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Racism
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by
on 2007-11-14 16:19:44 |
I was listening to one of my few non-anime tracks when I realized that I was listening to a song about racism. For those of you who have heard about the musical entitled Avenue Q, you may have heard of the song "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist". Basically the title of the song says it all. I began to think, "Maybe everyone really is a little bit racist." Now I'm nearly convinced that there's no such thing as a non-racist person because everyone has first impressions of seeing a different race other than of their own. So what do you fellow citizens of Gendou think? 
So I drove into a parking lot one time and saw this person pull into a handicap parking spot. When you think handicap, you think wheelchair and whatever, right? So it just ticked me off when I saw the guy come out of the car perfectly fine. So then I ran him over. |
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Re: Racism
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by
on 2007-11-14 20:55:58 |
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Racism is prejudice or discrimination based on an individual's race. We're all partial to our family, and to our hometown, our own school's sports team, and, to a varying degree, our nation and race. This is because one's self interest is shared with the groups we belong to. We cannot deny this self interest, but we can act respectfully and kindly towards all people. To be "non-racist" is to identify and overcome selfish impulses coming from our investment in our "race" or "culture". Since no person is perfect, nobody is able to accomplish this 100% of the time. However, I would say it is safe to say that someone who is extremely keen to their own racist impulses, and chooses to over come them in nearly all cases, can be said to be "non-racist". 
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Re: Racism
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I don't identify with my own race. That's a little bit of racial superiority, in my opinion. I am who I am, no more, no less. I treat people based on how they are as an individual, not because of their race. Besides, in this new world, rascism, in my opinion, is going to fade away, fast. Because of all the benefits we enjoy, such as airplanes, cars, buses, you can choose where you want to live, provided you have enough money. People are no longer restricted to their home countries as much. You are not forced to identify with your own race, and I think that makes a huge difference. If you're born in a multicultural society, it's very hard to be rascist. Rascism is a bred characteristic. You are not born rascist, but learn how to be, from your family, friends, school, etc. Again, I bring up the point of multiculturalism. If you're taught that all races are equal, from an early age, and grow up in a community with varied people and races, I don't see how you can be "rascist." So, in conclusion, I disagree that everyone is rascist. lolendrant  "Bad!" |
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Re: Racism
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by
on 2007-11-15 11:28:01 (edited 2007-11-15 11:31:03)
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Fishban, do you care more about a human being than a chimpanzee? What if you had to choose between the lives of one or the other? What if you had to choose between the lives of someone from another family, or your own? Grow either of these examples to an extreme, and you end up at the borders of the races, which are arbitrary. I am who I am, no more, no less. This is rhetoric. I'd kindly ask you not to use rhetoric. I treat people based on how they are as an individual, not because of their race. How do you know this to be true? Again, take extreme example. What if you saw someone who was barely recognizable as human: they had bright purple skin. They are part of a long isolated group of people (definition of a race) who have mutated melanin that gives their skin its color. You don't know, but you will DEFINITELY notice, and DEFINITELY not sing the "purple people eaters" song around them! This is not bad, it is sensitive on your part, but it IS DIFFERENT BEHAVIOR. Whenever people claim they treat people exactly the same based on any differing characteristic, they are lying. Here is my argument: 1. I treat people the same, regardless of X (claim)This is a cruel truth about the nature of choice. It is based on what we know. People can make smart, healthy, and honorable choices, wether they consider race or not. Furthermore, race is nothing but a shitty measure of the closeness of the family ties between people. In this day and age, it is more powerful to speak of the human race as a whole, than to divide it up, unless you're studying anthropology, of course!
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Re: Racism
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by ribbitribbit froggy says buy it!
on 2007-11-15 12:35:20
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you can come close to be a non-racist but i dont think that you can compensate your "inner racist" enough to really come so close to the line to be called a non-racist. plus i think the argument with racism fading away when we live in an multicultural society is unfounded. i do believe it will be able to change the way how people handle racism, and how openly people are able to show racism. however i dont believe it will change the natural racism that everybody has in ones self resulting from education, heritage and under which circumstances you are brought up as well as personal experience. there is ALWAYS tension in multicultural societies as well. |
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Re: Racism
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Fishbane, do you care more about a human being than a chimpanzee? Not really. With all due respect, the human race has screwed up way more badly than any other race. Look at this example: dinosaurs lived for millions of years. We have been living for only about 100, 000 years, but in another 40 years, overpopulation will become a problem for us. I disagree with the way things are done, on the whole, but I bear no hate toward the human race. I'm not exactly proud, either. If I had to choose between a chimpanzee and a human, though, I seriously don't know what I would do. I certainly hope that I won't have to make that decision What if you had to choose between the lives of one or the other? What if you had to choose between the lives of someone from another family, or your own? Of course I would save the human. That doesn't mean that I won't be saddened by the loss of a chimpanzee. It's natural to save your own species first. If I didn't, I'd be haunted by that for the rest of my life. Same with the family. But I don't think that's racism. That's selfishness, choosing things that you value more over an equally right decision. A good example of this was a survey done in a university. A professor asked the students whether they'd save their dogs, or a stranger, given the choice. The result was that half voted for their dogs, half voted for the stranger, but neither side blamed the other. What if you saw someone who was barely recognizable as human: they had bright purple skin. They are part of a long isolated group of people (definition of a race) who have mutated melanin that gives their skin its color. You don't know, but you will DEFINITELY notice, and DEFINITELY not sing the "purple people eaters" song around them! This is not bad, it is sensitive on your part, but it IS DIFFERENT BEHAVIOR. But would I not be treating them the same way I would treat a regular human? Yes, I would recognize the fact that they had purple skin. But I'm not in the habit of singing, or mocking people at all. It's my policy to treat new people I meet with respect and decorum. Even so, a little part of me will say, "Woah, that's weird." The point I'm trying to make, though, is that, with a little effort, those tendencies can be blunted and suppressed, in order to spare hurt feelings Anyway, your example is, as you said, extreme. Yes, you're completely right. I'm racist, deep down. But my point is, hopefully, everyone can curb their tendencies, and never have to make such extreme choices. I am who I am, no more, no less. This is rhetoric. I'd kindly ask you not to use rhetoric. Sorry about that. Apologies for offending "Bad!" |
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Re: Racism
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by Mystic Deadman
on 2007-11-15 20:07:54
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@ Fishbane: I disagree with your statement about racism going to fade out completely. I think human nature is such that we will always look for qualities that we find different about other people and find that unacceptable. Differences in origins, or race, is one of those diferences. The United States has been a country that has been fighting to end racism for many, many years. Unfortunately, it still exists. I went to a Gaia Online chat room the other night and walked right into a "bloods/cripts" battle, if I choose to believe that. It was completely pathetic. I also disagree that living in a multicultural society will supress racism. If you have the mindset that your race is superior to others, then a multicultural society will give you plenty to be racist about. |
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Re: Racism
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I kinda disagree with that. The main point I was trying to make was, I think you'd have much different opinions, based on who you were raised up with. For example, if you grow up in a multicultural society, and have different people of different races as your friends, it's hard to be racist. I'm not saying that stops racism completely, but it sure goes a long ways in terms of helping the situation. On the other hand, if you were born in a country largely with one ethnic group, you'd be raised to feel that your race is the most important one. When you meet people of other cultures, chances are, your first thought will be, "Okay, these people act differently, dress differently, and look differently than me. They even speak a different language. Maybe they're not the same." "Bad!" |
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Re: Racism
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by OmegaPhatts
on 2007-11-15 22:07:12
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I have to say that I am a little bit racist, unfortunantly. But it stems from personal experiences that I have had, not from a genral dislike of the race. Now I know that the sins of one do NOT condemn all, but it's hard for me to trust that race when it hasn't given me a reason to trust them, which is also sad on my part, since I really don't give that particular race a chance to redeem itself. I guess that in the end, rasism cannot and willnot disappear. Even in Star Trek, rasism exists. Just look at Cheif O'Brian. He has a severe distrust of Cardassians, or 'cardis', as he calls them. Even James T. Kirk, the legenday cpatain of the Enterprise-A, still has and probably always will hate Klingons. And it's that part that saddens me...
"Suffer the little ones, for they may yet rise up and beat you senseless." Druid's Call, from Magic: The Gathering
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Re: Racism
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by Mystic Deadman
on 2007-11-15 23:18:51
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@fishbane-In that case, you make it seem like you're going back on your own statement. I stand by what I said. I see what you're saying, but if that was your point, I think you should at least hint to that. @OmegaPhatts: Props for a Star Trek reference that actually works. |
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Re: Racism
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by
on 2007-11-16 01:18:20 |
yeah sure i'm a tad bit racist, under self observation i was quick to notice i made a good number of generalisations and opinions of people based off of their race alone. I don't think its possible to stop that completely, nor do i see the point in trying to stop 100% (90% sure, but come on, no one's perfect)  |
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Re: Racism
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fishbane-In that case, you make it seem like you're going back on your own statement. I stand by what I said. I see what you're saying, but if that was your point, I think you should at least hint to that. I don't see why I'm going back on my own statement. I alluded to the fact that, growing up with different influences can change the degree of racism you see. I've been following the same thread of logic for a while now. I don't think I've said anything contradictory. "Bad!" |
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Re: Racism
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by
on 2007-11-16 12:05:03 (edited 2007-11-16 12:22:02)
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Fishbane, what is your race, you know, the one you don't identify with? If you answer X, then you just identified X as your race! I thought you said you DON'T identify with your own race? The solution to the contradiction is, in my opinion, that you do identify with your own race, but you don't consider it a large proportion of your overall identity. That's great, I am the same way. So far, in this thread, no solid argument has been made for so much as a single example of a person who is "not even a little bit racist". It has been argued by me that there is no possibility for such a person to exist. It is possible, it appears to me, by general consensus, that people raised in a healthy environment who are tolerant of others, can compensate for their own proclivity to be prejudice and discriminate others to ill effect. EDIT: I noticed one thing fishbane said: "if you grow up in a multicultural society ... it's hard to be racist." This is not necessarily true. I can't think of a way to measure wether this is true or not. Perhaps compare the number of hate crimes in a city (as recorded by the police) to the cultural diversity (as recorded by the US census). I predict this experiment would show that the frequency of hate crimes is proportional to the diversity, not the other way around, as it sounds you would predict. However, your point about having friends from different ethnic backgrounds is well taken. Some more likely sources of racism than living in a multicultural-lacking society might be social inequality, poverty, violence and anger taught as solutions to problems at home or in church, general lack of critical thinking and reasoning skills, selfishness, greed, and ignorance (can be related to living in a multicultural-lacking society, but not necessarily. for example, if you live around a lot of people of different ethnic group, but never interact due to fear or what yo mamma told ya), etc.
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Re: Racism
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The solution to the contradiction is, in my opinion, that you do identify with your own race, but you don't consider it a large proportion of your overall identity. Yeah, I think this was what I was saying. What I was trying to drive at with my multicultural point is that it removes one source of racism. I was a bit optimistic about it removing all racism. It looks all good and well on paper, but I guess it doesn't work out in real life. "Bad!" |
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Re: Racism
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by
on 2007-11-16 13:07:31 (edited 2007-11-16 13:11:30)
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<sarcasm>Are you kidding? It's that easy? In that case, lets kill off all the other races, and that will remove the source of racism! My word, you're a genius!</sarcasm>
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