Who here is racist?

[Kieran. 6,317]

I'm very interested in racism. I find it interesting that one group of people can find themselves superior to others based on where they're from and the color of their skin. According to reports, 18% of people in the US find themselves racist, when in reality 48% know someone racist. That number is probably much higher than reported.

I've also found it interesting that racist people can support a black person on their team, and even love the player, but will turn up their nose if they find a black person walking down the street. Do you find yourself to have racial tendencies?

I understand this is a sensitive topic. I'm apologize in advance if this sort of talk is not allowed on TC. I just find the subject VERY interesting and plan on studying sociology in university.

I left a poll to help anonymity. Please answer truthfully.

[Kostas 1,468]

How confident can you be of people answering such a question honestly or even them knowing the answer?

[BluesChick 1,260]

Kostas is right! I live in Memphis and I would say racism is worse from the black population to the white than the other way around. I will never forget the day I took my daughter to a park and a group showed up (all African- American (we look caucasian although we are also Native American)) and the leaders of the group asked me why we didn't leave.... I was shocked and asked them should I have? They responded that other whites would have left immediately! I shrugged and told them that I wasn't leaving until it was time to pick my son up. It was an experience I will never forget. The little boys were fascinated with my little blonde haired blue eyed girl!! She treated them like everyone else she's met... because I have taught my children that skin color is the same as eye color and hair color.... everyone is different and it is a wonderful trait of genetics

[J.F. 1,484]

white man can jump.

[Kieran. 6,317]

People know deep down if they're racist or not. Would you want your son or daughter marrying someone not of your race? If you answered no, you're a racist and a bigot.

[warnie_666 1,081]

People know deep down if they're racist or not. Would you want your son or daughter marrying someone not of your race? If you answered no, you're a racist and a bigot.

Which part of Florida are you from?

I get equally turned on by a Black, Brown or a Blonde Woman......Is that good enough to not be a racist?

[ruggedknot 105]

First you'll have to figure if racism is a result of the habitat / the way a person is bought up or if its inherent . If its the latter , the human race really is biologically stooopid , the former - a good counselling session can change that outlook.

[Kieran. 6,317]

Which part of Florida are you from?

I get equally turned on by a Black, Brown or a Blonde Woman......Is that good enough to not be a racist?

I am from Boca Raton, FL. An hour north of Miami. The city I'm from is pretty liberal, you don't hear about racially motivated crimes down here. Up in north Florida, the Confederate flags are seen everywhere.

[warnie_666 1,081]

I am from Boca Raton, FL. An hour north of Miami. The city I'm from is pretty liberal, you don't hear about racially motivated crimes down here. Up in north Florida, the Confederate flags are seen everywhere.

I live in Jacksonville, and some parts on the outskirts of the city do look pretty redneck out here specially on my way to Tampa..

South Florida is an awsome place and has alot of hispanic culture and population and therefore racism is rare, up north and in states like Alabama, Minnesota, Kentucky, Southern Ohio, Indiana, racism is rife. Although I personally havent experienced any in Ohio where I was for three years, but I haVE heard stories.

[Spike 12,049]

The shocking thing is that a lot of people I know are very close minded and hate Arabs, Muslims, Indians, Japenese, Chinese for no reason besides the TV tells them to.

Strangely, I'm white and I'm a minority where I live. And actually have been subject to a few racial slurs.

There is a lot of problems concerning Indigenous Australians in my town and all over Australia for that fact. The Australia on the TV really doesn't show how bad the country is in terms of equality. There are Indigenous communities that are essentially third world, scattered all over Australia (specifically in the Northern parts of Australia). It really creates a divide in the countries togetherness and there is a lot of animosity from both sides of Australia.

[Blue In Green 86]

Where I live, it depends on the environs. Residents of rural areas are openly racist. Residents of suburban areas mask it better, but many still have prejudices. It also depends on the skin color - I get the feeling Hispanics would be treated worse than others. As for me, idiots are idiots. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Fortunately, good company does too.

[bombayblue™ 55]

Racism is a very sensitive topic and each and every one of our minds is so prejudiced we can never really judge a person to be a racist or not. What we can do is know for sure whether we ourselves are racist.

The very definition of a person being a racist is so ambiguous, the more you go deeper into it, the messier it gets.

Say for example

1) An Asian guy walk into a dark alley, he sees 3 African-American men standing with their hoods on and once they notice the Asian guy, they don't stop staring. The Asian flees.

2) An Asian guy sees an African-American girl meet with an accident and is trapped in the car. He goes and helps her, takes her to the hospital, the works.

Both these stories are real and they actually happened.

Now in the first case would the Asian guy have fled had the 3 men been Asians? He had a set mentality, probably from watching all those movies, that they were thugs and were gonna mug him. He said, No. One of the African-American men turned out to be his classmate and returned his laptop, which he dropped while fleeing, the next day. Needless to say the Asian guy was embarrassed.

The second incident actually happened before the first one and Asian guy in both the incidents is the same person.

If you were to judge the Asian guy based on the first incident alone, would you call the Asian guy a racist, because of his pre-conceived notion of African-American men? If yes, how do you explain what happened in the second case.

It is easy to point out a redneck or an extremist but most people all around us do have certain biases based on what we hear/witness. I wouldn't go so far to call them a racist, or put them in the option of 'a bit racist'.

I hope KieranVogel, this isn't your class assignment

[LDN Blue 7,903]

There are 3 things I can not stand.. Racism, nationalism & religious people (who try to force their views on others).

Both designed by people in an attempt to separate people. The fact we even call ourselves; black, white or brown shows we see ourselves in that light. Sure we'd like to say we're all human beings and care about each other, however for the most % of society they do identify themselves by race and nationality.

It's a sad state of affairs. For example; I spoke to a person once about the Palestine-Israel as intelligent conversation. I said to him "You have to feel for some Palestinian people though, what they go through on a daily basis" to which he replied "Why should I care? They didn't help India when they suffered British oppression". That response horrified me, but from then on I'd learnt a valuable lesson. People only care for their own. They identify their own by race, nationality & religion.

Everyone likes to claim they're not racist, but it's amazing how many times you'll hear people be so without realising it. I know so many people who use the N-word in everyday talk, not realising the actual meaning of the word and how it was used upon its creation.

[Fulham Broadway 16,848]

Bit like asking people are they sexually attracted to children -you won't get many honest answers.

Studied this during Sociology degree like you Kieran.

It starts with a fear of ''the other''. A different culture, and ways of doing things that is different to you and your kin.

Experiments show it is a learned phenomenon, as small children show no traits of racism towards other kids of a different colour and background.

By far the worst forms of it are ''institutional racism'' ie by governments and corporations and the media. Employers might say they are not, and it's easy for them to try and hide it. In employment for example, go to any big organisation and they will say they employ 30% ethnics or whatever, but what you will find is that most of the menial jobs -cleaners, canteen staff etc these jobs are disproportionately held by Black and Asian people. Of the millions of people bombed and shot by the US, UK over the last decade or so -nearly all have been some shade of brown people. Coincidence ?

During the studies we looked at some white indigenous working class people round the East End of London, Tower Hamlets and Rotherhythe. We found that although racist, they couldnt be blamed that much. With a limited education, no jobs, and crap housing -if they are told by some BNP racist that they havent any of those things because the Bangladeshis and Pakis have taken your job and house, then they will believe that due to a limited education.

In a nutshell, it's like all ignorances - it's down to a lack of education.

[termninja 5,290]

I am...

a cool guy

[zolayes 14,489]

can an animal be racist. when in Kenya we had a lovely Alsatian bitch , she was friendly to Muzungus (whites) suspicious of Asians and

threatening to all Africans except our servants .. We got her as a pup and didnt train her that way ,,but she was bred from police dogs .

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

I'm very interested in racism. I find it interesting that one group of people can find themselves superior to others based on where they're from and the color of their skin. According to reports, 18% of people in the US find themselves racist, when in reality 48% know someone racist. That number is probably much higher than reported.

At first I was quite shocked with that result. I live in Vancouver, Canada, and I've been to the States a couple times, and although I haven't met every American and you never can tell what people are up to by just meeting them, from what I've seen and heard, 48% is really high. But then now that I've thought of it a little more it kinda makes sense and can be a good thing as well.

First of all, if a person knew something like 200 people and the chance of at least one of his acquaintances being racist is less than half, that's not that bad. So really, the comparison between when people identify themselves as racist and when they know someone else who's racist is kind of silly.

Also, it's really hard to 'measure' racism. Different people have different opinions about racism, and this affects how they identify others as racist. For example, some people are hardcore and absolutely hate all stereotypes and racial jokes. According to their standards, most people are racist. Some people, on the other hand, are more lenient. They'll have a laugh at light jokes, but they know what's right and what' wrong.

But I guess the important thing is that at least these people can 'identify racism'.

In my home country, South Korea, racism isn't a big deal, not because we're all accepting but simply because there are not many foreigners. If you asked an ordinary Korean what racism means to him, he'll tell you that it's about white people treating black people like slaves like back in the days before Lincoln. To them, racism is just that and nothing more. In their eyes, they are not racist even though naturally they all think they're superior to Japanese, Chinese, southeast Asians, and Blacks (and many more!), because they don't know the first thing about racism. If you conducted that same research in Korea, (I don't see what the point of that would be, though) you would get some ridiculously low numbers simply because of their ignorance. (I admit that I've only been to three countries in my life, but I am pretty sure situations are not much better in many other countries.) So, in a way, the numbers in the survey indicate that the U.S. citizens are able to at least identify what racism is, which is very important.

Sooner or later, racism and intolerance will hit South Korea, and I'm glad. With population decrease looking more than likely, they'll have to eventually become more open-minded and start accepting immigrants, and that's the end of racism and mother of racism, nationalism.

[Kieran. 6,317]

Something I find astonishing is the subject of celebrities. A person would support a player with all their heart, but if they saw someone of that same color move in next door, they have a problem. It's okay for the player to star on your team, but not be your neighbor? Why? Because he's famous?