Tailsy
if the nineth lion ate the sun.
- Pronoun
- she
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Everyone's racist
- Thread starter Skylark
- Start date
Congratulations, Captain Obvious!
Crazy Linoone
broke ASB
Can't seem to find it right now, although this books seems promising.
Everyone who thinks they're not racist, watch out!
I think racism is not the action or even conscious, but the subconscious thought. It's when you look at other people and think "oh look, a black/white/whatever person" for a split second instead of not thinking anything was strange or interesting about them at all.
Everyone who thinks they're not racist, watch out!
I think racism is not the action or even conscious, but the subconscious thought. It's when you look at other people and think "oh look, a black/white/whatever person" for a split second instead of not thinking anything was strange or interesting about them at all.
NegativeVibe
has anyone seen my sanity
- Pronoun
- he/him
Right.
However, there is a difference between racism and racial stereotyping.
We all racially stereotype to a certain degree. We are suspicious of certain people. We have beliefs - generally instilled by our society and culture, as well as our own experiences - that influence our views of others. We expect Asians to be supergeniuses, African Americans to be gang members, and Mexicans to be drug dealers! And it's terrible! Now that may be a bit of an extreme example, but we are subconsciously affected nonetheless. We may tense up when we see someone who looks like a gang member, and quickly cross to the other side of the street - for safety's sake.
But that isn't racism. It's racial profiling. Racism in the sense of considering yourself better in some way over another ethnicity or culture is different. We may be predisposed to racially profile or stereotype. But thinking we are better than someone else solely due to their race is more of a conscious decision - instilled by ourselves rather than society's stereotypes or events that have happened to us that influence our thought processes subconsciously.
Both are bad. Not everyone is racist, but everyone does stereotype. Overall - while stereotyping someone is inherently bad, we all are guilty of it. And it doesn't mean we're racist unless we consider ourselves to be "above" someone.
As long as you care for and appreciate someone, it doesn't matter if at first you were afraid of them because they were black and looked like a gang member. What matters is that you didn't consider yourself better than them because you weren't suspicious, and that you tried to overcome the obstacle of stereotyping - realizing that they are human beings just like yourself.
Hope that made sense. :/
On an unrelated note, people always seem to think I'm Mexican, because my friends speak Spanish, our location (S. US) and I have somewhat dark skin. I can also speak so-so Spanish myself.
But I'm Asian
You don't know how many times someone has asked me, as a Mexican joke, if I've just crossed the border or something.
News flash: I'm not MEXICAN!! Aargh!
It's hilarious. :)
However, there is a difference between racism and racial stereotyping.
We all racially stereotype to a certain degree. We are suspicious of certain people. We have beliefs - generally instilled by our society and culture, as well as our own experiences - that influence our views of others. We expect Asians to be supergeniuses, African Americans to be gang members, and Mexicans to be drug dealers! And it's terrible! Now that may be a bit of an extreme example, but we are subconsciously affected nonetheless. We may tense up when we see someone who looks like a gang member, and quickly cross to the other side of the street - for safety's sake.
But that isn't racism. It's racial profiling. Racism in the sense of considering yourself better in some way over another ethnicity or culture is different. We may be predisposed to racially profile or stereotype. But thinking we are better than someone else solely due to their race is more of a conscious decision - instilled by ourselves rather than society's stereotypes or events that have happened to us that influence our thought processes subconsciously.
Both are bad. Not everyone is racist, but everyone does stereotype. Overall - while stereotyping someone is inherently bad, we all are guilty of it. And it doesn't mean we're racist unless we consider ourselves to be "above" someone.
As long as you care for and appreciate someone, it doesn't matter if at first you were afraid of them because they were black and looked like a gang member. What matters is that you didn't consider yourself better than them because you weren't suspicious, and that you tried to overcome the obstacle of stereotyping - realizing that they are human beings just like yourself.
Hope that made sense. :/
On an unrelated note, people always seem to think I'm Mexican, because my friends speak Spanish, our location (S. US) and I have somewhat dark skin. I can also speak so-so Spanish myself.
But I'm Asian
You don't know how many times someone has asked me, as a Mexican joke, if I've just crossed the border or something.
News flash: I'm not MEXICAN!! Aargh!
It's hilarious. :)
shy ♡
whispers in gay
Sorry, but no. Not everyone racially stereotypes. Personally, I'm not even aware of what the racial stereotypes are, so I certainly can't assume them when meeting someone of a different race.
I find it ridiculous that people think they can make such wide generalizations. 'Everyone' doesn't do anything. There will always be people who don't fit into your definition of everyone.
#1 bro
FEELING GREAT, FEELING GOOD, HOW ARE YOU?
Uh I don't know how old you are or what country you're from, but this seems unlikely to me.
Are you absolutely certain you've never seen a black dude and a TINY part of you thought "oh, that guy might be not especially rich or not quite as smart"? And are you absolutely certain you've never seen an asian dude and a TINY part of you thought "oh, that guy might be really book-smart but maybe a bit of a nerd"? *
If so then you might be a little bit racist! It's obviously not really anything to worry about but you should at least be aware of it.
Perhaps there is an autistic child or a buddhist monk living on a mountain somewhere who is literally not racist at all, in any way, but it is not much of a stretch to say that pretty much everyone you are going to meet possesses some sort of racial prejudice to some degree.
*(these seem to be the dominant racial stereotypes in the US, don't know about the rest of the world)
Teh Ebil Snorlax
izombie, uzombie, weallzombie
I've never thought any one was particularly intelligent based on their race.
I have thought both of those other things but I didn't think either of those things because of the person's race.
I saw a scruffy-looking black guy in dirty, tattered clothes, who looked like he hadn't slept properly in ages a few days ago. I thought he looked not especially rich because he looked like a hobo.
There's an Asian guy in my school, who I thought looked like a bit of a nerd the first time I saw him, but that's because he had inch-thick nerd glasses and was reading a college-level maths book. I thought he looked like a nerd because he looked like a nerd.
I'm not saying I don't make assumptions but I make reasonable assumptions based on available information.
shy ♡
whispers in gay
Dude, wtf. No, I haven't thought any of those. Seriously, wtf. Yeah, I'm at a loss for words. :|
#1 bro
FEELING GREAT, FEELING GOOD, HOW ARE YOU?
eh well maybe I'm just fucked up but I think these things like, literally every day. I'm pretty good at scolding myself for it and I obviously know that it's not a good mental reaction but that is unfortunately oftentimes my immediate inclination.
I'm also kind of under the impression that most of white America thinks this way (are racist but are aware of it enough to try to suppress it), at least that's the impression I see in my day-to-day life. I've heard people tend to kind of self-deprecatingly mock their own prejudices about this sort of thing frequently enough, although perhaps it's just something my friends do. And then of course sometimes you hear someone who should know better inadvertently say something that gives away their own prejudice (are you sure Bobby Liu doesn't play the piano? I feel like he would)
But maybe I'm just a racist piece of garbage. Not really ashamed to admit it though because there's not a whole lot I can do about the conclusions my brain immediately jumps to, and tbh I am doing the best I can. So there you go.
shy ♡
whispers in gay
I'm not disturbed at your apparently racist thoughts so much as your conclusion that everyone must think this way. It's a nice way of comforting yourself, but it's just false.
rather, you think it's false, and i think it's true. there lies an important distinction.
shy ♡
whispers in gay
But how can you possibly know how every person thinks? Every person?
- Pronoun
- he/him
I think you're making too big a deal of the word "everyone". Probably there are exceptions. But I am quite confident when I say that the vast majority of people are in some way racist (I really, really do not mean racist the way it is used normally). That majority is large enough to make the exceptions negligible.
shy ♡
whispers in gay
But what you're doing there is a form of generalizing.
what you're doing there is making the inverse generalization.
Pentimento said:
Zuu said:
shy ♡
whispers in gay
"Most people" works just fine.
I'm... honestly not sure what you're saying here. I assume that by inverse you mean opposite, and by that you mean that I assume no one is racist, which is a ridiculous assumption, so I'm confused.
Also your quoted posts make just as little contextual sense. I'm pretty sure I'm being dense here, sorry, but what.
well, sorry, i've had too much coffee.
what i'm trying to say is that your claim holds about as much water as mine does, so i don't understand why you're criticising me and saying "that's just false" when you have just about as much of an idea as i do about it. i found it silly.
and also you said that i claim to "know" when i clearly said that's just what i think. i by no means know that what i am saying is correct.
what i'm trying to say is that your claim holds about as much water as mine does, so i don't understand why you're criticising me and saying "that's just false" when you have just about as much of an idea as i do about it. i found it silly.
and also you said that i claim to "know" when i clearly said that's just what i think. i by no means know that what i am saying is correct.
shy ♡
whispers in gay
Ah, but that's the problem. Your line of thought is assuming people do think something. Mine is they don't necessarily. Therefor, like for example atheism, my line of thought is the default. So you must have some evidence, a reason, to assume that every person (or most people, at least) think this way.
Also I apologize if you felt I criticized you, I definitely did not mean to do that.
well, my reasoning is as follows:
1) i am racist.
2) there is no exemplary reason for me to be racist outside of being raised in a mostly white environment during early childhood.
3) it seems to be common that many people are raised in a mostly racially homogenous environment during early childhood.
4) i do not seem to be very different from most people.
5) therefore i assume that most people ("everyone") are racist.
and okay, i am sorry for implying that you were doing so.