Poll: Is everyone just a bit racist?

[TheRundownRabbit]

I just watched an Avenue Q video that brings up an excellent point.
Do you think everyone is at least just a bit racist?

I believe we all have the capacity to be racist but most will never use that capacity. So basically I'm still working on my stance.

 

[tomtom94]

Yes, because biologically speaking it makes more sense to be distrustful of alternate tribes than the alternative, and I'm fairly certain scientific studies have confirmed this.

(As have the police)

 

[Jonluw]

No. I don't think so. Being racist would mean you actually think a race is superior to another. Prejudice and stereotypes (that everyone has, regardless of what they say) have very little to do with actual racism.

Edit: Studies have been done that indicate that if you show an infant two pictures of women with different skin colours, he will concentrate on the picture of the woman with the same skin colour as his. This does not mean the baby is racist; it is simply a survival instinct. The person with a different skin colour is more likely to be a stranger, and you should not trust strangers. It has nothing to do with the infant thinking people with his skin colour are superior to others.

I, quite frankly, am annoyed by that avenue q song. It uses a definition of racist that is just ridiculous. "Oh, I make jokes about Swedes. Surely this means I am racist." Oh wait, we're of the same race; that's fine then. But if I were to make jokes about sami people, that's racist. No, it bloody well isn't!

 

[Badabukavich]

I don't think people are racist per say we overuse generalizations and stereotypes.

 

[manythings]

Yes, because biologically speaking it makes more sense to be distrustful of alternate tribes than the alternative, and I'm fairly certain scientific studies have confirmed this.

(As have the police)

Agreed. We all still have the old tribal instincts and every "-ism" boils down to "You're not one of mine so you're inferior". Why do you think they had the old saying in the slave trade, "the blacker, the better"? Anyone who claims they treat everyone equally is ignorant of their own bias or just lying because everyone is meant to treat eveyone else equally.

 

[crudus]

Of course. It is had to shake old habits (the ones your genes say you should do). Especially the ones as subtle as racism. Studies show that only about 20 percent of people even care about people who are racist.

 

[Kejui]

No. I don't think so. Being racist would mean you actually think a race is superior to another. Prejudice and stereotypes have very little to do with actual racism.

Exactly. I wouldn't say that being my race makes me superior to any other; however, I know I have my prejudices, which I believe to be more inherent than racism (person philosophy, mind you). Race is an extremely superficial characteristic, so it can be more readily overlooked, whereas prejudice and stereotypes can be readily reinforced given the "correct" circumstances.

 

[Kukakkau]

Yes - everyone hates my lecturer because his English is so bad and filled with Chinese accents that we can't understand him. People avoid the Chinaman's lectures...

 

[The Procrastinated End]

It depends on your definition of racism. If you think there needs to be general hatred behind it then no, everyone is not automatically racist. If you think that it just means we think differently of races that are different from our own then yes everyone is racist.

 

[Woodsey]

Actively racist?

Certainly not.

It's impossible to completely free yourself of prejudices and stuff though - they're almost a subconscious thing.

 

[MikailCaboose]

Yes. Racism is something that we have no cognitive control over. What matters is whether or not we take action on that.

 

[Ham_authority95]

Seeing differences between people is a naturally human thing. We can't really escape from it.

 

[Kejui]

Yes. Racism is something that we have no cognitive control over. What matters is whether or not we take action on that.

Even if your cognition reveals no difference in race?

I can honestly say that I perceive, consciously in the least, any difference in people solely by using race as a reference point. Does that mean, then, that I must possess some form of "hidden" racism, one that hides unrevealed to my conscious mind?

I'm not trying to prove you wrong, I'm just saying that I don't recognize any racism that I am actively suppressing to be unoffensive.

 

[Something Amyss]

I've not had any use for skin colour beyond a descriptor of someone. And while "race" has some bearing on biological conditions, even that's not particularly important.

Say that I have some hidden racist notions if you want, I don't buy it in me and I don't buy it in people in general. Racism in all but the most meaningless sense needs to be impressed on people.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

You're asking two different questions here between your poll and the OP. Having the capacity for something and actually being something, even a little bit, are two different things.
Sure everyone has the capacity for racism, but that doesn't mean that everyone is.

 

[Ascarus]

Do you think everyone is at least just a bit racist?

I believe we all have the capacity to be racist but most will never use that capacity. So basically I'm still working on my stance.

neuroimaging evidence of studies attempting to look a racism have indicated that while people may not be inherently racist, we do seem to have strong in and out group tendencies.

meaning that groups (be it race, nationality, political affiliation, religion, etc.) you belong too will tend to be viewed more "favorably" (if you will) by those who are in "your group", than those who are not affiliated with your group.

 

[lacktheknack]

I believe we all have the capacity to be racist but most will never use that capacity.

If we have the capacity but never use it, that's by definition not racist.

 

[Peteron]

Yes everyone has a bit in them. Who cares though? People act as if it is the worst thing in the world. There will never be a perfect, united world.

 

[DoomWyrd]

You're asking two different questions here between your poll and the OP. Having the capacity for something and actually being something, even a little bit, are two different things.
Sure everyone has the capacity for racism, but that doesn't mean that everyone is.

Exactly right. Every one has the capacity to be a mass murderer that doesn't mean everyone is a little bit of one.

 

[twistedheat15]

No. I don't think so. Being racist would mean you actually think a race is superior to another. Prejudice and stereotypes (that everyone has, regardless of what they say) have very little to do with actual racism.

No racism means you generalize someone based on their race, weather good or bad. Looking at a blk person and thinking he'll be good at sports, and have a big cock because he's black is just as racist as saying he smokes prob smokes weeds and steals. Now granted that one is worst then the other, it's still racism, so yeah everyone has some kinda racism inside themselves but it doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Everyone and everything is based on their appearance, how you react and feel about those appearances is what separates the rational from irrational.