always need something to look down upon. Thus, everyone's racist, even if we don't realize it or try to overcome it.

I think race is a concept that is better ignored. People have very nuanced shades of skin, making generalizations like "white" or "black" is technically inaccurate. Sure, you could argue that we are all "subtly" racist, but you can't really disprove or prove such a claim, and doing so won't accomplish anything anyway.

I think race is a concept that is better ignored.

Click to expand...

But we don't. That's... kind of the whole point. Saying 'we should ignore race' isn't going to help anything.

i am admittedly racist and i rather wish i weren't, and always try to suppress these tendencies. i usually do a pretty good job!

so yes everyone is racist, and you should listen to opal.

But, opal, how do you know that everyone is racist? I mean, I'm pretty sure that I'm not. I don't want to say with certainty that I'm not because I'm not sure what evidence you're using to say that everyone is, definitively, racist... but it seems just as ridiculous to say that everyone is racist, as it is to say that no one is racist.

okay

not really racist in the sense of "this person is white/black/brown/turquoise, so i am going to treat them differently or feel superior" ...

more like, "this person is a different color than me, and for some reason i feel i must alter my behavior when interacting with this person". something like that i guess? that's how i feel.

edit: and i assume it's a vaguely biological/psychological thing, and that therefore it's probably prevalent in many people. people ~tend~ to be raised in a very homogeneous environment, i think, except when that's impossible or the environment was heterogeneous in the first place. also, i probably have no idea what i'm talking about.

I fail to see how I'm racist but I look forward to being enlightened.

not really racist in the sense of "this person is white/black/brown/turquoise, so i am going to treat them differently or feel superior" ...

Click to expand...

That is what racist means in most people minds, at least in mine.

i don't know, the term "racism" in itself doesn't necessarily have negative connotations if you just look at the word itself, i suppose if that makes sense. like "misandry", you can tell that is going to be a bad thing. when i think "racism", i typically just think "differing treatment based on skin color" which doesn't say anything of what are typically described as "racist" actions, like racial slurs and racial superiority and whatever.

this is entirely a subjective interpretation but surely i am not being that out there. and honestly, anyone saying "uhh i am NOT racist" just looks a bit silly to me. (i realize i am probably being incoherent but i am excited about being unbanned from Serious Business)

According to the World English Dictionary:
Racism
— noun
1. the belief that races have distinctive cultural characteristics determined by hereditary factors and that this endows some races with an intrinsic superiority over others
2. abusive or aggressive behaviour towards members of another race on the basis of such a belief

well, ok, sorry dictionary.

Dictionary definitions are not the be-all and end-all of a word's meanings and connotations.

Tailsy said:

Dictionary definitions are not the be-all and end-all of a word's meanings and connotations.

Click to expand...

It is certainly helpful in trying to figure those out, however.

Skylark said:

b) Being racist is a reasonable response. In places where white people are middle class to rich while black people are poor to middle class, crimes would be mostly done by black people because they lack money. If you're walking on a dimly lit street late at night in that place and the only other person there is a black person, it would be normal to be more guarded. Correct?

Click to expand...

I'd say that's more because these particular black people would be more likely to mug you, not just because they're black. If a person went from there to a place with middle-class and generally law-abiding black people they'd probably feel fine with it (or as fine as one might feel with being alone on a dark street late at night with one other person, which is generally not the most reassuring situation to be in anyway), unless they were so inclined as to feel differently towards them just because they have a different skin colour.

I'm definitely not racist in an "I will hate this person because they are of a different race" way, and I'm pretty sure I'm not in an "I will interact with this person differently because they are not white" way but I can't really tell because I've not really known or interacted with many not-white people. A black guy lives in the room next to mine and I'm pretty sure I've acted towards him the same way I would to a white person in all of the half dozen times we've bumped into each other this semester, though. :v

I'm pretty sure I saw an article on this some time ago.

Well, I'm going to look for the article now, but here's something interesting.