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 Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:40 pm
Undoubtably you have all encountered hundreds of racists along your time here on gaia and a few of you may even be racist. I feel racism is not only wrong but ignorant and shortsighted. BUT thats not the subject of this thread.
Have you ever just sat down and thought about the roots of such idiocy? I mean every idea has it's beginning a reason someone thought of it and the cause that the thought was more then a passing thought. Now I know racism kinda comes naturally but I was thinking more specifically like the KKK or Neonazism.
By the way if you were wondering why this wasn't a passing thought for me it was because I found a thread in which a gilr told her best freind outright that if she were black or jewish she would forsake thier 8 year freindship and kill her burning her at the stake or something of the like.
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Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 6:38 pm
That's awful what that girl said to her friend. I can't believe with the laws and education that are active nowadays, racism is still present. It's gone down since the last century but there's always some or a few people to ruin it.
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 4:33 pm
Yeah. It's a battle we may have to fight for the rest of our lives. And actually it seems very likly because I've seen new forms of racism forming even recently. Case in point: "Chavs"
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 11:16 pm
I think this all boils down to human nature. We like to hate on people who are different, especially if that means exploiting that difference in order to create a stratified ladder of domiance and command in their own favor, stealing the worthiest mates, the most resources, and the most free time for themselves.
Racism is just a way that people are able to blanket that hatred and exact power over masses of people simply because they look different. Sexism works in similar ways.
The problem is that once it is begun by the people who benefit from it, it spirals out of control and infects people who should consider themselves the "bottom" of this human-created food chain simply because all humans have become so obsessed with making sure that they are not the absolute WORST person that they don't pay attention to the people oppressing from the top of the food chain.
It's like everyone at the anime con knowing that even if their costume is bad, even if they have extra fat rolls, and even if they have a few too many pimples, at least they're "not as bad" as the sailor moon cosplay by the 40 year old fat hairy guy.
I doubt that racism can ever be destroyed completely, but I think that the most important thing is to be conscious of it, to call others on it, and to band together to keep it from having so much power over us.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 12:34 pm
I think there is a need to distinguish between racism which is simply the sort of thing found in some jokes of racist nature, and racial discrimination.
The thing with the former is that, whether or not we like it, it is present to some degree in all people. It isn't really a good thing, but the most it will do is offend a few people. Stereotypes, as long as they were never applied to real life situations, never killed anyone, and everyone, despite their efforts, usually has them to some degree.
Racial discrimination, however, is fully preventable like any other kind of discrimination. And it should be prevented.
I do agree, however, with Oni's point about people seeking a way to "not be the worst". This is basically a form a bullying, and is stupid, pointless, and is really just a sort of conformity. People don't have an open mind about other possibilities for form and beauty, even if it's not their standard.
This should also be prevented. Generally, I believe that racism that involves a narrow-minded or discriminatory viewpoint should be stopped.
I contrast, I have a friend who freely labels himself as racist...against everyone. Literally. He doesn't try to make himself out to be better than anyone else because he's racist against himself, too. And that's the thing; equal racism against everyone is far better than discrimination against a few.
So, racism in and of itself is not bad; just discrimination and means of deciding one's own superiority.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 3:34 pm
This isn't always about bullying. Often, racist people truly believe that they are doing God's will, or following the natural way of the world. It's as if they've been brainwashed. In fact, they HAVE been brainwashed, by their parents. The main reason racism lives on is because parents pass their beliefs on to children at a young age, and the child accepts this as fact. These beliefs can be difficult to let go of in adulthood, even with intensive therapy, and all too often the adult passes on his parent's beliefs to his children, and the cycle continues.
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:29 pm
Indeed, sometimes it is. There was one girl in my class who was black, and lived in a neighborhood with black people who told us that one time, some nutcase just came up to the door to inform her that she was the sin because she was black. (It's in correlation to the belief some people have, that the "mark of Cain" in the Bible was blackness). It was horribly stupid, and we all thoroughly laughed at the story.
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 8:11 pm
Maybe it's because I'm a "minority", but I never stood for racism. Except for the joking kind of "Oh, it's because you're ASIAN" type jokes which are between other Asian people. It's a group thing.
Anyhoo, besides those, I can't stand people avoiding others because of who they are. They were born that way; that doesn't affect who they are and how they react (usually - I'm assuming they're American, because different countries have different ways of reacting to different things). I've been taught to love thy neighbor, regardless of skin color (actually, I'm not Christian, but you know what I mean). I don't even think about it when talking to someone. For example, I didn't even KNOW one of my classmates was Mexican. I was just like "Oh, she's [insert name of student here]" throughout the year and I would never have thought "Oh, she's [insert nationality here]" because I don't judge people that way.
Don't get me started on interracial relationships/marriages and how some people are against it.
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Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:20 am
momo.PEACHiE Anyhoo, besides those, I can't stand people avoiding others because of who they are. They were born that way; that doesn't affect who they are and how they react (usually - I'm assuming they're American, because different countries have different ways of reacting to different things). I've been taught to love thy neighbor, regardless of skin color (actually, I'm not Christian, but you know what I mean). I don't even think about it when talking to someone. For example, I didn't even KNOW one of my classmates was Mexican. I was just like "Oh, she's [insert name of student here]" throughout the year and I would never have thought "Oh, she's [insert nationality here]" because I don't judge people that way. I agree. It's one thing to make a few well-intended jokes about race, among friends whom one knows won't mind it, but it's another thing to just avoid people because of ethnicity. One guy at my school once made a comment to me like, "I'm not friends with Asian people." He then realized that, hey, the person he just said that to is half Asian, and quickly tried to improve the situation by saying, "Except you, I mean." Of course, that really didn't help anything, because he then went on to try to justify it, pretty much by saying that he didn't like Asian people because of their accent. Aside from how stupid this is, it's horribly hypocritical, because he has one of the thickest accents around. That was when I started to completely ignore him again, and he actually tried talking to Asian people and being less of a ******** a*****e. He's thoroughly an occasional a*****e, though. But that's okay, because I'm very good at ignoring people, and it seems to make him depressed enough to try to listen to what I've told him. Quote: Don't get me started on interracial relationships/marriages and how some people are against it. Indeed. I've yet to hear a good argument against them, much as the situation is for gay marriages.
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:27 am
To be completely honest, I know that I am racist.
It's something I fight to avoid, but I'd be lying if I said otherwise.
For me, it's related to personal experience. I grew up in a fairly white-bread, suburban neighborhood, but at one point my parents sent me to a nearby 'magnet' school, where half the kids were black.
Worst ******** year of my life.
I was yelled at, I was mocked, I was assaulted. I had no friends in my own grade, outside of a tacit friendship with a girl who spoke no English.
To this day, if I see people who look like those people, I feel afraid.
I don't want to be this way. I try not to act like I am. Do my mannerisms and expressions betray me? My actions? But I can't erase the memories, either.
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