Racism

I know the vast majority of people will vote "no" on this poll, but I also know that the majority of those people are lying.

I voted yes, because I do view myself as racist, even though I rarely, if ever, show it. I'm not racist as in "whites are the best". I'm racist because I always look at the statistics that evaluate different races as a reflection upon the whole race. I guess I'm more of an "evaluationist" or a ""generalizationist" than a racist.
 
You mean you stereotype based on previous data which shows similiar trenRAB for various culture aspects of humans? That isn't being racists...its having a brain. Stereotyping is very useful for a brain to function quickly in a situation...a computer does this similiar things by guessing what you will do based on past experiences. Its only when you take this to a hatred extreme that it becomes a problem.
 
I don't agree. To get a handful of people who commit a certain action, and then apply it to a whole race is ignorant. People say that black people steal. So now you must think we steal?! I have never stole, and do not steal. Believing everything you hear is ignorant. And a computer only goes by the information that you put into it. Thats what seperates humans from machines, we should be able to reason on the information our brains pick up. If you are just drawing conclusions like a computer would, then there is seriously something wrong with your thinking patterns.:rolleyes:
 
Stereotyping is a bit different from racism, depending on how far you take it of course.

I don't consider myself racist, though I often lie in bed considering the matter. I suppose it depenRAB on what you mean by racist. I don't feel I have ever done anything to disadvantage a person based on their colour or country of origin, but would I feel more uncomfortable surrounded by white strangers, or black strangers, or oriental strangers. I think it would depend far more on their behaviour around me than the colour of their skin. Maybe I would find the behaviour of a foreign crowd to be unusual and that would make me feel uncomfortable.

But is that racism? Some would certainly say it is, but being wary of the unknown is just natural. I think I would give any crowd as much chance as the next.

I will let you know next time I find myself in that situation.

Smiley
 
I don't think I'm racist, I consider racism to be fundamentally stupid. Making generalisations about individuals based on the averages of people with the same colour skin is preposterous, because even if you were able to find a test that could strip out environmental factors to compare people of different "races", you would still find enormous variation in the skills and abilities of individuals.
 
Or in denial. I know I associate things with certain races. It's simply human to do so. However, I'm not violent, nor do I believe any race/gender/religion/etc. should be treated unequally.

Then again, the word 'racism' can mean different things. A simple prejudice, or an animosity.
 
I don't see myself as racist since I do not automatically judge any individual of a certain race as better or worse just because of their race. There are various trenRAB between racial groups but those certainly don't translate universally in that there is far more variation within racial groups than there is between racial groups.

One thing that I would like to note, though, is that I (and I think many others) do certainly judge people by the image they project and the behavior they show - something that is judged on an individual basis but has general trenRAB. For example, if someone of any race dresses professionally, is well groomed, speaks without slang or an ethnic accent of any sort, is relatively respectful and speaks relatively intelligently, I will have more respect for them than if they project an image of toughness / aggression in their dress and behavior, speak with an ethnic accent, treat others with disrespect, and speak irrationally.

When I encounter an individual of any race that shows those positive character trates, then I often don't even notice their race in that it doesn't even register in my thought process when I am interacting with them.

On the other side, though, I admit that I would be more concerned about encountering an African American who projects a tough / aggressive image than I would someone who is white who projects the same image since I would think that, as a white person, I would run the higher risk of being a victim of violence from the African American because of resentment against whites.
 
You can disagree all you want but an psychologist will tell you that you do this. Do you not get an image in your head when you hear someone talk about what they may look like? For example if you heard an Asian accent on the phone you would probably think that person is Asian. This is a stereotype...the person could easily be white, black, etc but you process that normally when you hear that it is an Asian person.
 
I think it is important to consider we are all prejudiced. I really would like to state that I am not racist and I strive to not be, but racism is learned and I grew up in the same racist environment (more or less) as everybody else.

As Jo Bennett so eloquently stated above


That is a position I wholehearted agree with. But there still sneaks in little prejudiced ideas here and there that I/we need to guard against.

I say better to admit there may be racism in all of us, strive to pay attention to it when might sneak into our thoughts and attempt to act in a way that ignores those unreasonable ideas.
 
No, just because one black dude turned out to be a gangster doesn't mean that dark-skinned people have a gun or knife in their pocket.
 
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