How Prevalent is Racism/Discrimination Where YOU Live?

[Whyhello]

I've lived in both Atlanta, Georgia and Washington D.C. both of which are pretty racially diverse cities.

The only "racism" I've really noticed just talking to people isn't so much against a race as it is a group of people. Most people I work with, all of which have college educations will complain a lot about beggers who harrased them on the sidewalk or less-educated people who said something stupid. It just turns out that in big cities in the US that the poor, less educated tend to be blacks.

My work is pretty racially diverse as well, but there is a group of white men who crack semi-racist jokes about black people (even though there are several we work with). One day I suggested to them, in a joking (but actually serious) way that it isn't necessarily "Black People" who annoy them as much as it is the poor uneducated people, and pointed out several of our black co-workers who they all agreed were cool.

So now, they use the term "PUPs" which stands for "Poor Uneducated People". I suppose that isn't racism, even though I wouldn't say it's politically correct either. Personally, I share some of the same annoyances. I feel genuine sympathy for people (especially kids) who are in that situation and do my best to help them out...but I really don't feel bad for that high-school drop out who was too cool for school and now blames all his/her problems on the "Man" or "System".


As for having met people who generally dislike an entire race just because they are that race? I'm from the backwoods of Georgia where confederate flags aren't a rarity and it has happened. But trust me when i say they are a minority and just about everyone (except for their friends) dislikes them.

[Deleted]

Where I live, there are only white people, with some rare exceptions. Thus, racism is somewhat only in internet/jokes. There are some arguements between Lithuanians and Polish, but it's not very harsh. And Sexism jokes here are kinda popular - "Get back to the kitchen and make me sandwich" etc.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with our situation and I think that most of us are tolerant towards others. OFC there always are exceptions.

[Nero Duskwind]

I really wish they would take away all rights from "minorities" and instead consider everyone equal under law.

The sword is only as good as the hand that wields it. While laws can be written to be indiscriminate, there will always be people with personal motivations that will apply said laws in such a way that discrimination is inevitable. It's simply human nature.

[haxartus]

There's a problem with people called "gypsies" in the Czech Republic, but they're not really gypsies anymore. They were forbidden to live as nomads around the year 1920 so they settled down, but their culture isn't used to it, and it causes trouble. They barely send their kids to school so most of them are pretty stupid. They often beat up the others kids. BUT the biggest problem is they don't work. At all. They just abuse the social support system and steal. If anybody accuses them, they call out "racism racism omg" but the truth is they really are just a nuisance and their existence is completely pointless.

There's barely any trouble with racism though, people just ignore them. Of course there are some nazi and other groups that beat them up and stuff, but they are rare. The usual folk just complains about them at home and doesn't care about them, but in fact it's really frustrating, and there really is no humane solution to this problem.

I'm talking about 99% of them, of course there are exceptions.

The interesting thing is that their culture is spread in many different countries and they act exactly the same everywhere.
A way to fix this might be to increase their interest in higher education.

[Splenda]

My area is not that racially diverse. I see a lot of dislike for Mexican folk.

[Zarasthura]

I live in Central Florida, and there is a big Hispanic population here in my city. You have your typical racial tension under the surface: hispanics fight with blacks, hispanics fight with other hispanics of different nationalities, whites stick to themselves, blacks stick to themselves, and asians stick to themselves or to whites. The majority here is still white, and since this is the South there's a lot of "Confederate Pride" stuff around here, and minorities don't really like that.

[furtivegain]

Don't worry about looking it up Pax.

I just think it's a little far fetched to call someone a racist or as you said a Nazi because they want to stop immigration. But, you live there, I don't, that's why I was curious if there were other factors. It's not important though.

[Cadai]

I did a quick search of Google and Youtube and couldn't find a full length version, but if anyone else finds this topic interesting, the 1994 documentary "The Color of Fear" was really interesting. I found it remarkable how difficult it can be to have a frank discussion about race, because the perceptions of race and prejudice vary so drastically from person to person. I'd like to think that a lot of the topics they discussed in 1994 have improved, but some of them still resonate loudly today.

Where I live in South Yorkshire (Northern England) there is definitely some racism and prejudice, but its not as bad as some people think. The only large minority group near where I live are the Poles, who are often accused of 'stealing work' from white Britons. Although frankly, unemployment is depressingly high partly because a lot of white people simply can't be arsed to work.

Ironic that the same problems arise no matter where you go, the same accusations are placed against Mexican immigrants here in the U.S.

One thing that has always bothered me is the necessity for "minority leaders." It seems to backwards to have 1 person speak out on behalf of an entire population. Furtivegain is right about Minnesota having a diverse population in the metro area, and the term I hear a lot from the media is "community leader." Usually it's a religious leader or community center director, so it's true they have a lot of contact with the community, but speaking on behalf of it? Give me a break!

Forgive me for referencing South Park, but they can make some salient points on controversial subjects when they want to, and their "N-Word Guy" episode with Jesse Jackson hit it square on the head. Just because Jesse Jackson accepts his apology does not mean all black people do, and I don't think any white person will truly understand what it's like to be called the N-word because there just isn't an equivalent experience for a white American.

[Rorick]

It's not really as bad where I live. But there's plenty of non-racist idiots who still act like racists, throwing insults around for the fun of it.
The only really odd thing to strike me is that African-Americans have an organized group dedicated to the minority's social and economic well-being. Not to say I'm in any way against them bettering themselves, but creating a purely-black group still goes against the attempt to equalize and assimilate themselves into society. Whether it's sports or life, we can't play on segregated teams and hope for the best.

[Hikari]

You say that discrimination would take place if everyone had the same skin color. That's probably true. But, very little to no discrimination takes place when a population is homogenous. Japan, and Scandinavia are shining examples (well, Scandinavia before their influx of immigrants). Japan really only kept ethnic Koreans and Chinese down (but that goes way back, thousands of years). I guess Norway/Sweden laid into the Sami pretty hard, but they were/are slightly Orient.

Getting a bit off-topic here, but Japan is not really a homogeneous society to be honest.
Ainu (indigenous people in northern Japan), for example, was discriminated in both employment and school severely even in 20th century. There are also Okinawans.

Aside from different ethnic groups in Japan, there was, and arguably still is a minority group called Burarumin. Burakumin was a group consisted with people with so called dirty occupations (ex: butchers, leather workers, undertakers etc.), and outcasts, who were ethnically no different from the majority, and they would live together to form ghettos. Even nowadays, many of these areas are still considered ghettos.

Some Japanese people still do background checks to avoid Burakumin descendants in cases like employment and arranged marriages. The records of which family lived/lives in Burakumin area be found in city records.

Google once got into trouble in Japan for putting up old maps that show where Burakumin communities are. Japanese people are still quite sensitive about this issue.

I have to agree with the OP, that discrimination will exist even if everyone had the same skin color; it can be on one's occupation, social class, place of origin or political view. Discrimination, whether on skin color or not, is a way for people to identify and define themselves; there will be no ending to it.

[Cadai]

I think a lot of people (most people, even), genuinely nice and normal people, are guilty of racism without even knowing it. It all depends on how one wants to define racism.

The best example I can think of off the top of my head is a study that was conducted in a massive healthcare corporation. The various buildings were put into two groups: 1 group was given an Human Resources memo that diversity was to be ignored, a.k.a. be color blind. Treat everyone the same, act like there are no races, just people :P ... The other group was given a different memo instructing the employees to celebrate and respect the cultural differences between employees.

My description might give away what the results are: The group instructed to celebrate differences reported a much higher score of happiness, inclusiveness, and perceived support among it's minority participants.

If that outcome doesn't surprise you, think about how often you hear people say things to the effect that they don't see color, everyone is the same to them (Stephen Colbert anyone?). Minorities don't actually want that, yet I feel this is what is repeatedly offered as a solution to racism.

P.S. I know Colbert says it mockingly, but it does reflect how some people approach the subject.

[holyforce]

I am from "the back woods" of new jersey, we don't have like lynchings or anything like that, but things are pretty non-diverse. It is not uncommon to see a large lifted diesel truck going down the road with truck balls and a rebel flag in the back. My high school is almost 90% "white people" or of german/dutch/polish/Italian/English decent. It is very rare to see Asian or African american people around my town. to be totally honest i kinda like it this way >.>; everyones pretty much the same no fighting, no incidents.

I mean its only a matter of time until our town is like every other. I just don't wanna see gangs and such come into my community.

[Elohel]

I live in Mississippi and this is the perfect opportunity for me to make a point to the internet.

Mississippi is not a backwater, redneck, country, racist, violent, and as fat as people make it out to be. Obesity is nearly the same in every state of the US now. As far as racism goes I see very little within the whites, but many blacks absolutely HATE whites. Many are violent towards whites for absolutely no reason at all. As far as I see there is tolerance towards gays as I see no violence towards them. We have lots of problems with people expecting special treatment because of race / sexuality, though. Not too long ago a lesbian student got a prom canceled because they refused to let her wear a tuxedo. We have a lot of ethnic diversity here, I have many Russian friends which led me to learning the language. Just please, stop pretending Mississippi is backwater and 3rd world. It isn't.

[Cadai]

I am from "the back woods" of new jersey, we don't have like lynchings or anything like that, but things are pretty non-diverse. It is not uncommon to see a large lifted diesel truck going down the road with truck balls and a rebel flag in the back. My high school is almost 90% "white people" or of german/dutch/polish/Italian/English decent. It is very rare to see Asian or African american people around my town. to be totally honest i kinda like it this way >.>; everyones pretty much the same no fighting, no incidents.

I mean its only a matter of time until our town is like every other. I just don't wanna see gangs and such come into my community.

I wonder if the few minorities you DO have feel the same way about your town? If there are as few as you claim, they may feel isolated and excluded, and even threatened by the overwhelming white community. Your entire community could be doing nothing wrong, you all are just going about your business, but it's possible someone is there who feels threatened or that they don't belong because of their race. That could be considered racism!

Just trying to play devil's advocate here, if it's a population issue it's not in your control obviously, but sentiments like these probably still exist.

[holyforce]

I wonder if the few minorities you DO have feel the same way about your town? If there are as few as you claim, they may feel isolated and excluded, and even threatened by the overwhelming white community. Your entire community could be doing nothing wrong, you all are just going about your business, but it's possible someone is there who feels threatened or that they don't belong because of their race. That could be considered racism!

Just trying to play devil's advocate here, if it's a population issue it's not in your control obviously, but sentiments like these probably still exist.

stuff like that makes my brain hurt :P

[Deleted]

I think a lot of people (most people, even), genuinely nice and normal people, are guilty of racism without even knowing it. It all depends on how one wants to define racism.

Prejudice is a tool that is vital for our survival and success. Seeing a group of black young males with hoodies on standing in a corner may instantly spark fear in you, and this fear can possibly be good. Irrational prejudices like not being able to cooperate at all with colored people because you think they're the spawn of the devil or something, however is just gonna be a burden for you. Anyway - everyone's a racist to some extent, but that doesn't mean you discriminate like a KKK member.

[Palidan]

There's a problem with people called "gypsies" in the Czech Republic, but they're not really gypsies anymore. They were forbidden to live as nomads around the year 1920 so they settled down, but their culture isn't used to it, and it causes trouble. They barely send their kids to school so most of them are pretty stupid. They often beat up the others kids. BUT the biggest problem is they don't work. At all. They just abuse the social support system and steal. If anybody accuses them, they call out "racism racism omg" but the truth is they really are just a nuisance and their existence is completely pointless.

There's barely any trouble with racism though, people just ignore them. Of course there are some nazi and other groups that beat them up and stuff, but they are rare. The usual folk just complains about them at home and doesn't care about them, but in fact it's really frustrating, and there really is no humane solution to this problem.

I'm talking about 99% of them, of course there are exceptions.

Hah, just replace "Czech Republic" with "Serbia" and my post is done.

[DionLight7]

I live in Central Florida, and there is a big Hispanic population here in my city. You have your typical racial tension under the surface: hispanics fight with blacks, hispanics fight with other hispanics of different nationalities, whites stick to themselves, blacks stick to themselves, and asians stick to themselves or to whites. The majority here is still white, and since this is the South there's a lot of "Confederate Pride" stuff around here, and minorities don't really like that.

I live in Upper Florida ( Jacksonville)

Black on Black violence, some Hispanic vs. Black engagements.

Other than that there are people off all cultures that keep to themselves. Some even mingle with each other, like my neighbors.

[Zao]

The problem with that kind of stuff is that it's mostly subconcious and even if you are perfectly liberal on the outside, chances are there's still that lingering desire to mingle with people of your own peer. And if there's no other distingushing factor that sking colour or religion, you'll probably go by that.

Example: You're riding a bus. On your left there's a white man in a suit and on your right a black man in a suit. where are youmost likely to sit down?

Stuff like that isn't a "bad" thing per ser. it's just a leftover from our old brain. Just like prejudice is a mechanism to quicken up mental processes.
In earlier times you didn't stop to think: Oh, this lion may not like human flesh, I should try to get closer...you just had the prejudice that it's hungry and likes human flesh and gtfo.

Keep in mind that the above applies to the subconcious part, not the Nazi-esque douches that beat someone up just because he's different. It's just to explain that prejudice will probably always be here and with it a certain amount of racism.

That said:
Switzerland isn't too bad. Despite the Minaret "incident" and a few other laws launched by our right wing parties. We're quite open to foreigners, but most of the non-EU ones come from the balkan and arabian area and a few from latin America.
Our country as a whole doesn't care much about religion, but we do care quite a bit about our traditions...which leads to some weird laws...
And I'm still reluctant to tell anyone outside of my closer peers that I'm Bisexual, because I'm unsure how far acceptance really goes.

[rantus]

Excessive affirmative action at the official level has lead to generally higher racism amongst normal people. It's ok if an immigrant rapes someone, I mean, I can't risk being considered a racist and convict him now can I?

I really wish they would take away all rights from "minorities" and instead consider everyone equal under law.

People are equal under law - any extra laws about minorities are to attempt to maintain equality that often does not come about naturally. Whether they work is another matter though.