Why do YOU hate racism?

[Samurai Goomba]

Why would I hate it? Racism is racism. Stupidity is stupidity. It's only a problem if you let it get to you. I refuse to buy into the idea of our society that says I should feel guilty for something I couldn't control that happened before I was born.

I find it ironic when people won't "tolerate" intolerant people. Maybe they are what they hate? After all, if you let racism make you hate an entire race of people, then YOU become racist, too, regardless of your race or minority status.

The whole thing is silly. I predict that once people in America stop making a big media thing out of racism, we can all move past this and get along. If we all want true equality, then we should just ignore the whole issue of race and treat everybody as an individual, not look for more ways to show how we're "different" from everybody else. Similarity, not diversity, breed unity.

Yeah, REAL racists need to be punished, but how many times have you met somebody who was a committed racist?

 

[NewGeekPhilosopher]

i think who ever posted this is a retarded philosipher. cause in one way getting all work up over some impressions is retarded. Humor (funny things for all you FUCKING RETARDS!) is based on a culturally relavant set of taboos. People find what is different funny. So these english people don't have hillbillies there and so they think they r funny. Just like a child makes potty jokes because the potty is something you don't talk about therfor taboo.

on the other hand i hate racism because it represents ingnorance in mankind. Racism is not a new thing its been around fer like... awhile. HOWEVER back then we weren't as advanced and evolved as we are now so racism couldn't be blamed on the people because they were dumb. Its like yelling at a cripple because he can't run a mile. BUT now we are smart and racism still exists so therefor RACISM = STUPIDITY.

It really depends on the intention of racist jokes. For example, a Jewish kid and a Korean girl in my class regularly have "racism competitions" to see how bad the slurs they can come up with are. The point of this is to show how absurd racism is to each other, not to have a race war in class. Besides, watching two shy, well meaning kids of different ethnic minorities try and offend each other in a friendly way is kind of sweet.

I used to take people's jokes more literally than I should have, for reasons that I won't go into. Still, Robert Downey Jr's speech in Tropic Thunder (the "full retard or just a run of the mill Rain Man" one) made me laugh because I actually understood what the hell he was talking about. Same with the rapper slagging off at him for being Australian (that part was hilarious (Did you know that's a True Story? Woman lost her kid...). There's a difference between stereotype competitions and actual racism in my opinion.

 

[Tarmon'gaidin]

I hate racisme because there's no point, no goal and no logic in it. Why would you enslave someone with a diffirent skincolor? Why would you kill native americans because there skin is a different color.

Like I said there's no point in it, we are all human's but throughout history the europeans (and later the americans) have been the only one's making a point of someone's color.

(Oh and before people think I'm some kind of hater, I'm european myself.)

 

[NewGeekPhilosopher]

I hate racism because it's a stick to beat the white man with. Too many lies are told in modern education to 'big up' other races and to portray white people as a mixture of demons,thieves,and pedophiles. This is all bullshit. White people have nothing to be ashamed of.

Exactly what I'd EXPECT a white devil to say to try and cover his cleft-hoof tracks.

How many brothers did you loan-shark today with outrageous interest rates so he could feed his family?

How long has it been since your last KKK meeting? Promoted to Grand Wizard, yet?

Go back to Alabama. We don't take kindly to your ilk here.

Firstly, the cosmetic surgery on my feet makes my cleft-hoof tracks look human!
Second, 58 'brothers' but I think my interest rates are quite reasonable.
third, last thursday, but I can't have the Grand Wizard job until the existing one dies.
Lastly, I'm British, I wouldn't be caught dead in Alabama! And I don't have a pet Elk, where would you get that idea from?

You know the sun set on the British Empire for a reason. People like Gandhi didn't take too kindly to how the Indians were treated. You might not be caught dead in Alabama, but doesn't mean the British can't be racist. I prescribe Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire and good 3 hours of Shah Rukh Khan in Devdas.

I'm actually quite pro India, my religion comes from there!(Hare Krishna!) Your making assumptions about me that are not accurate. I'm not racist, but I do get pissed off about white people getting 'painted' as the devil himself.(who I don't believe in!)
All races did dubious things over the course of history, no one is innocent. Much of my previous post replying to ignignoct was an attempt to be humorous, believe it or not.

I know you were being humorous but still... I seem to have a dark side to myself where I seem to view different cultures through personal experience, the worst kind of research a sociologist can rely on. This is the second time this week this has happened! Where do you go to get treated for accidental stereotyping disorder?

 

[Ignignoct]

Though white people may die out eventually, our culture will always live on!

Lawfulness, academia, and being socially polite and accommodating!

VIVA LA RESISTANCE!

 

[Gamine]

Having different Races is fun, making jokes is fun

In my country there are lots of tribes and there are tribal jokes, yet no civil war

HATE, thats the key word, no HATE is GOOD

 

[NewGeekPhilosopher]

Having different Races is fun, making jokes is fun

In my country there are lots of tribes and there are tribal jokes, yet no civil war

HATE, thats the key word, no HATE is GOOD

My bro keeps getting jokes made at him for being Scots-Irish (drinking related stereotypes) and my Chinese friend gets uber leet micro jokes made at him by my Italian metalhead friend because he is really good at both piano and PC run computer games ("Yo Angus, is it the piano playing that makes you own at Tribes 2, or is it something in the blood?" is one my Italian friend used on him).

 

[Logan Westbrook]

If we could all get over arguing about the semantics of 'hating' racism, we might actually be able to get a decent discussion going here.

As a white male, I often find that I can't always trust my first reaction when it comes to racism, or any form of discrimination. Becoming defensive when accusations of prejudice get thrown around is entirely normal response, but it is rarely a useful one; better to take a moment to examine that reaction and try and perceive the issue objectively, rather than subjectively.

You may think that an off-colour joke is harmless, but doing so perpetuates the idea that as long as it is not overt, racism is ok. Prejudices are often subtle things and we unconsciously cling to stereotypes without ever realising it.

I have found that this video has some useful advice for talking to others about racism.

 

[awmperry]

Not everyone hates racism - indeed, many seem to base their lives on it - so "Why do you hate racism" is perhaps jumping the gun.

Anyway, my own philosophy is perhaps best summed up by, er, a line from Muppets Take Manhattan:

"Peoples is peoples. No is buildings. Is tomatoes, huh? Is peoples, is dancing, is music, is potatoes. So, peoples is peoples. Okay?"

I've tried to indulge in a spot of recreational racism, but I never seem to get the hang of it. My best friend, a Chinese girl, never has the decency to be properly offended when I call her "slitty-eyes"; it's tremendously annoying.

Anyway, did I have a point I was getting to? I'm pretty sure I had. Oh yes.

In my view, it's perfectly fine to make fun of stereotypes and differences, as long as there's clearly no malice in it. But genuinely discriminating is wrong, whichever direction it goes. Whether it's misogyny, affirmative action, "his nose is too big", whatever, that's wrong. People are people, and every tribe - of whatever stripe - has its idiots. No race - assuming you believe in race - is better or worse than any other, they're all made up of people with about the same saint-to-arse ratio.

While I'm at it, positive discrimination annoys me too. Affirmative action, for instance, doesn't that say "We think black people are too stupid to get into (INSERT JOB HERE) on their own merits"? Or why did my university have an Afro-Caribbean Society and an LGBT Society but no White Society and Straight Society? People are people, and I don't see why it should be acceptable to be proud of one's heritage one way but not another. Can you imagine the uproar if I'd tried to organise a Straight Pride parade?

People are people, and the sooner humans get over the idea of "I'm better than them because I'm purple" the better.


(Oh, and an acquaintance of mine - not a native English speaker, but thinks he is - recently defined the word "paki" as meaning "anyone Asian, really, any of those towelhead rock-throwers". I may have started avoiding him since.)

 

[Logan Westbrook]

Or why did my university have an Afro-Caribbean Society and an LGBT Society but no White Society and Straight Society?

We do have one, we found the name unwieldy though, so we just call it 'society'.

 

[Ignignoct]

Or why did my university have an Afro-Caribbean Society and an LGBT Society but no White Society and Straight Society?

We do have one, we found the name unwieldy though, so we just call it 'society'.

DAMN!

Beat me before the "INB4 WHITE HISTORY MONTH IS ALL YEAR LONG!"

 

[AngloDoom]

It's pointless ways for insecure retards to throw an insult back at a person they only just met; they know no little bits of gossip or scandal about their life so they need to insult their appearance to get across their 'point'. So, they choose one outstanding feature on the person's body. If the person, however, is simply a normal or attractive person, but of a different race then they just go ahead and insult their race.

It's the pre-historic version of 'your mum' jokes. They make you look retarded, but somehow it's still funny to people who enjoy reading 'The Sun' or watch 'Big Brother'.

I hate racism because of all the points above, and the fact that people don't know what they are on about half the time. I don't mind ignorant or stupid people; I hate loud people who are stupid and ignorant. I used to live in Germany as a result of my father being in the military; where he was posted his family would follow. When I came back to England, people made racist jokes about me assuming I was German. Someone even approached me and started say "You is ze German-Nazi, eh?" and when I said "Dear God, you're German too?!" he went "Oh, I didn't realise you spoke English." Despite the fact I was in an English school. I told him I wasn't German, and he walked away with his tail between his legs.

Another example is more recent. I live in an area with a lot of Polish people in simply because there used to be a lot of jobs here that have now dried up. The Polish people still live here, but the locals give them shit for 'stealing jobs' despite the fact that half of the people who say that either have a job, or are too stupid to get one. My friend was walking home when he saw this black lizard-like creature scuttle across the road. He turned to a nearby man and said "What was that? I've never seen that before." The man replied "Probably those damn Polish!"

That is why I hate racism; it's just plain moronic.

 

[awmperry]

No - society includes all of those. The "Society Society" includes white, black, pink, yellow (or, in the case of the curious rash on my elbow, a sort of maroon, but that's beside the point)... every conceivable colour and background and orientation. Why is it acceptable to have intrinsically discriminative clubs to say "I really like being black" while a club to say "I really like being white" is seen as bad?

Personally, of course, I think both concepts are fine as long as they stay at "I like being..." and don't stray into "I'm glad I'm not..." or worse. It's like nationalism; I'm proud to be English and Swedish, I like my countries, and given the chance I'd fly my flags. But I can't do that, because "it might offend immigrants". Why? Chances are they came to Sweden because they thought they might like it there too, right? The fact that I like my country shouldn't implicitly mean that I hate other countries, and that's where I think a lot of people go wrong.

Nationalism or pride shouldn't be equated with xenophobia and prejudice. The former are good and don't look down on other people; the latter are bad.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

No - society includes all of those. The "Society Society" includes white, black, pink, yellow (or, in the case of the curious rash on my elbow, a sort of maroon, but that's beside the point)... every conceivable colour and background and orientation.

I think a better description would be that society contains every creed and colour.

 

[scape]

just another thing that means that little bit less to me...

 

[awmperry]

Nilcypher, a very perceptive and, to someone with my mindset, delightfully pedantic point well made. Yes. I will happily amend my statement per your suggestion.

 

[Sweep117]

If we could all get over arguing about the semantics of 'hating' racism, we might actually be able to get a decent discussion going here.

As a white male, I often find that I can't always trust my first reaction when it comes to racism, or any form of discrimination. Becoming defensive when accusations of prejudice get thrown around is entirely normal response, but it is rarely a useful one; better to take a moment to examine that reaction and try and perceive the issue objectively, rather than subjectively.

You may think that an off-colour joke is harmless, but doing so perpetuates the idea that as long as it is not overt, racism is ok. Prejudices are often subtle things and we unconsciously cling to stereotypes without ever realising it.

I have found that this video has some useful advice for talking to others about racism.

You, sir, are a brilliant, brilliant man. I was trying to figure out what to say in reply to this thread and what everyone's been saying but I don't have to say anything because you said everything for me.

I find it funny that many people here are arguing over the differences in how they hate racism rather than, for example, giving a personal story of racism touched your life. That seems to be what the OP was looking for, but I've been wrong before.

I too am a white male and aside from a handful of white people, all my friends are of different races. (I hate the word race used in this way because all one race but I can't seem to think of another word) Every once in a while someone says something that I find somewhat offensive. Before I say anything though, I think. Like nilcypher said,

Becoming defensive when accusations of prejudice get thrown around is entirely normal response, but it is rarely a useful one;

I doubt any of the racism I have felt from my friends was meant to be a racist remark. Much of it stems from stereotypes and lack of information/misinformation.

Reverse the roles it's still the same. I would never knowingly make a racist comment toward anyone. Not my friends, not to a casual acquaintance, not to a random guy on the street talking about my mother. Due to my own lack of knowledge of other cultures though, I can't help but occasionally say the wrong thing. Sometimes, we need to step back and think.

(I admit, I have told and been told and laughed at racist jokes. Some worse than others. A. Only with a person or people I know and trust. B. Half the humour is the stereotype in the joke. I know that's not true. This joke is playing on a generalization. That's pretty funny.)

 

[Red Right Hand]

What I truly hate is when people don't get all up in arms about someone of an ethnic minority who is rascist to say a white guy, yet it is so much worse for the white guy to be rascist to the ethnic minorities. A rascist can be an ethnic minority aswell

 

[Duh]

Or why did my university have an Afro-Caribbean Society and an LGBT Society but no White Society and Straight Society?

We do have one, we found the name unwieldy though, so we just call it 'society'.

DAMN!

Beat me before the "INB4 WHITE HISTORY MONTH IS ALL YEAR LONG!"

agreed

excelent burn

 

[Alphavillain]

It helps to turn these things on their heads. Racism is obviously hatred of people who don't look like you, or have different cultural practices. But put another way, racist thinking presumes that I, as a white person, will automatically like -and here's the rub, RESPECT- white people because they are white. Automatically respect, despite the way someone treats me, or the way they conduct themselves. Which just highlights the stupid blanket thinking of racism.