Quote:
Originally Posted by Rubato
You're applying a sweeping generalization to a specific race of people, so yes I'd file that under racism. If you dislike them because they're whiny bitches that's fine but why does race have to come into it?
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If I were to call it a general impression that influences my initial stance regarding a group of people, it would be more accurate. As I said, I am sure there are plenty of great romanians out there, but my experiences have biased me against dealing with them. It's exactly the same as someone saying "I dislike all superfans of Justin Bieber, because my experience with them is that they are all hyperactive bimbos with no taste in music". There might be some great people out there who are Justin Bieber superfans, but if the first thing you hear about someone is that they like Justin Bieber, your initial reaction is still going to be "uh oh". It's
exactly the same thing.
This,
Unknown Soldier, is also an answer to your post. The two are very different. Racism is discrimination against someone for no reason other than that they are not you, essentially. It doesn't matter what they are like, but if they are black, you don't like them, for example. My example, and Darren Scully's example, is "I don't like them, because every single experience I have had with them has been negative and I am honestly tired of this happening".
People make judgements all the time, about everything. We know you can generally tell a lot about the kind of person who drives a massive car, we take it as a given that you can say much about a person who likes reading celebrity gossip magazines. To extend this further in the direction of nationality, we all have predispositions about peoples' nationalities based on media and experiences. Is it wrong to do so, if as a rule, it's generally right? Is it wrong to say that Irish people tend to like their drink, that French people tend to be really grumbly about foreigners speaking English in France? Are any of those things
racist?
I would say that they are not, because nationality is simply another grouping, which can be used to make a reasonable assumption about someone, because there your culture has a huge effect on your personality. if I were hating on them just because they were Romanian, and regardless of whether they turned out to be like that or not I still disliked them because they were Romanian, then yes, then I would be being racist, but that's not what I'm doing, and it's not what Darren Scully did either.