Aliens and Racism

This isn’t meant as Racism or Discrimination. We should respect each other just the way we are! But let us be!


Aliens and Racism.

Racism is a commonly used word and I personally think that Discrimination is a better word. Racism means nothing more than distinguishing different races. Discriminating is when you judge on people which are different than you or the group or race you belong to. So, if you are a racist, does it also mean that you are discriminating? Isn’t respecting your own race and other races or tribes also a form of racism? Making a difference between races doesn’t mean the one or the other is better, it’s just acknowledging the differences. It doesn’t matter if you believe in Evolution or in God, there must be a reason why there are different races. Racism is also very accepted in the animal kingdom. Just the variety in Bears or Dogs is in my opinion self-explanatory. What if you discover a tribe in the Amazon that never has seen modern man and his technology. Would you respect them and leave them as they are or would you build an Express-way with Mc-Donalds and a Mall in their village? So is the globalisation a form of discrimination? Discriminating yourself? Putting your Roots and History beside?

What about aliens? How do we react to them? If these two blokes in the threads below were/are really aliens, not so good…
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
Do we, if we finally have contact, mix in their politics with the US approach like;
“Either you’re with us, or you’re with the terrorists”?
What do they think about our multi-cultural society? And if they were humanlike, would we interbreed without thinking about the consequenses and possible complications both physical and mental? Did and do we in the past and present?


Once again, this isn’t meant as Racism or Discrimination. We should respect each other just the way we are! But let us be!

Peace my friends!

Good post, excellent idea for discussion.

I'd say the first reaction will be overwhelming fear and panic. Maybe not EVERYONE will panic, but many will, and that panicked mass is going to go out of it's way to cause all sorts of hysteria.

After that, if we can get over it, and it turns out they aren't here to barbeque us all, and they want to make peace and live with us or something, then the next step I believe is racism.

If the Prawns have taught us anything, it's that if it looks different, it's worthless and has no feelings.

But the Prawns have feelings, people of other races have feelings, people from all times and places have feelings.

So there is no reason to assume any different about aliens. I believe they will be much like us, they have a job, they are astronauts of some kind, and they probably also have a home planet, and therefore a home, maybe they have a family.

Well I don't exactly know where I can going with all this, but I do think we will be racist as hell against them, and I think District 9 shows a fabulous idea of what the alien apartheid will look like.

People try to complex racism and its meaning but it really simple: skin color. It amazes me how people make big deals of it, create hate groups based on beliefs established by race, and try to judge others because of it when all of us are humans and if there are aliens, they will not side with a certain race but enslave the entire human population (endorsing the popular theory here) as a whole. There is nothing wrong with noticing the differences between races but there is a line in that observation. Also, since we live in a multi-cultural society, we are more similar than one would think as all have characteristics that one could point to a culture as the origin of that aspect. Pop culture is filled with different aspects of different cultures and races.

Racism is not distinguishing the different races. If that were true, what would separate us from the real racists? Animals do not give a crap about race. They are not that complex or concerned. Racism is the frank ignorance people have in regards to other people because of their race.

Though racism is discrimination, general discrimination is a bit different because general discrimination can be against anything from woman to dogs about anything, whereas racism is mostly, if not only, skin color. Discrimination often does not come with firm beliefs but ignorant ideas and minor misconception about certain things. Take for instance, the idea that women cannot fight vs a specific race you dislike is the reason for all your troubles. The first is general discrimination because it is not an actual perception but a misconception about women. The second is an actual belief based on dumb theories founded on history misinterpreted such as Hitler blaming Jews for the Germans' misery when it was far more complex than that.

How do we react to aliens? It depends. Some of us will undoubtedly follow the trend and worship them. Others will be disgusted with them if they are not appealing or unattractive. Some will be skeptical. But as a whole, I would not want aliens, if exist, to see us because people have yet to evolve out of stupid cages like racism.

Originally posted by DevilJin
People try to complex racism and its meaning but it really simple: skin color.

There is more than just skin. pathologists can determine by just looking at the skull what race it is. There are also differences in several other features like size, hair-growth and others.

A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of a decedent through various skeletal analyses that produce a "biological profile". One part to a biological profile is a person's racial/ancestral affinity.

en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by DevilJin
Racism is not distinguishing the different races. If that were true, what would separate us from the real racists? Animals do not give a crap about race. They are not that complex or concerned. Racism is the frank ignorance people have in regards to other people because of their race.

Do Kodiak Bears mate wit Polar Bears?
Why do people pay lots of dollars for a pure Race and you can get a Bastard for free when it concerns Dogs?

Racism begins when a certain non-indigenous group of people attempts to inject its culture in a place where it is not the norm. Although skin color is an easy thing to point to (and therefore dismiss), the fact is, different races harbor different cultural values, habits, and inclinations that are only altered by the "new" environment. This serves to confuse these non-indigenous races with the "ideal", but is the exception not the rule.

With aliens, I doubt there will be a huge level of racial hostility, simply because there will be little confusion about whether they're alien. With humans, there is this silly expectation that we're all the same, even though physical, mental, and cultural differences require more work to ignore than not.

As far as racism and aliens go, I don't think we have the slightest idea what the likely outcome would be. When you speak of terrestrial racism there are way to many topics, discussion and mountains of research for me to go into. It's all ignorance though.
Something as significant as ET contact would void any of our standard reactions towards race and/or ethnicity. As stated above, I'm sure fear and panic would set in with the jumpy crowd first. Once the initial shock wears off I believe (at least hope) that we are advanced enough to understand the implications of ET contact, what they could teach us, what we could teach each other. If anything I would hope that ET contact would quell the racial tensions that already exist on this planet, kind of the unification that we need, finally proof that we are really connected on this small piece of watery rock.

I was wondering, after reading some reactions; how would the world react if Aliens visited us and it turned out that they are racists?

Originally posted by Erich Kemper

Originally posted by DevilJin
People try to complex racism and its meaning but it really simple: skin color.

There is more than just skin. pathologists can determine by just looking at the skull what race it is. There are also differences in several other features like size, hair-growth and others.

A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of a decedent through various skeletal analyses that produce a "biological profile". One part to a biological profile is a person's racial/ancestral affinity.

en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by DevilJin
Racism is not distinguishing the different races. If that were true, what would separate us from the real racists? Animals do not give a crap about race. They are not that complex or concerned. Racism is the frank ignorance people have in regards to other people because of their race.

Do Kodiak Bears mate wit Polar Bears?
Why do people pay lots of dollars for a pure Race and you can get a Bastard for free when it concerns Dogs?

What does pathologists have to do with an ordinary person hating another person of a different race? You really think racists are that scientific about their beliefs? All they talk about surrounds screwed up views on nationalism. What you are discussing were once talked about when racism was mixed with intellectualism but that is not the case anymore. Racism is simplified now - you're this color or you're an immigrant and this color, etc. so I hate you.

As for the Bears - how do that relate to race exactly? A Brown Bear vs. a Grizzly Bear - the latter would win easily as the former would stand down because the latter is far more aggressive. Any of these bears see a dog - they will be alarmed and attack or warn the dog.

You mean why do people pay more for a purebred than a mutt?

Obviously because that purebred is desired for its designed purpose. You do not get a pitbull to do sledding - you get a Husky. You don't get a Maltese to guard - you get an American Bulldog. You do not get an English bulldog to do a Border Collie's job. All dogs were designed for a specific purpose.

Humans are more complex than that, and if you train a human to be intelligent, or a killer, or neglect them to be an idiot, there is little end to what you can design a human to be.

Originally posted by Erich Kemper
I was wondering, after reading some reactions; how would the world react if Aliens visited us and it turned out that they are racists?

How can aliens be racists if they are not human? That is like being racist against a Dalmatian. They can be prejudiced or discriminating but not racist.

reply to post by DevilJin


And what if they have several races on their planet that live divided but in peace and harmony with each other? What if their society acknowledged and accepted that they differ too much from each other in order to have a multi cultural society and therefore only live in their own original region and only breed with their own race so their species and culture don't get disrupted.

[edit on 23-9-2009 by Erich Kemper]

reply to post by DevilJin


Question, are you an evolutionist or a creationist?


General Question for the creationists reading this topic.
What was the reason God/Allah/Buddha/Aliens/Whatever created several races on this planet?
Is it "God's Will" to maintain these races or is God/.../... in favour of a multi-cultural society?

reply to post by Erich Kemper


awesome thread in the way you are helping an open ET dialogue by asking a simple (yet visionary) question. well done. There is no right or wrong answer in such a question - well done. more people should S&F this!

Haha, I should have read the whole post before to say exactly the same thing as you =p

[edit on 23/9/2009 by agnain]

I watched district 9 yesterday, was very interesting look at racism between humans and aliens. worth a watch

Originally posted by watchZEITGEISTnow
more people should S&F this!

I expected a little more S&F, but that is not why I started this thread. I expected at least some more reactions.


Here are some more thoughts;

Another thing is adaptation. Who has to adapt to who's society, globally and interplanetary. And are you prepared to accept the differences our Aliens friends will bring with them if they would be your future neighbour?
Would you adapt?

I think someone posted the correct way of looking at this earlier in this thread. At some point in this regard it is no longer an issue of race. It becomes then issues of Species and and of Sentience. For the most part, the Human race finds other species on this planet fairly benign except when deposited into instances where the "food chain" is prevalent and wary survival instincts kick in which is inherently latent and dormant for the most part in our illusory world of secure domestication and provence. We are "civilized". Our collective psyche or egos seem to have difficulty wrapping our mind's machinations around the idea of other species having sentience on this planet let alone from outside the planet or it's dimensions. Although I think we might be surprised and humbled in both those regards.

Cheers,

Erik

At the surface, this thread reminds me of the show "Alien Nation" of way back. This 1 season show dealt with the situation of two planetary cultures attempting to live together, and the race issues that developed. I think the way it was presented would very likely be the way it would be. Some would champion "equality" some would fight to repress. The rest would try to go on living ignoring the rest. Much the same as Humanity has done for thousands of years.