Is being a racist really a big deal?

[Deleted]

[white people, ed] acknowledging the bad things they've done.

Psst! All those black slaves that were shipped by white people to the Americas, were actually captured and sold by other blacks.

You see, Africans don't consider themselves "black". They feel themselves Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Ijaw, Ibibio, Kanuri, Annang, Etsako, Tiv, or Efik - those are just the main ethnic groups from Nigeria.

And people from one of those groups had no scrupules about enslaving people from any of the others.

[Booshman]

Yeah, I always like that. Seems many have forgotten that African slaves were not simply swept away, they were often sold by tribal leaders (ie other Africans).

Or they simply know that African Slavery (by and large) was nothing more than indentured servitude. And that their actions have nothing to do with what white people (who went there looking for them) did to slaves once they had them.

[ukxenon]

i love how people associate racism to just one thing AKA black people when in fact it covers a multitude of things

black people call us white and white people call blacks all sorts but yet you look a white person...first we are born and we are blue then white then spend time money to go brown and then we die and go blue and black, when you look at it this way a white man has no right to call anyone out on colour alone.

racism has no place but it will always be there while the human race AKA the biggest virus that exists is alive

[Booshman]

Psst! All those black slaves that were shipped by white people to the Americas, were actually captured and sold by other blacks.

You see, Africans don't consider themselves "black". They feel themselves Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Ijaw, Ibibio, Kanuri, Annang, Etsako, Tiv, or Efik - those are just the main ethnic groups from Nigeria.

And people from one of those groups had no scrupules about enslaving people from any of the others.

Actually, that's completely false. They refer to themselves by their ethnic affiliation first, then race immediately second. Having lived in Lagos, Lekki, and Abuja for a few years, I can tell you that you're another white poster who talks out of their rear, while confusing personal theories as "fact".

[Pengalor]

Or they simply know that African Slavery (by and large) was nothing more than indentured servitude. And that their actions have nothing to do with what white people (who went there looking for them) did to slaves once they had them.

Yeah, they sold these people who they technically had no ownership of over to people of another race to be sailed thousands of miles away, they're definitely ok people.

[Booshman]

Yeah, they sold these people who they technically had no ownership of over to people of another race to be sailed thousands of miles away, they're definitely ok people.

That wasn't even a response to what I said. Try again. This time don't knee-jerk and confuse a Red-Herring for a legitimate rebuttal. And despite your attempt at snark, you didn't refute anything I said. You just whipped out the incredulity based logical fallacy and thought that you were on to something.

[Deleted]

well racists have just as much right to express their opinions as everyone else, the problem with racism is that it is about something that a person cant do anything about which is their skin color or a person being inferior bcoz of their skin color which is utterly stupid coz we cant choose the parents that births us nor can we choose the skin color that we have and if you're going to dislike a person, the least you can do is making it about the person's personality like normal ppl and not something as stupid as a person's skin color.

the problem i have is with the ppl(which tends to be primarily black ppl) that claim they cant be racists or the black ppl that are against interracial couple coz if the white ppl say that the white person in an interracial relationship are racists then the same must be true for the black ppl that think the black person should stick with his own "kind", its that kind of hypocracy that annoys the hell out of me.

[Pengalor]

That wasn't even a response to what I said. Try again. This time don't knee-jerk and confuse a Red-Herring for a legitimate rebuttal.

Actually, it was a response to you but in your pseudo-intellectual defense mechanism you dismissed it because you didn't have an actual response. See? Two can play at that game ^.^

[arcticsnow]

There's a difference between being wary of some black kid dressed like a gangster with a rag hanging out of his pocket and seeing a black guy dressed in a nice suit and thinking he must have bought it with drug money. The first is simply working from what you know statistically and from the appearance they present, everyone does that, the second is coming up with a completely unrelated conclusion to the information provided you and is more along the lines of racism.

I tend not to look at at someone's race but more of how they dress. Still that isn't always an indication of the person underneath said dress. When you work retail, you discover the cute old grannies with walkers who are thieves and are shop lifting. So in the end, the story we are told as children is true. Don't trust strangers! It has more to do with where people are brought up then how they dress and what they look like, but we don't know where they lived as a kid, or anything about them so there is no way to tell about someone.

I honestly think racism is part instinct. In the past people would rarely leave the county they grew up in, their whole lives. Only a few people would leave go other places, but usually for the most part you grew up in the same general area you were born. Guess what, everyone would look like you. Everyone would have the same culture and same background. If someone looked different or had a different culture it may not be good thing. The farther you go back in history, the worse it would be. There was no outside government stopping people for ransacking your city. Strangers could very be your death. Does racism belong in our current culture? No, but there may be a reason as to why it is there and so hard to get rid of.

[Deleted]

Considering the criteria of being racist these days, I'd say no.

[Booshman]

Actually, it was a response to you but in your pseudo-intellectual defense mechanism you dismissed it because you didn't have an actual response. See? Two can play at that game ^.^

Translation: I know you are but what am I?

In the most basic sense, you're right. It was "a response". Just one that didn't respond to the context of my post. Unless you can point where I said that they were "ok" people? It seems like you projected your use of your own defense mechanism on to me. Clever.

[Carnaby]

Here's the thing, I admit i'm a bit racist. But only in large groups. I don't think I've ever met a black guy by himself that wasn't as nice to me as I was to him. It's something altogether different when I have had the unfortunate experience of coming up on them in large groups. I think it is mainly to do with the way groups of people operate in general, because you always have the one or two bad seeds in a group that change the dynamic of the group as a whole.

But If that makes me racist to the point of me being called an idiot simply because I've experienced it enough times to have that ingrained in me, then so be it.

[ukxenon]

no one is hitting the point of the human base instinct it to distrust anything what is not normal to you or you're tribe an no matter how evolved we think we are we are still tribal by nature and we are all products of the environment we are raised in.

in the deep south blacks have a hate for whites and for good reason
in the broncs whites hate black and for good reason

again we are tribal and products of the environment we are raised in.

[Dezerte]

Look at the title. There is nothing to discuss. All it is is the OP trying to justify being an idiot and an asshole. Everyone is HUMAN. That is what race we are. Anyone who puts THE HUMAN RACE into any other group then THE HUMAN RACE just shows that they aren't very bright.

It's human to stereotype.

The important thing is not to act on your stereotypes.

[Pengalor]

I tend not to look at at someone's race but more of how they dress. Still that isn't always an indication of the person underneath said dress. When you work retail, you discover the cute old grannies with walkers who are thieves and are shop lifting. So in the end, the story we are told as children is true. Don't trust strangers! It has more to do with where people are brought up then how they dress and what they look like, but we don't know where they lived as a kid, or anything about them so there is no way to tell about someone.

I honestly think racism is part instinct. In the past people would rarely leave the county they grew up in, their whole lives. Only a few people would leave go other places, but usually for the most part you grew up in the same general area you were born. Guess what, everyone would look like you. Everyone would have the same culture and same background. If someone looked different or had a different culture it may not be good thing. The farther you go back in history, the worse it would be. There was no outside government stopping people for ransacking your city. Strangers could very be your death. Does racism belong in our current culture? No, but there may be a reason as to why it is there and so hard to get rid of.

No, I understand that's not the only criteria but let's be honest: for most people in white majority countries, they see a young black male dressed in gang-related clothing they immediate think gangbanger, a white male of the same age in the same clothing is generally seen as a joke. It's partly a matter of race because, at least for me, I know statistically there is a high probability they will be a criminal. Is that statistic true because of their race? Well, probably not, highly doubtful, but not being wary anyway would be illogical and when it comes down to it, you fear for yourself or your belongings and fear does not take into account whether a potential mugger's vibe is caused by race or environment. That's why I don't feel it's actually 'racist' as such. You're not looking at every black person and assuming they are a criminal, simply when someone presents themselves that way (and they look the stereotypical part) then you're mind is not taking chances. To me racism is an active process, someone specifically feels malice for a particular race. Society has turned this in to being fearful for oneself based on potential stereotypes (that are often reinforced) is somehow intentional malice.

[Belisarius565]

And that makes you brighter how?
Not recognising the staggering differences between us is just as dogmatic as thinking they make one superior than the other.

The staggering differences are from people's personalities, but everyone is human, we are all the same race. We all sleep, eat, have the same features being male or female. The problem is superiority complexes of any-type. Just because people have different skin color, or facial structure does not mean they are any less or more human then you are. Anywhere in the world people would have the same desires/fears/hopes/days etc etc. The differences of ethnicity is very cool no doubt, but does not make people greater or less because or in-spite of it.

[Pengalor]

Translation: I know you are but what am I?

In the most basic sense, you're right. It was "a response". Just one that didn't respond to the context of my post. Unless you can point where I said that they were "ok" people? It seems like you projected your use of your own defense mechanism on to me. Clever.

Lol you're adorable. The 'ok people' bit was in response to you saying 'they weren't responsible for the white peoples' actions'. Your post was termed in a way that looked to defend the actions of the Africans selling their own people, I'm simply pointing out that doing so is pointless, regardless of whether they were or were not directly responsible for the fates of their 'products'.

[Nereuslol]

to Acknowledge means to see knowledge, or facts. Where are you getting your Facts that Race makes someone prone to violence, drugs, or mayhem. all races have thieves, murderers, all races have people addicted to drugs, because all races are comprised of people, and some people choose to use drugs or to use violence to resolve a problem. Race is not a factor.

This shouldn't have taken you long to find out if you tried. It is a fact that some races have more crime than others.
Not to say that this isn't because of racism, but don't call factism for racism.

Let's say a person is hiring for a job, he needn't be a racist, but he might be unfamiliar with / scared of a given race for whatever reason he might have, this causes any x-race to not get this job. The applicant might be without a job all together, this causes economic-problems and this is what leads to crime. Economy.
So the fact that 4,8% (per 100 000) of black males, 1,9% of Hispanics and 0,7% Caucasians are in prison isn't because of the color of their skin but because of their background/history. Takes time to integrate all races, as people are always afraid of something. Being afraid of something/someone isn't necessarily racism.
It's human nature to be cautious, except kids...their nature is to trust anyone until a certain age.

[Ebildays]

When I was in college I worked at the university cafeteria. One day we had some inner city schools show up for a special meal. The whole thing was paid for by the university. These schools were almost exclusively black. Anyway at the end of the day about 60 percent of our silver was missing. We usually lost a small amount of silver ware every day but nothing like this. We even had waffle maker disappear.

While I believe most stereotypes are bad, sometimes the people being stereotyped seem to go out of their way to reinforce said stereotype.

Are you trying to say they stole real silverware or the cheap looking stainless steel stuff that most university cafeterias use?

I could maybe see real sterling silver being stolen but not the cheap silverware you are most likely talking about. And It could have been a work at the cafeteria that stole the silver knowing that it would be blamed on the inner city school kids. I am not saying it is not possible for the inner city school kids to have taken the silver but I am byproduct myself of inner city schools and for the most part when they go places like to universities they are going to take their best students not the crazy steal everything ones. And most inner city school kids are not interested in things like silver or waffle makers because those things don't sell well if they were trying to sell them on the streets because there is no value in a incomplete set of cheap silver.

One of the oldest ways to steal from stores is to have a black friend go in first. Have them look around, may touch a few things and generally walk around the store. Next have the white friend go in and load their cart up and just walk out the store. Most people will not notice because they are too busy watching the black friend to realize what is really going on.

[Booshman]

No, I understand that's not the only criteria but let's be honest: for most people, they see a young black male dressed in gang-related clothing they immediate think gangbanger, a white male of the same age in the same clothing is generally seen as a joke. It's partly a matter of race because, at least for me, I know statistically there is a high probability they will be a criminal. Is that statistic true because of their race? Well, probably not, highly doubtful, but not being wary anyway would be illogical and when it comes down to it, you fear for yourself or your belongings and fear does not take into account whether a potential mugger's vibe is caused by race or environment. That's why I don't feel it's actually 'racist' as such. You're not looking at every black person and assuming they are a criminal, simply when someone presents themselves that way (and they look the stereotypical part) then you're mind is not taking chances. To me racism is an active process, someone specifically feels malice for a particular race. Society has turned this in to being fearful for oneself based on potential stereotypes (that are often reinforced) is somehow intentional malice.

This is long winded post just you trying to rationalize your inability to understand what an "Ecological Fallacy" is. Well that and just how simplistic your word view is, given the depths that you'll go to engage in confirmation bias.