MoonlitSunshine

Not necessarily true. If he is against multi-culturalism because he doesn't want any whites/blacks/jews/muslims/etc. in his country because he doesn't like that they are whites/blacks/ etc. etc., then yes, he isn't opposed to racism. If he is entirely against immigration because diversity causes social problems and he feels that they inhibit his ability to live his life the way he wants to, that's not necessarily racism. It's still not (necessarily) RIGHT, but he may be taking issue with them over their actions, rather than their race or creed.

To give you an example, I do some community management for a german games company, and every single community manager working for them groans whenever a romanian player is involved in something they are trying to sort out, because they are almost without fail knowingly cheating, and then proceed to lie, or pretend not to understand, and are perfectly happy to do unto others what they will instantly cry about someone else doing to them. Is that racism? Not by my book, because it's not because they're romanian that we don't like them, but because virtually every romanian we come across is a bloody annoying whiny bitch. I'm sure there are many great romanians out there, but it doesn't stop me from applying a general rule based on my own experiences.

__________________
"I found it eventually, at the bottom of a locker in a disused laboratory, with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard". Ever thought of going into Advertising?"

- Arthur Dent

Janszoon

I'm not talking arguments he's made in this particular thread, I'm saying generally speaking he's a flaming racist and proud of it. I thought that was common knowledge to be honest.

__________________
A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Unknown Soldier

I agree the racism card is played too quickly too often and can often cause racism where it really doesn't exist, as always a degree of common sense is always needed. As you know the ocurrences with Liverpool FC have been so blown out of proportion and a good example.

Both the points you've raised above are actually the same thing, how do you actually differentiate between the two? The whole argument of a racist is usually based on how different ethnic groups inhibit is way of life. Its normally all racist goes on about!

It is common knowledge, but he tends to play the economics card to try and throw people off.

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? if you paid more attention to the colour of peoples shirts I'm sure you'd make some observations and form a bias around that too, just like when people see the same numbers crop up when they start looking for them (illuminati conspiracy nuts).

Take the FG Councillor Darren Scully, would you consider his comments racist when he said he'd no longer represent “black Africans”. Is it acceptable because he based it off his own experiences with Africans?
The signs "No Blacks, No Irish No dogs" and "No Irish need apply" were based on peoples experiences with the Irish it doesn't make it any less racist.

MoonlitSunshine

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.

__________________
"I found it eventually, at the bottom of a locker in a disused laboratory, with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard". Ever thought of going into Advertising?"

- Arthur Dent

Janszoon

I have no idea what the context of this Darren Scully conversation is, but I just wanted to point out that the bolded part is how racists invariably justify their position. Nobody believes they look down on some other group of people completely randomly, they always think they have a good reason. That doesn't mean that they are not racist.

__________________
A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Rubato

Well I disagree there, I think making assumptions is the root of the problem. What generally tends to happen is people will base their assumptions on the loudest members of each group, not the significant majority. Walk into any country and you'd be hard pressed to find one walking stereotype.