Exo

Myself included.

I'm not racist in the slightest. I feel people vastly confuse racism and stereotyping though. If I get cut off by a mini van near me, I'm more inclined to believe that either the person behind the wheel is either Asian or Indian. Why? Because it's generally true where I live. That's just observation. However, if I felt that all Indian and Asian people should have their licenses taken away, that'd be racist.

I define racism as treating somebody different, usually negatively, JUST because of their race. Association, while still a bit socially unacceptable, isn't racist. It just isn't.

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SUPREME POO BAH MODERATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

DwnWthVwls

Let me ask you this (I've brought it up before on here). When you are telling a story to your friends about someone who isn't white do you always feel the need to point out their race? I feel this is a kind of sub-conscious racism that a lot people do, and it's not even offensive.

Some random white person: "and my friend Jimmy, this black guy, yada yada yada" -- I know a TON of people who do this, and when I've called them out on it they just look confused. Unless race is relevant to the story why do people feel the need to point it out?

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I don't got a god complex, you got a simple god...

The Batlord

Picture a random person in your head RIGHT NOW. Is that person white? Are they male? People tend to think of themselves when they picture the baseline human, so when they're talking about someone not of their race -- especially when they're with other people of their own race, who also think of random people as being their own race and sex -- then they subconsciously feel the need to clarify for the sake of storytelling.

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Cuthbert

Same here. Not your particular example, but the crux of your post rings true for me also.

John Wilkes Booth

nonsense.

ChelseaDagger

Well articulated.

I hate how talking heads/political figures/etc. are always shouting about how we need to "have an honest talk about racism; we have to talk honestly about race, race race race" til they're blue in the face, but every time an actual dialogue starts, in pop all the PC hall monitors to make sure everything goes according to a preapproved script. Everyone ends up shouting over each other indignantly but nobody really says anything. Because they've been conditioned not to...

This video says it all to me... Although certainly a few monsters have been offended by it

E5I5O

Not Isil, but, yeah - it's grown quite a bit. I want to get it to ZZ Top status. Not really a ZZ Top fan but I like letting my beard grow.

You're right. people don't even realize it's racist, but it is.

I'm racist, but not in a bad way. I just feel you can learn a lot about people through race. I'm not afraid of the subject. I don't feel it's ever beneficial to a person to be afraid or sensitive about anything. Sure, you can use diplomacy and discretion when need be, but if you're a good person and genuinely try hard to do the right, then why should you be afraid of or sensitive to anything? Don't let somebody else's negativite feelings create negative feelings in you - you're doing yourself a great disservice if you do so. It's called being insecure, and that's not good.

I feel that focusing on race too much though, whether it be not hiring someone or not selling them a house because you don't want those people in your work place or neighborhood, or wanting to meet the criteria of what you feel is racial balance in the work place or college is also racism (affirmative action) - those people you select are called tokens. And that also is not a good thing.

DwnWthVwls

Emojis come with skin tones. Racism.

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I don't got a god complex, you got a simple god...

Exo

I try not to but it happens. Mostly when the fact that he's black makes the story better. My ex boss is black and if I'm telling a story about his reaction I'll mention his race because face it, black people are funnier than white people.

Elaborate.

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John Wilkes Booth

well.. i think your definition of racism is basically inaccurate

you are only including one part of racism in your definition, which is actively seeking to undermine the rights of another race

racism can be strictly ideological

and it can be strictly based on stereotyping

imo anyway... based on the way the word is actually defined.

so you need not be hostile towards the other race to be racist. or even treat them differently. you only need to believe that they have some inferior quality to your own race, such as if you think asians are inherently bad drivers... that's by definition a racist belief regardless of how you treat them

to be fair i'll say that you are right though that just guessing that using statistics to guess the race of a person isn't necessarily racist

but i just disagreed with what you said about how you actually define racism

dunno why i was so antagonistic about it though... i honestly barely remember making that post

so my apologies in that regard