Racism on ATS: an open discussion

As much as I do not want to bring forth a thread that is inevitably going to turn into hateful banter and ignorance filled rhetoric , I feel it is better to keep this discussion in the public domain versus the ‘backroom’ dialoged so many closeted racists love to hide behind.

Lately, racism on ATS has hit an all-time high, from my perspective, and I am not sure if this has to do with us having a president that is identified as Black, or if there are other reasons involved. Either way I am sick of it and have decided to bring a discussion forth in hopes of clearing the air of this closet racist mentality.

I originally planned on doing, and still may do, a thread on the conspiracy of racism in America and how it has been deliberately incited and encouraged by TPTB so to divide and conquer our society as a whole for economic and imperialistic reasons, but because of the sheer massiveness of that subject I have decided to preceded that thread with this one.

If you are racist then come forth and state how you truly feel! This is not intended to be a discussion of only one side of racism, but rather it is for all of you racists out there whether you are Black, White, Brown or Green.

If you feel that ‘Black’ or ‘Brown’ people are getting a free ride in America, or are lazy, unproductive, and/or unworthy of certain privileges that you enjoy, or do not enjoy, as I have so often seen mentioned on here, then tell us why you feel this way.

If you feel that ‘White’ people are narcissistic, greedy, filthy savages and devils who are hell bent on robbing other peoples land and destroying their cultures, as I have often heard throughout my life (not necessarily on here), then please step forth and tell us why you feel this way.

“If you are a racist then I prefer for you to address me in that same manner, there is nothing I dislike more than a man who smiles in my face and shakes my hand in public, but behind closed doors still conspires against my kind.” - Malcolm X

If you are an honest and sincere individual than speak your mind, DO NOT HIDE NOW and run to another thread to continue your indirect/direct racism! This is your chance to voice your opinion and stand for what you believe in! My only request is for you to please keep your language within the parameters set forth by the T&C (for your own good of course).

Begin discussion...

im not a racist im a humanist,i hate everybody equally, im an equal opportunity hater lol

reply to post by LifeIsEnergy


What is your point with this thread? You should probably state why you want to find out who is racist or not. All you are doing is providing a forum for a huge fight that will accomplish nothing at all.

And I didn't know there was a conspiracy regarding racism in America. I am currently in the middle of writing a paper about slavery from the viewpoint of Fredrick Douglas, great book by the way, and it was pretty much well know and out there.

I'd like to see how you twist it into a conspiracy theory.

I do not consider myself racist, though I may have tendencies. Such as I do not find very dark skinned attractive. I don't know why, and many of my friends are dark like this. Is it considered racism if I don't theyre any less than someone else though? And also, a recent study shows that even monkeys can be racist.
www.scientificamerican.com... The link showing the study.

I've been labelled a bigot, therefore I am a bigot...

reply to post by LifeIsEnergy

I think we should all live together in peace. We are all brothers.
Sadly it will never happen.

reply to post by chancemusky


I like your honesty and sincerity, that is something we all can appreciate. Star for you.

Maybe someone would like to address this issue Chance is having? Many people feel the same way.


And if you are unaware of a conspiracy to incite and encourage racism here in America by wealthy elitists and people in power, than I must ask, have you had your head under the covers? (oh, sorry this was not intended to be a KKK joke. lol...)

Well I certainly don't hate anyone because of their race; however, if telling the truth about race makes me a racist (a great deal of people think so), then I suppose I am a racist.

Im definitively not a racist. I even took the test and passed.

implicit.harvard.edu...

People should be judged on their individual merits or failings, in my opinion, and I am not too lazy to do so.

However I will admit that I am a little biased by how someone dresses. Not the rich/poor thing, but if someone dresses in such a way as to make the statement "I wanna be a gangsta" I dont care what color they are, I will avoid them if at all possible. Yes, they might not actually BE gangsta, but I really dont like posers either. Its win win for me.

Life

In 1963 while a sophomore in high school I began wearing one white and one black tennis shoe at the same time as my first political statement in favor of integration. For a long while, well over a decade, I thought the USA was on it's way to eliminating racism.

Then one day I realized I was racist.

Racists do not know they are racist. We always have reasons, well thought out and justifiable reasons for our beliefs. In many cases we know racism is wrong but we aren't racists we just see things like they really are.

Life, you have opened an insidious box here. But one worth opening.

No telling the truth is never a bad thing, however, what you define as a truth may not be all that true, or maybe it is. Please elaborate.

And come'on passing some harvard test means nothing. lol....

I originally planned on doing, and still may do, a thread on the conspiracy of racism in America and how it has been deliberately incited and encouraged by TPTB so to divide and conquer our society as a whole for economic and imperialistic reasons, but because of the sheer massiveness of that subject I have decided to preceded that thread with this one.

What makes you think TPTB are encouraging racism? If anything, they want cooperation.

reply to post by LifeIsEnergy


Racism is good for business. It feuls political anger, promotes social agendas and is the straw man in practically every argument.
True racism is fading in the world. Every generation, it's ability to hold sway gets weaker. But politicans bring it up to further their own personal agendas.
Sure, we have a black president, but criticizing his policies isn't racist, unless he brings race into the debate.

I honestly feel that if politicians didn't bring racism every other day, then it would be a vanishing issue. I have faith that most people disregard racism and for those that don't?
They'll eventually die and leave their hatred behind.

I assume this Thread is what set you off...or broke the camel's back? As stated in the thread, it had nothing to do with being racist, just talking points and what people thought of it.

While you claim that everyone that has an opinion that is biased or not towards a particular race is racist, I am for EQUALITY. I don't think any race should have any sort of advantage over another. Whether or not they get reserve land for PAST genocide as a meager token of apology, or affirmative action garbage in the workplace. Like I have said in previous threads when I have been labelled a racist, I don't care what colour, gender, sexual orientation, religion or where you came from...if you are the best qualified for the job than I would want that person hired. Equality does not equal racism.

PS- Reverse racism is stupid in my mind..people that use that term seem to hold their own race in higher esteem...racism is racism...it doesn't matter who is on the short end of the stick.

Although I'm not sure I have noticed a rise in racism on ATS it certainly wouldn't be surprising with the times we are living through at the moment.
Poverty breeds anger and politicians just love to deflect the anger away from the legitimate targets i.e. them and onto another easy target, which is usually immigrants. We have seen politicians make a lot of anti immigration speeches in Europe recently including most recently our UK prime minister David Cameron

Being anti Immigration in itself of course doesn't necessarily = racist but it sure helps in creating a "them and us" climate in which racism flourishes

reply to post by TerryMcGuire


Wow, very interesting and valuable words my friend. Thanks!

reply to post by satron


Forget about the whole racism conspiracy thing for now, we can discuss that in another thread, sorry I even mentioned it. lol...

My intention for this thread is to bring honesty to the forefront of our discussions, maybe we can then view our own opinions a little more clearly and see how valid they actually are. Do not be paranoid, being a racist is not illegal.

reply to post by AngryOne

Well I certainly don't hate anyone because of their race; however, if telling the truth about race makes me a racist (a great deal of people think so), then I suppose I am a racist.

Telling the truth as one sees it is not a racist action. Telling it AS the truth is. Continuing on your thought, not hearing the truth about ones OWN race does make one a racist.

reply to post by LifeIsEnergy


Why can't people not like the President solely on the fact that he is not doing a good job at all? President Bush was hated so much on this site and still is and nobody ever accused the people who spoke out against him as being racist.

Racism is usually seen by people who are themselves racist. Playing the race card has been in the past a debate stopper. It was just a way to throw people off and make them defend themselves. Now that card has been played so many times its as useless as a 1 dollar bill. People have stopped being scared of it and that is the only reason you are seeing racism as a problem now.

People are simply not scared of it any longer and it no longer throws them on the defense.

I was accused, have been accused, and continue to be accused of racism because of my opposition to President Obama. Since the OP specifically addressed the issue, I'll say it one more time, just as I said it the other night:

ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ME A FEW DAYS AGO:

SERIOUS allegations have been made against the President, and I think he owes it to the American people to give us the answers we seek. If he has nothing to hide, why has he spent over 2 million dollars trying to keep the BC - if there is one - under wraps? This is not just idle curiosity on my part. If the President is a liar, fraud, and felon, then I think we need to know about it. I would do the same for ANY candidate for political office - REGARDLESS OF SKIN COLOR.

Just in case you missed it in the other thread, I want you to know that I consider racism to be the UGLIEST emotion on the planet. I named my first-born son after one of my personal heroes - Gen. Colin Powell - because he is the embodiment of honor, decency, and sacrifice. He is the perfect example of Dr. King's most famous quote:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

POST CONTINUES:

Dr. King was a great man. Colin Powell is a great man. Of all the people I can think of in the history of the world, these two men command my respect the most.

For you, or anyone else, to insinuate that my reasons for opposing Obama have anything to do with racism makes me extremely angry. I hope you can get past that, understanding that while we obviously disagree on the ISSUE, the color of the man's skin has NO ROLE WHATSOEVER in my thought process.

Proof that I named my son after Gen. Powell:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/667330e02724.jpg[/atsimg]

An apology would be nice.

Of course, no apology was forthcoming, and I was told I would not get one until I admitted that Obama was a "natural born citizen" who was born in Hawaii. What do the two issues have to do with one another, and why does an apology for calling me a racist hang on me admitting Obama was born in Hawaii?

To be completely honest, I think the racism is coming from the OTHER side of the argument and they are too ashamed to admit it.

Now I'm not going to spend all night in this thread defending myself; I'm in the middle of editing my interview with the astronomer today and I can't be bothered right now; but. I feel that this post makes it pretty doggone clear how I feel about racism. If anyone can't accept what I've stated as the truth, then all I can say is they they have real problems.

reply to post by LifeIsEnergy


You try it and see how you do. The test is designed to test unconscious bias, and its a pretty good design.

Even before I took the test I knew I wasnt racist, however. I grew up in a place very racist against MY ethnicity, and while in many cases that will turn you into a racist, I was raised in foster care by a family of the ethnicity that hated my race. (The family didnt of course) And I was one of very few people of my ethnicity in the area, and so all my friends were also of the ethnicity that hated mine.

So I did not have the luxury of deluding myself into thinking "all of those guys are bad and we are good." Iearned that people are individual, and you have to take them one by one. I also learned that racism begets racism, even sometimes against your own race. And that only a lucky few have their life arranged in such a way that they "get it" well and truly.

I have also found that many "anti racist" activists are sometimes some of the most racist people going. Its a way to obsess about race without allowing yourself to realize why you want to.