Bad economy= More racism [ STUDY ]

It's a subject I'm passionate about, I wish it wasn't the case though.
Racism is a cancer some of us have no choice but to live it ...
Does racism/xenophobia/ intolerance still exist ?

I already know what kind of "typical" posts this thread, but they're welcome and should be part of this important discussion .
I hate the "I'm a victim" syndrome but eventually we'll have to face the fact that racism is alive and well.

There's an interesting TYT video about the subject.
TYT Bad economy= More racism

Huff. Post

a reply to: samsamm9

Bad economy = more diversion

a reply to: samsamm9



It's not exactly new news though it is?

I thought this was just common knowledge?
That's why the far right always rises up, racism, xenophobia...people need to blame the other and need someone to blame for their situation.

originally posted by: blupblup
a reply to: samsamm9
It's not exactly new news though it is?

I thought this was just common knowledge?
That's why the far right always rises up, racism, xenophobia...people need to blame the other and need someone to blame for their situation.

It's been discussed but I don't think that it's ever been fully proven. I think the most classic example of racism amidst economic downturns is the case of the Mexican Repatriation that occurred in 1929 to 1933. Huge economic downturn and people were screaming for immigrants to be tossed out. Re-examining the association between racism and economic downturns is actually quite pertinent at this time as we're seeing a resurfacing of attitudes again post financial crisis. Likewise, nationalism in other countries such as France (Generation Identitaire) and Greece (Golden Dawn) also rose significant after the financial crisis hit. I think it's a bit of lifeboat scenario. If it seems like the ship is floundering, then who is going to pushed off first? Those who are different is often the response.

Herbert Hoover was the president who made immigrants the scapegoat of the Great Depression and yes, he was Republican. He was, however, also supportive of the Roosevelt's Progressive Party so not sure how far right that would be. I think the tendency towards the right blaming immigration for market failures is because the right does tend to be more business invested than public including promotion of laissez-faire economics. Economic downturns can also be frequently attributed to failures in laissez-faire so really the choice is either saying "mea culpa" or finding a scapegoat. It's a whole lot easier to blame the other guy.

a reply to: samsamm9

When you say more "racism", do you mean more racism toward blacks and hispanics, or do you include the racism toward whites as well?

Remember kids, racism is racism. Reverse racism is "msicar" and that is just hogwash.

originally posted by: ScientiaFortisDefendit
a reply to: samsamm9

When you say more "racism", do you mean more racism toward blacks and hispanics, or do you include the racism toward whites as well?

Remember kids, racism is racism. Reverse racism is "msicar" and that is just hogwash.

I don't see anybody arguing that racism does not exist going the other direction. A white kid living in a black neighborhood can experience just as much racism as a black kid living in a white neighborhood. Both my son and I lived on a reservation and both experienced a significant amount of racism. That happens. However, the big difference when you're looking at an entire nation, collectively, then the majority does tend to trump the minority. Segregation wasn't a huge issue that the majority cared about until they watched blacks marching, getting water hosed and beaten on tv. It took witnessing extreme responses to generate sympathies.

So while an overall majority within a country may still experience racism, the majority still has greater political power over the minority. That can have far worse outcome than being called a bad name as in the case of aforementioned Mexican Repatriation.

a reply to: samsamm9

The more different we appear to be, the more alike we really are. Our differences are outweighed by the things we share in common. Unfortunately, one of the things we share in common is innate fear of the "other". I personally believe that's something hard wired into our DNA as a survival mechanism. Racism is virulent tribalism. Through education, shared experiences and working together to improve our collective lot in life we can slowly overcome this primitive impulse, ultimately, to the point we snip that hard wire and unplug that primitive response mechanism.

originally posted by: WhiteAlice


It's been discussed but I don't think that it's ever been fully proven. I think the most classic example of racism amidst economic downturns is the case of the Mexican Repatriation that occurred in 1929 to 1933.

Really? Not Nazi Germany?
Hmmm

Another reason the Nazis were so attractive to the German people was the extreme economic hardships after WWI. The hyper-inflation of 1923 reached such ethereal heights that housewives used the valueless German currency to kindle fires.3 Such was the condition under which the Weimar Republic had its beginnings, making the Social Democrats, who were in majority at that time, easy prey for Hitler’s party in future years. With each uphill swing of the economy, growth in Nazi membership stagnated. As the economy began a downslide, Nazi enrollment swelled. The Nazi’s electoral breakthrough in 1932 owed much to the 1929 depression whose virus spread throughout Europe.

LINK

It is not just racism that get's worse, it is a separation of the classes that gets more pronounced sometimes. People of a group exhibit group behavior. I was just reading a new article. It somewhat applies but is more a social behavior issue. I'll see if I can find it.

That wasn't hard..... www.sciencedaily.com...

Although the article does address this group behavior, it is important to know that this behavior does not have to be if your beliefs of being a decent person are deeply embedded in your subconscious.

a reply to: blupblup

The reason why I cited the Mexican Repatriation over the example of the Holocaust is simple. The Mexican Repatriation occurred in our own backyard and it was our country that did it. It's a part of our own dark history on the subject of racism that does not get taught much in the US public school system.

We can point the finger at others outside of our country all day in examples of this but when we've done it ourselves, then that's what hits home.

PS. It is also the most clearly connected to economic downturn as it was the immediate response to the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

a reply to: WhiteAlice


Well sure it happened in your back garden but Nazis was just a stones throw from mine.
Like I said in my original post, I honestly thought that most people knew this? It happens everywhere, every time people are struggling financially.

The Far Right have been growing right across Europe from UK to Russia and polls that have been done show that racist sentiment is also on the rise, it's getting worse too.

www.theguardian.com...

www.reuters.com...



Like I said, Anyone interested in History, Politics or who just has eyes and a brain and watches the world can see the link between the two.
I suppose there may be people who haven't thought about it so It's interesting to bring up but I only commented because it seemed like this was being presented as new news... like before today nobody new that in times of Economic Hardship, people turn on "the other"... turn on minorities etc.

a reply to: blupblup

Again, not to make light of Nazi Germany, but that particular thing is something that every American in my country is aware of. The United States' own foray into political targeting of a minority due to economic downturn is something that they don't know. I can choose to either tell people what they know or broaden their knowledge in what they don't. My tendency is to not waste time with what is known but identifying what is unknown.

Additionally, if you read the rest of my post, you'll see that I mention two specific groups engaging in this form of nationalism in Europe--Generation Identitaire in France and Golden Dawn in Greece. I'm very much aware of what has occurred politically in this regard outside of the US. My response, however, was targeting my fellow Americans.

My fiance actually said the same thing--"this is common sense--why do we need a study for it?". I'll give you the same answer as I gave him. Saying that a cause and effect seems to exist than having a measurable and quantifiable study that can be peer reviewed on the subject has more weight than presuming something is common sense. This tendency towards xenophobia during economic downturns is a subject that I've been discussing for years. This study helps support my argument. So yes, it seems to be common sense to you or I who have concerns about it as we are in that scenario yet again but to those who may be engaging in it, they might need a bit more proof.

Get it?

a reply to: WhiteAlice


So this actually is the first study into the rise of racism, xenophobia and other prejudices during economic troubles?
I'm shocked if that's the case and utterly baffled.

But cool, fair enough.

a reply to: samsamm9

I think we see a lot of intolerance in this nation in general. I can't decide if racism has gotten worse in the last several years, or that people have become so used to the anonymity of the internet that all of the previously closeted racists have very little issue with being overtly ignorant.

Either way, as a nation, we've gotten extremely lazy when it comes to thinking for ourselves or thinking at all for that matter. We tend to be more than content to lump people together, slap a label on them, put them in a box, and then put them in the metaphorical trash. Whether it be someone that agrees with a "conservative" belief being trashed as Bible beating nut job, or someone who has a "liberal" belief immediately being labeled an America hating communist.

My point is, every single one of us is a complex human being with many different opinions, strengths, weaknesses, skin color etc, none of us are just one thing. Whatever that thing or label may be. It's unintelligent and insulting when anyone puts anyone else in an arbitrary group with the intention of condemning said group. We can't be bothered to think, to discuss, to learn or grow. It's ok to have differences, especially when its skin color, because no one can control what race he/she is born into, nor should they try.

originally posted by: blupblup
a reply to: WhiteAlice


So this actually is the first study into the rise of racism, xenophobia and other prejudices during economic troubles?
I'm shocked if that's the case and utterly baffled.

But cool, fair enough.

No, it is not. It is, however, yet another study that has been done on the subject overall but this one specifically reflects upon the current environment instead of the past with an emphasis on resource scarcity and more. If you had read source study, they would've answered this question for you.

“It is well known that socioeconomic disparities between White Americans and racial minorities expand dramatically under conditions of economic scarcity,” says David Amodio, the study’s senior author and an associate professor in NYU’s Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science. “Our findings indicate that scarcity changes the way that the people visually perceive another person’s race, and that this perceptual distortion can contribute to disparities.”

“The study’s findings point to a new challenge to discrimination reduction since perceptual effects appear to operate without a person’s awareness,” adds co-author Amy Krosch, a doctoral candidate in NYU’s Department of Psychology. “People typically assume that what they see is an accurate representation of the world, so if their initial perceptions of race are actually distorted by economic factors, people may not even realize the potential for bias.”

www.nyu.edu...

Also as a note, it takes repeat studies that confirm the same premise to prove the validity of said premise. That is the way that the sciences work, including social sciences.