Why are people still racist today?

reply to post by NathanNewZealand

Well, I live in New Zealand, and even though the maori and pacific island populations over here are very low, they account for over 90% of our inmates, and our beneficiaries and our criminal statistics. so how could this be if we are all the same? A? Got an answer for that?

Yes, I do.

Some people came from across the seas, colonized their country, steamrolled their culture with a sturdier and more powerful one, fought them with superior weapons and organization, stole their land, marginalized them and made them second-class citizens. They then - having been thoroughly demoralized and reduced in numbers by aggression and disease - had to start all over from scratch, with a thousand institutionalized disadvantages, in an unfamiliar culture, among and in competition with people who despised them. So they haven't got over these disadvantages yet, and it shows in your prison statistics, educational achievement statistics and all the rest. Which is just what you might expect.

If the tables had been turned and you instead of they were on the bottom, would you feel the same way as you do now? And how would you justify it?

Got an answer for that?

reply to post by andy1033


In my observation yes they do exist. I have spent 20 plus years away from my home town and I am back now. Upon my return it is obvious it's not cool or accepted to be just a white boy anymore. That is OK with me because I am fine with who I am and where I came from. It seems to me that I am surrounded by people who are not happy with who they are. They also strive to be something they are not. I am a white middle aged man living in city full of folks like these. I thought at first it was just me. No, I am a very cultured individual that has traveled the globe and have seen several ethnic groups and how they interact with each other. I have yet to see this behavior from any other race than my own. Why? Who knows. There are probably several reasons for this stima and to ponder it boggles the mind. All I know is it is quite annoying and I am going to still be me. That I can be sure of.

[edit on 6-9-2008 by sqid4life]

Some people came from across the seas, colonized their country, steamrolled their culture with a sturdier and more powerful one, fought them with superior weapons and organization, stole their land, marginalized them and made them second-class citizens. They then - having been thoroughly demoralized and reduced in numbers by aggression and disease - had to start all over from scratch, with a thousand institutionalized disadvantages, in an unfamiliar culture, among and in competition with people who despised them. So they haven't got over these disadvantages yet, and it shows in your prison statistics, educational achievement statistics and all the rest. Which is just what you might expect.

If the tables had been turned and you instead of they were on the bottom, would you feel the same way as you do now? And how would you justify it?

Got an answer for that?

Yes. It's known as Social Darwinism.

I think you're confusing trolling for racism. Much of what you hear on there isn't really meant to be serious or a reflection of they feel - it's just random ****-talk to get on your nerves, arouse a laugh, or psyche you out before a game. I know I'm certainly guilty of making fun of people's British accents, but the truth is I love em. Especially hearing a woman speak with a British accent, it's very sexy I think. I'm sure as hell not going to tell you that if you're just a random encounter in the pre-game lobby though. I'll just blame the accent on your bad teeth ya limy bastard.

[edit on 5-9-2008 by Lasheic]

Correct for alot of the time, but there are penty of people who quite literally hate British people and our cultures.

As long as ppls notice differences between others there will be racism.
And main reason why there is still racism is that ppls think too easily that someone is being racist to you, like some ppls might say something they didn't mean as offense and other person say "your racist" and usually in this case it doesn't take long till ppls start insulting each others.

Racism is provoked by television, media, social archtypes.

For all the racists out there I have a single question for you to ponder on.

How can you take a single drop of water from the entire ocean and say it is any more important that any other drop of water in that ocean?

Everyone bleeds. Everyone dies. Everyone breathes. Everyone eats. Everyone drinks. Regardless of color, ethnic roots, culture, we are brothers and sisters on this planet and should learn to appriciate and respect our differances instead of allowing our minds to be raped of their common sense.

The answer is simple. It's due to ignorance, fear and family tradition.

reply to post by billyjoinedat2k8


Because it serves a purpose. Race is the easiest way to divide people.

Then next comes wealth, inherited genes, perceived social class.

Then clothes, music, cars etc.

Stop the ride, I want to get off? Don't get on in the first place.

I'm Sinti, my Sister is also and has English/Gypsy kids ( oh the shame.._javascript:icon('')) ,my parents aren't sure, my wife is Sicilian, my mother in law is German/Swiss, my Father in law is Indonesian, my son is the future and you are beautiful.

peace



[edit on 6-9-2008 by Sam Vimes]

It's really about eugenics.


From Hitler to the indigenous tribes... it's been about eugenics all along.

Originally posted by TruthParadox
I think that most "racism" isn't racism at all. I know a lot of guys that just like the 'rough talk' and so they say the 'N' word (GASP), as well as 'cracker'. They don't mean it as racism and most people they talk to, black or white, don't take it as racism. For something to truly be racist, the person stating the remarks has to mean it in a derogatory way. Many people see others joking around and having fun and might pick up on something someone says and call it racist when it isn't racist at all.
We live in a society where:
Poo = G rated
Crap = PG rated (or is it TV-14)
S*** = R rated

They all have the same meaning. The meaning means nothing, only the way in which it is stated. And most 'racist' remarks are said in a joking manner with no hatred involved. It's easy to tell when there is hate backing a word or if there is no hate.

This is true, but I do not think this is the situation. Let's use youtube for example, there are some vids that are offensive to some people, but when you read the comments you know exactly where racism stands in society. Some of the comments on youtube are shocking to say the least. As a person who tries to surround myself with love and positivity, you see things in the world that challenges your positive energies.

There is ALOT more racism out there than many think. People hide it, mostly because of fear of being called a racist. No one wants to be considered a racist. They keep their true feelings and thoughts to themselves because of this. They do not want to be labeled something mostly everyone, considers "bad."

I remember one of my friends who was in love with a girl. The girls' parents were cool with them just as friends, but the instant they got together and made it official...the parents gave zero support. The girl was even threatened by her father to leave him, because he was black. He was shocked, because he did not think her parents were that way. Trust me...racism is VERY much alive...in people's hearts and thoughts.

reply to post by raggedhole

Yes. It's known as Social Darwinism.

A psuedoscience much beloved of racists and fascists, which is supported neither by the work of Darwin nor by modern evolutionary theory.

reply to post by Astyanax


To expound on this a bit, here's what Darwin actually had to say on it.

With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would formerly have succumbed to small-pox. Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man himself, hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.

This is the (out of context) quote many Social Darwinists love to use from what I've seen. It's also a favorite of creationists to show how evil Evolution is. You generally never hear the very next segment of it, however.

The aid which we feel impelled to give to the helpless is mainly an incidental result of the instinct of sympathy, which was originally acquired as part of the social instincts, but subsequently rendered, in the manner previously indicated, more tender and more widely diffused. Nor could we check our sympathy, even at the urging of hard reason, without deterioration in the noblest part of our nature. The surgeon may harden himself whilst performing an operation, for he knows that he is acting for the good of his patient; but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with an overwhelming present evil.

~ From Darwin's Descent of Man

While Darwin recognized that his theories could also apply to mankind, he recognized the dangers and inherent evil in letting mankind ignore our urges for compassion, sympathy, and tolerance of our fellow man. While I have no doubt that Darwin harbored racist thoughts (most everyone did in his days), he evidently did not see his theory as a justification for shedding all that was good and noble in the human character. It's a shame that what he put forth as a warning, was twisted and eventually taken up as a rallying call for racial/genetic purification.

IIRC, Darwin was also a strong advocate of missionary work to help improve the lives of native peoples. So he most definitely did not accept the suffering of his fellow man as selection is process. Whatever racism he harbored from his culture obviously did not prevent him from feeling compassion and sympathy for the "savage peoples" of the world.


On a personal note: Part of the reason I like the theory of evolution so much is, not just because it's so elegant and insightful, but because it confirms what many ancient cultures had been saying for millenia. We are all brothers and sisters. Every man, to every woman, to all species of life - we are all related to one another. Brother Wolf, Brother Eagle... these weren't just spiritual ramblings - they were the truth. Unlike Creationism where there is no connection between species (or races, in some cases), and thus - no deeper connection to nature or each other aside from domination decreed by god.

So hey... ancient wisdom actually did get something factually right (sort of) after all!

[edit on 7-9-2008 by Lasheic]

ive read a couple of posts here but im just completyely stunned that some of you can actually just say oh ye im a racist i dont get how you can say that about yourself and just be fine ith that its completely beyond me.

im 100% not racist or atleast i try my best not to be because its completely wrong everyone should realize that or any sort of discriimination is wrong.

reply to post by Xilvius


"Well Said"

reply to post by Lasheic

A good picture of Darwin's ideas on race can be gleaned from The Voyage of the Beagle. There is no doubt he accepted the then-conventional view of the differential advancement and development of peoples; from his descriptions of encounters with folk of different races throughout the book, however, it is easy to see that his feelings towards them were those of a tender-hearted liberal of his time, which is what he was. He treated everyone he met, regardless of ethnicity, in purely human, individual terms. This applied even to his encounters with the Fuegan Indians, whom he thought the most primitive of savages.

Oddly enough, the only people he really seemed to dislike were the Maoris.

reply to post by mopusvindictus


Well being that you are of the Caucasian persuasion, and probably live in America(or some other stolen land Aussie,Canada,South America, Isreal) by your logic shouldn't you be painting your body or wearing long braids or something? So as integrate yourself in the mainstream of the Native population? You want your Anglo European culture so bad, go to Europe. Just because you call it a new name and live there awhile(and kill all the natives) doesn't make it your country pardner. And jewish is not some seperate race, it's a religion. No people actually from the mid east region have names like weisberg(germanic) rothstein or kalishnakov(khazarian georgian russian). Nor do the peoples indigenous to that region including the ones of Jewish faith look like your average"lipschitz".

reply to post by mopusvindictus


sorry ats but that post by mopus vindictus IS racist(if it quacks like a duck). Giving it a name like"culturism" doesn't change what your talking about. Just like the word "urban" now means that poor black neighborhood down the street in the msm. same shizzle different dizzle.lol

Originally posted by billyjoinedat2k8
ive read a couple of posts here but im just completyely stunned that some of you can actually just say oh ye im a racist i dont get how you can say that about yourself and just be fine ith that its completely beyond me.

im 100% not racist or atleast i try my best not to be because its completely wrong everyone should realize that or any sort of discriimination is wrong.

Then you must never, under any circumstances, no matter how much it offends you, discriminate against a racist.

You must tolerate his opinions and his right to express them without criticising or deriding them in any way, otherwise you are just as bad as he is.

Let me just say that BET (black entertainment television) is allowed on television. If there was a WET(white entertainment television) allowed on television it would be an injustice. I am not racist but there are certain ethnic groups that are the most racist of all and act like they are the victims. I am not talking about everyone either.

The main reason people are still racist is their upbringing. People believe that since their family was racist ( i.e. southerners ) they should be to carry on the family line. They dont allow themselves to think on their own they just follow the flow of things as they are told they should be. Its ruining the country.