Is being a racist really a big deal?

[Themius]

At some point, you need to take the power away from the word. No one alive today had to endure slavery and know what it actually felt like to be treated that way. There isn't such a thing as a racial hive mind where every black person ever gets to experience slavery, and everyone else gets white guilt. There's no reason anymore to put the word "nigger" above anything else when it comes to offending people, because the word itself doesn't carry the same weight it used to.

It's not "just" slavery though... You'd have to ignore most of the 1900s to say the whole racism black and white issue only matters when you talk about slavery.

[Sykol]

It's not "just" slavery though...

Maybe not, but without that slavery part it's just another ignorant word used by racists to try and offend somebody.

[Themius]

Maybe not, but without that slavery part it's just another ignorant word used by racists to try and offend somebody.

Without slavery you still have the kkk, the lynchings, the killings and brutalizing, the years of jim crow laws.

[Sykol]

Without slavery you still have the kkk, the lynchings, the killings and brutalizing, the years of jim crow laws.

Well, yeah, but we held Japanese in internment camps and treated Natives like shit all throughout the 20th century, and I'm sure we've done a lot of not-so-nice things to other races, not to mention gays, but the offensive terms used for those people don't hold as much weight. It's solely due to slavery - a horrible thing, but a thing that we thankfully didn't have to live through - that this word is so scary.

[Themius]

Well, yeah, but we held Japanese in internment camps and treated Natives like shit all throughout the 20th century, and I'm sure we've done a lot of not-so-nice things to other races, not to mention gays, but the offensive terms used for those people don't hold as much weight. It's solely due to slavery - a horrible thing, but a thing that we thankfully didn't have to live through - that this word is so scary.

Japanese internment camps don't exactly compare with what I just said....

[skrump]

It's only a big deal because peoples hateful thoughts often lead to hateful actions.

If you are offended by words it's time to put your big boy britches on and grow up, the only reasonable expectation you should have to be protected from verbal harassment is at work and should otherwise refrain from acting like a whiny little bitch.

[Themius]

It's only a big deal because peoples hateful thoughts often lead to hateful actions.

If you are offended by words it's time to put your big boy britches on and grow up, the only reasonable expectation you should have to be protected from verbal harassment is at work and should otherwise refrain from acting like a whiny little bitch.

Right so if I for instance don't like being called a faggot in the middle of the street and am offended by it, I am just a whiny little bitch?

[Sykol]

Japanese internment camps don't exactly compare with what I just said....

It was one example. My point is: everyone's gone through shit. I don't think black people have a copyright on suffering, nor should an attempt to offend them be taken any more or less seriously than an attempt to offend any other race. A word is a word is a word.

---------- Post added 2013-04-20 at 10:42 PM ----------

Right so if I for instance don't like being called a faggot in the middle of the street and am offended by it, I am just a whiny little bitch?

Only if you think it's more offensive than someone else being called something based on their race, religion, or sexual preference.

[Waynhim]

I've never thought about race in regard to people adopted and raised by parents from my own culture. So to me my initial sceptisism towards people with other cultural background then my own is purely based on my past experiences with others from the same background.

Usually small stuff like if I can expect people to be there in time, do what they are supposed to etc. (Northern European culture is very "Ordnung muss sein").

[c2dholla619]

i hate all men that mess with my female friends/family am i racist, hell yea lolz

[Otimus]

Just look up violent crimes in USA, figure the amount of black population vs white then you can clearly see blacks are 5x more likely to commit a violent crime. Not really that hard... And why are you telling me there is thieves, murderers, drug addicts of all races when that is not what even talking about. Of course I know that, I'm not stupid nor have I exuded anything near that. Please be reasonable or leave the thread.

This is a damned stupid thing to say, because if you take the amount of criminals per race, the amount of criminals of ANY RACE is a VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THAT RACE'S POPULATION. So... it's a higher probability that a black person may be a criminal than a white person? Doesn't change the fact that probably only 2% of blacks are criminals or whatever. Hardly a reason to have some weirdo superstitious and backwards opinion when you see blacks out and about.

[Moadar]

These are good topics. The worst thing people with racist feelings can do is keep them bottled in and live with them. They need these conversations to bring those thoughts out and start the healing process.

[Defengar]

Japanese internment camps don't exactly compare with what I just said....

How about native Americans? They were nearly exterminated by Europeans, and when Americans headed west we stole every damn inch of land they had, killed all who resisted, and segregated the rest to god forsaken patches of dessert nearly immpossible to eak out an existence in. Not to mention destroying the buffallo herds, grasslands, and their languages and cultures. By comparison what happened to black people is TAME, yet you don't see Indian leaders bitching nearly as much about the white man as people like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do. Know why? Because they accepted the help the government offered when it apologised, and then put that help to good use (casino's). Now native american communities are on the upswing and overcoming many of their past problems by themselves, and they don't go on every news network to bitch every time some hillbilly says "red man".

Meanwhile Jesse Jackson and the rest of the racist black community leaders have the fucking gall to demand more reperations, more affirmative action, more lenient crime sentences, more financial aid, more more more more. They need to grow a set of fucking balls and actually work to phelp the black community better itself rather than asking for white people to fix it for them by throwing more money at the issue. MLK would be ashamed to see what his deciples have allowed the civil rights movement to devolve into.

[Slybak]

By comparison what happened to black people is TAME, yet you don't see Indian leaders bitching nearly as much about the white man as people like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do. Know why?

Because they're dead, and no one bothers to listen to the ones that are still alive. Least of all loud-mouth neanderthals who think a casino makes up for four centuries of genocide.

MLK would be ashamed to see what his deciples have allowed the civil rights movement to devolve into.

You mean the Martin Luther King who organized boycotts against businesses that did not hire black workers in proportion to their percentage of the local population (otherwise known as... *cue evil music* affirmative action)?

The Martin Luther King who wrote, in Why We Can't Wait:
"The ancient common law has always provided a remedy for the appropriation of a the labor of one human being by another. This law should be made to apply for American Negroes. The payment should be in the form of a massive program by the government of special, compensatory measures which could be regarded as a settlement in accordance with the accepted practice of common law."

That Martin Luther King?

Or the Martin Luther King that white conservatives had to invent (after they killed him) in order to make themselves feel better when they looked in the mirror? Because that Martin Luther King never existed.

[Orly]

Its not necessarily the same, but I hate them too.

Yes it is the same. You hate a certain kind of people based on their race alone? That's racism. It doesn't matter what race is on the receiving end, or what historical background it has. It's racism. Period.

---------- Post added 2013-04-21 at 11:55 AM ----------

Because in the history of white people, we haven't been brutalized/deprived of rights/addressed as property/savagely murdered by people calling us 'cracker'.

It's not a double standard; cracker doesn't carry with it the weight the other word does.

Who cares what weight it carries? Are there more levels of racism, based on the weight carried by the act? Racism is hating on a certain kind of people based on race alone. Hating white people because they are white is racism. Period.

[Austilias]

Don't really consider it to be a big deal, no.

[Hyve]

Racism is a grey area because it really depends how far you take it, and if you believe it is a natural force or not.

As animals, we have to make judgements based off what we know, what we can assess and our past experiences. If you've been previously mugged by a Black guy, you're going to be a little hesitant of a Black guy that might remind you of that event. The same goes for anyone of any skin colour, not just Black.

I don't agree with racism, I don't think we should go back to a time when Black people were dragged into the street and hung from a lamp-post while kids threw rocks at them. Even the thought of such crimes makes me shudder, but I don't think we need to start imposing extreme laws to remove racism, because it'll only cause more problems.

There are currently forms of legislation going through the EU at the moment that are going to impose new requirements on companies, that they must hire a certain degree of Women & Black people. Now, this sort of action is actually working against those seeking equality, simply because I would be unable to hire someone, because they're a Man, or White (or both).

We do live in a world where dominantly, White Men are in the top positions, but we have to ask ourselves why? Is this because of racism, or is this because of their own personal drive? I've personally never met any company who would refuse to hire a Women or a Black person because of who they are. I'm not denying it does happen, but I've yet to see it.

The problem that I have seen though, is that both Women & Black people are different in mentality. Women are much more susceptible (again, only in my personal experience) to their emotions, and when you've been working three nights without sleep trying to broker a deal with a company, or resolve some internal issues, someone who gets emotion, upset and angry is not helpful.

I've been there before, where when discussing payments to our Board, the female member got angry, stormed off and sent us abusive emails for the next month.

The same has happened with Black people i've met. Many of them appear to have a chip in their shoulder. Every time I've asked them to do something, they always make it out that I am asking them to do it, because they're Black, while if I assign the task to a White person, it is because I don't trust a Black person.

I'm not looking to generalise as much as I have here, and I only talk from experience, but these are two problems we're facing. White Males do the same things, but there are more intelligent (again, personal experince) White Men ready to fill the spots, then there are Black people, or Women.

I've met some amazing business leaders who are women or black (or both), and some of my finest friends are Black & Women, but in my experience, putting them into the world of work, they've got grudges, just like White Men have, but there is just a larger pool of White Men to choose from, to replace them.

Note; I'm typing this a little tired and unwell, I mean no form of racism, abuse or insult. If that is the case, I assure you it is because of a misunderstanding, due to my lack of capability to fully focus.

[Themius]

How about native Americans? They were nearly exterminated by Europeans, and when Americans headed west we stole every damn inch of land they had, killed all who resisted, and segregated the rest to god forsaken patches of dessert nearly immpossible to eak out an existence in. Not to mention destroying the buffallo herds, grasslands, and their languages and cultures. By comparison what happened to black people is TAME, yet you don't see Indian leaders bitching nearly as much about the white man as people like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do. Know why? Because they accepted the help the government offered when it apologised, and then put that help to good use (casino's). Now native american communities are on the upswing and overcoming many of their past problems by themselves, and they don't go on every news network to bitch every time some hillbilly says "red man".

Meanwhile Jesse Jackson and the rest of the racist black community leaders have the fucking gall to demand more reperations, more affirmative action, more lenient crime sentences, more financial aid, more more more more. They need to grow a set of fucking balls and actually work to phelp the black community better itself rather than asking for white people to fix it for them by throwing more money at the issue. MLK would be ashamed to see what his deciples have allowed the civil rights movement to devolve into.

Wait what happened to blacks was tame? Black people weren't taken from a country had their culture destroyed and their language destroyed, that never happened? How is that "tame" the native americans durring this whole slavery time were the ones who would capture blacks who got away. Tame my ass... jeez you sound so so off. Also Natives do complain... the thing is their population is really low. What past probelms? Red man is no where near as offensive as nigger...

---------- Post added 2013-04-21 at 10:29 AM ----------

Racism is a grey area because it really depends how far you take it, and if you believe it is a natural force or not.

As animals, we have to make judgements based off what we know, what we can assess and our past experiences. If you've been previously mugged by a Black guy, you're going to be a little hesitant of a Black guy that might remind you of that event. The same goes for anyone of any skin colour, not just Black.

I don't agree with racism, I don't think we should go back to a time when Black people were dragged into the street and hung from a lamp-post while kids threw rocks at them. Even the thought of such crimes makes me shudder, but I don't think we need to start imposing extreme laws to remove racism, because it'll only cause more problems.

There are currently forms of legislation going through the EU at the moment that are going to impose new requirements on companies, that they must hire a certain degree of Women & Black people. Now, this sort of action is actually working against those seeking equality, simply because I would be unable to hire someone, because they're a Man, or White (or both).

We do live in a world where dominantly, White Men are in the top positions, but we have to ask ourselves why? Is this because of racism, or is this because of their own personal drive? I've personally never met any company who would refuse to hire a Women or a Black person because of who they are. I'm not denying it does happen, but I've yet to see it.

The problem that I have seen though, is that both Women & Black people are different in mentality. Women are much more susceptible (again, only in my personal experience) to their emotions, and when you've been working three nights without sleep trying to broker a deal with a company, or resolve some internal issues, someone who gets emotion, upset and angry is not helpful.

I've been there before, where when discussing payments to our Board, the female member got angry, stormed off and sent us abusive emails for the next month.

The same has happened with Black people i've met. Many of them appear to have a chip in their shoulder. Every time I've asked them to do something, they always make it out that I am asking them to do it, because they're Black, while if I assign the task to a White person, it is because I don't trust a Black person.

I'm not looking to generalise as much as I have here, and I only talk from experience, but these are two problems we're facing. White Males do the same things, but there are more intelligent (again, personal experince) White Men ready to fill the spots, then there are Black people, or Women.

I've met some amazing business leaders who are women or black (or both), and some of my finest friends are Black & Women, but in my experience, putting them into the world of work, they've got grudges, just like White Men have, but there is just a larger pool of White Men to choose from, to replace them.

Note; I'm typing this a little tired and unwell, I mean no form of racism, abuse or insult. If that is the case, I assure you it is because of a misunderstanding, due to my lack of capability to fully focus.

There are more intelligent white men than black people and women, you said like twice you're not trying to generalize, then you do.

[Åmbulance]

Depends i guess. I'm not racist againsy any specific race. But as with any race, you have the idiots, that do fit the stereotypes. There's white people, then white trash. Black people, and inner city scum. Sorry white trash or inner city scum, if you are sagging your pants, talking like a moron, and acting as such. People, not just me will have a negative opinion.

To me, the word ( black people hate so much ), can be used for any race. You act trashy enough, you fall into that category.

[Themius]

Depends i guess. I'm not racist againsy any specific race. But as with any race, you have the idiots, that do fit the stereotypes. There's white people, then white trash. Black people, and inner city scum. Sorry white trash or inner city scum, if you are sagging your pants, talking like a moron, and acting as such. People, not just me will have a negative opinion.

To me, the word ( black people hate so much ), can be used for any race. You act trashy enough, you fall into that category.

It can be used for anyone, but the word really just refers to blacks. The very definition and where the word comes from. I remember playing games and the whites would call the other white people niggers, why? I have no idea, and it just looks like they're just racist and think very ill of black people that calling another a nigger is an insult, similar to calling people gay who clearly aren't.