Do you believe you live in a racist nation?

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C'est Moi said:
But aren't English and Scots the same race? How could that be "racism?"
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Race isn't really a thing. Genetically humans are all one species with what used to be localised variations. In the past people talked about lesser races and this could mean that the Celts were inferior to the Anglo Normans, or the Jews of Europe to the so called Aryan race. It isn't about race; it is about differences and very slight ones at that.

Today we wouldn't think of the former example (Celts v Anglos) as racism but we would probably consider the second example (relating to religion), like Apartheid, to be racist. Today most racism is skin colour or eye shape. When these attitudes are the foundations for discrimination they need to be recognised as a major problem.

It doesn't help to be debating what racism is. We need to attack the disadvantage that is its fellow traveller. We must learn from last century and do better in this one.
 
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Warrigal said:
Race isn't really a thing. Genetically humans are all one species with what used to be localised variations. In the past people talked about lesser races and this could mean that the Celts were inferior to the Anglo Normans, or the Jews of Europe to the so called Aryan race. It isn't about race; it is about differences and very slight ones at that.

Today we wouldn't think of the former example (Celts v Anglos) as racism but we would probably consider the second example (relating to religion), like Apartheid, to be racist. Today most racism is skin colour or eye shape. When these attitudes are the foundations for discrimination they need to be recognised as a major problem.

It doesn't help to be debating what racism is. We need to attack the disadvantage that is its fellow traveller. We must learn from last century and do better in this one.
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I beg your pardon, but if "race isn't really a thing" then why are there "racists?" Not buying what you're selling.
 

C'est Moi said:
I beg your pardon, but if "race isn't really a thing" then why are there "racists?" Not buying what you're selling.
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Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. The concept of race is not a scientific one. It is a social or cultural construct. This article explains what I was referring to better than I did.

https://www.thoughtco.com/scientific-vs-social-definition-of-race-2834954

Scientific and Social Definitions of Race
Debunking the Ideas Behind This Construct
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It's a common belief that race can be broken down into three categories: *****id, Mongoloid and Caucasoid. But according to science, that's not so. While the American concept of race took off in the late 1600s and persists even today, researchers now argue that there’s no scientific basis for race. So, what exactly is race, and what are its origins?

The Difficulty of Grouping People Into Races
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According to John H. Relethford, author of The Fundamentals of Biological Anthropology, race “is a group of populations that share some biological characteristics….These populations differ from other groups of populations according to these characteristics.”

Scientists can divide some organisms into racial categories easier than others, such as those which remain isolated from one another in different environments. In contrast, the race concept doesn’t work so well with humans. That’s because not only do humans live in a wide range of environments, they also travel back and forth between them. As a result, there’s a high degree of gene flow among people groups that make it hard to organize them into discrete categories.

Skin color remains a primary trait Westerners use to place people into racial groups. However, someone of African descent may be the same skin shade as someone of Asian descent. Someone of Asian descent may be the same shade as someone of European descent. Where does one race end and another begin?

In addition to skin color, features such as hair texture and face shape have been used to classify people into races. But many people groups cannot be categorized as Caucasoid, *****id or Mongoloid, the defunct terms used for the so-called three races. Take Native Australians, for instance. Although typically dark-skinned, they tend to have curly hair which is often light colored.

“On the basis of skin color, we might be tempted to label these people as African, but on the basis of hair and facial shape they might be classified as European,” Relethford writes. “One approach has been to create a fourth category, the ‘Australoid.’”

Why else is grouping people by race difficult? The concept of race posits that more genetic variation exists interracially than intra-racially when the opposite is true. Only about 10 percent of variation in humans exists between the so-called races. So, how did the concept of race take off in the West, particularly in the United States?
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There is more to the article but it is lengthy. The basic point is that all humans belong to the same identifiable group and that group is our species, home sapiens.

Why are there racists? IMO because they believe in the concept of race and believe that their 'race' is superior to other races. They see members of these 'other races' as being a threat to them and their way of life. They fear contamination of their gene pool.
 
Warrigal said:
Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. The concept of race is not a scientific one. It is a social or cultural construct. This article explains what I was referring to better than I did.

https://www.thoughtco.com/scientific-vs-social-definition-of-race-2834954


There is more to the article but it is lengthy. The basic point is that all humans belong to the same identifiable group and that group is our species, home sapiens.

Why are there racists? IMO because they believe in the concept of race and believe that their 'race' is superior to other races. They see members of these 'other races' as being a threat to them and their way of life. They fear contamination of their gene pool.
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I agree with all of that in the article. And we all are homo sapiens, humans. The racial terms should be thrown out but they are so ingrained in society it would be hard to do. Yet, it should be done and required education should be taught to all on the subject.
 
Warrigal said:
Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. The concept of race is not a scientific one. It is a social or cultural construct. This article explains what I was referring to better than I did.

https://www.thoughtco.com/scientific-vs-social-definition-of-race-2834954


There is more to the article but it is lengthy. The basic point is that all humans belong to the same identifiable group and that group is our species, home sapiens.

Why are there racists? IMO because they believe in the concept of race and believe that their 'race' is superior to other races. They see members of these 'other races' as being a threat to them and their way of life. They fear contamination of their gene pool.
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All this because I questioned whether English and Scots are not the same race?? I suppose we can post "dueling references," so here you go. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/race-ethnicity/

Race and ethnicity are two concepts related to human ancestry. Race is defined as “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits.” The term ethnicities is more broadly defined as “large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background.”
“Race” is usually associated with biology and linked with physical characteristics such as skin color or hair texture. “Ethnicity” is linked with cultural expression and identification. However, both are social constructs used to categorize and characterize seemingly distinct populations.
 
Do you believe you live in a racist nation?

Nation?
Crap, I live in a racist world
Maybe not KKK racist, but race conscious....to the point of obnoxious

Try living where folks are different than you
Gets unnerving to be stared at 24/7

......and as far as social habits?
Different folks have different habits

Lived with folks with different habits
It was interesting..... for awhile
Then I yearned for my own creature habits

Still, I've had close buds of many flavors
Close enough to kid the crap outa each other

If I didn't have them, life would be too dull, non-dimensional
One flavor, no matter how you like it, gets monotonous

As far as haters?
There is really no place for them
Not in my world
 
C'est Moi said:
All this because I questioned whether English and Scots are not the same race?? I suppose we can post "dueling references," so here you go. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/race-ethnicity/

Race and ethnicity are two concepts related to human ancestry. Race is defined as “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits.” The term ethnicities is more broadly defined as “large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background.”
“Race” is usually associated with biology and linked with physical characteristics such as skin color or hair texture. “Ethnicity” is linked with cultural expression and identification. However, both are social constructs used to categorize and characterize seemingly distinct populations.
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That is an excellent article- thank you for posting the link!!!!!!!!
 
I'm a 74 year old retired Nurse. I'm a white person. When it comes to political persuaions, I am not a liberal. I am a LIBERAL. But I do have racist feelings. I never really used "N" for black, it's silently in my head. I don't know why or how I have those feelings. Both my parents drilled it into me that black people were people just like me, no better, no worse. I came from a small town in Massachsetts, and actually never saw a living black, in person, until I went into the US Navy, when I was 22. And it's hard not to notice a black person. I didn't get to work with blacks until I was a charge nurse. Then soon, they weren't black people, but Lloyd, Hank, Mary.............. Yet, when I'm surrounded by blacks, I feel unsettled. I want to be with "my own kind". I don't have Confederate battle flags flying over my home, and I wouldn't harm someome over his skin color, but I do have to admit I have those feelings.
 
Knight said:
I don't believe I live in a racist nation. I live in a nation where some people have racist views. Is this unique to my nation "America" plain & simple no.
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That is a very good way of putting it. The current riots seem intended to provoke anti-white feeling. Sadly, there are too many people who get involved in this sort of thing with good intentions, but having no idea of the possible consequences.
 
I have almost no contact with black people. No black neighbors, no black acquaintances. My church is in the middle of a city that's half black, but the congregation is nearly all white. Aside from some construction jobs during college summers, I have never really worked with any black people.

I can't claim any insight into what black people go through or what is on their minds.
 
I lived the black experience, to an extent, as a younger guy. I went to a school that was 87% black. I got along. I had white girlfriends, I had black girlfriends.

A true story: I drove Yellow Cab out of 51st & Cottage Grove, Chicago. There were three white guys, I was one of them. The second in command, a black guy, was "Downy." I came in to get my cab on Tuesday. Downy started yelling at me, immediately, about some garage violations I had done, the day before. Thing is, I hadn't worked the day before! All the guys had crowded around the cage, listening to Downy chew me out. I told him to back off, and check his roll for the day before. He looked, and got this sheepish expression. Now, I closed in for the kill, with all the guys listening: "Thas awright, Downy, we smooth. 'Sides, you know what they be sayin' man, (he leaned into the slot to hear me, better) 'We all look alike!"' The place went up for grabs, with all the guys howling and slipping five! I got in my cab, and peeled out.

To this day, the above is one of my favorite memories. I have another ten, or so.
 
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I think you have to ask how many blacks live on your street. If there aren't any, do you know where they do live? Then you have to ask how many Latvian- Americans live on your street? If you don't know, do you know where they do live. Why the difference?
 
rkunsaw said:
I remember the separate drinking fountains from my early years but they were gone by my teen years. Black people usually sat in the back of the bus but they didn't always.
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I was shocked when I transferred from a Navy base in California to Virginia in 1961 and encountered separate restrooms and drinking fountains for black people. Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach all did it. I also saw posted signs in Newport News stating "Sailors and Dogs Keep Off The Grass." This was in a town whose main industry was the Shipyard where the Navy was the biggest customer.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I think you have to ask how many blacks live on your street. If there aren't any, do you know where they do live? Then you have to ask how many Latvian- Americans live on your street? If you don't know, do you know where they do live. Why the difference?
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In our small subdivision we have one black family where the father was vice president of our homeowners association for over 20 years. (He is still here, but in poor health.) We also had a lovely young black family who used to live two doors down from us. Their charming eight year old daughter was my ice cream buddy and got home from school about the same time that I got home from work. We ate ice cream bars on my porch every afternoon. I missed them when they moved.
 
I think you have to ask how many blacks live on your street. If there aren't any, do you know where they do live? Then you have to ask how many Latvian- Americans live on your street? If you don't know, do you know where they do live. Why the difference?
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I don't really get this question. You seem to be assuming that there are no blacks on my street.

I live in a large hi-rise in a retirement community. We have mixed races, religions, people of every color and ethnicity under the sun. Asking "Where do the blacks live?" is totally meaningless here. Of the 20 or so apartments on my floor, probably about 5-6 are occupied by black people. So what?

(From my experience here, I have to say the blacks are my favorite neighbors. They are universally friendly, kind, sweet people. I can say that without exception!)
 
fuzzybuddy said:
As far as the US is concerned, I would have to say yes. This is my opinion. What is yours? We live in a divided nation-black and white, Asian, Indian, etc. There is a white culture, which stays all white. Can you guess the race of a Country /Western singer. It's no big secret whites harbor racists views. They interact with other races only when necessary, and certainly not live next to them. Blacks have their own culture, which stays black. Can you guess the race of a R&B/soul singer. They harbor racist views for other races. They also harbor a great distrust of the police. They interact with other races only when necessary, and certainly do not live next to other races. We have almost two independent societies. I believe it is difficult in the US for blacks and whites to shed racism. Both have unjustified fears and long, long traumatic histories.
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I believe segregation builds solidarity and, sadly sometimes, the "us versus them" mentality. When I bought my first house, I purposely sought a diverse community. It was enriching and we all shared our histories, our cultures, our trials and tribulations, and our recipes.

I wasn't raised by racists and wasn't taught to be a racist. That's one thing from my childhood that I actually appreciate. Growing up, we enjoyed the company of many different races and cultures in our home.

As a former teacher of young children, I know in my heart that they are not born racists - It is taught by parents. They instill children with fear of differences and the notion that some are superior to others.
 
So people.... When I worked in a high School there were only white kids when it opened....We did after 1 year or so, people were coming from
other towns, most were black....There was never any problems in our school....We also had a couple of Black Teacher's....I have to tell you
The one year when my grandson was the Captain of the Football Team in his last year....There were many Black boy's that also played
Football...There was never a problem with the kids....The Mom's would always bring food for the team when they played....The Mom's
that were Black were always polite and made friend's with some of the Mom's....One of the Mom's was my daughter in law....
My Grandson also when he was going to college he went to see his friend (a black boy) who was playing football for another college
and going to Notre Dame to play ball....My Grandson and his girlfriend took a plane to Chicago and to Notre Dame to see his friend play.
They are still friends to this day...
There are bad people and there are nice people....I don't tolerate bad people.....I stay away from them....I guess I was brought up with a Dad
that never was a Bigot.... (We all matter) One thing I forgot....My Dad was Italian....A Dark Italian....Many thought he was a Black Man...
He always had a tan working out in the roads and any other way to make a living when we were young....He also was a painter....
He was a little guy and when he was young he was a boxer...A light way....And won....As I said some place here My Dad had only one good
eye.....He was always my hero....God rest his soul....
 
peppermint said:
.I guess I was brought up with a Dad
that never was a Bigot.... (We all matter) One thing I forgot....My Dad was Italian....A Dark Italian....Many thought he was a Black Man...
He always had a tan working out in the roads and any other way to make a living when we were young....He also was a painter....
He was a little guy and when he was young he was a boxer...A light way....And won....As I said some place here My Dad had only one good
eye.....He was always my hero....God rest his soul....
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OT (forgive me, I'm Irish), but interesting;
My Dad was a boxer too
Also a light weight (actually welter weight)
Won some
Ended up with one good eye (detached retina...from boxing)
He too was my hero

dad and me.jpg

We had friends of many backgrounds
Color or lineage was never considered

Em in Ohio said:
As a former teacher of young children, I know in my heart that they are not born racists - It is taught by parents
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You may have something there, Em

My dad taught me well
 
Warrigal said:
Speaking as an Australian, the answer is YES.
We are moving towards the light but at glacial speed.

One of my favourite Australian authors, the late Frank Hardy, said 'scratch an Australian and underneath you will discover a racist'. He was, of course speaking of white Anglo Aussies like me and my family. He wasn't wrong when he said these words. I have taken them to heart and have shifted internally. Still, I sometimes judge people according to their cultural origins. At least I can recognise what I am doing now. When I was young I had no idea.
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Personally, I think you have taken a major step through your self-analysis. I lot of folks wouldn't bother to reevaluate their social biases.
 
Yes, there is racism in Canada.
Have worked with many different peoples in my life...not all are anal or racist. BUT each race has them.
 

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