Racism and Racists

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Mike

Mike

Well-known Member
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London
Before anybody jumps on this, let me tell you that I was
brought up for some years in India, when I was young,
all my friends were the local village children and I spoke
their language, as far as I am concerned I am "Colour Blind",
when it comes to people, we are all humans.

Back to racism, I have noticed here in the UK, more specifically,
in England, that all or most accusations of racial abuse are aimed
a white people, by Asian or Black people, very few go the other
way and I have wondered why, is it revenge against a bad boss,
or is it envy against a rich man, or is it because we here are all
a bit soft towards others, this has intrigued me for some time.

Am I completely out of order, or not looking deep enough, I am
aware that I don't know too much about the reasons for this
imbalance.

Is it the same in your Country?

Mike.
 

Like yourself the colour of a person makes no difference to me. Injustices have been caused by many races throughout . In many cases it was tribe against tribe for many centuries, there is still the them and us attitude amongst many.
Racism exists amongst many races if not all.
Employing workers from different countries soon brings out the racism in most by them refusing to work with other 'coloured', black,white yellow or whatever.
 
We do have a deep undercurrent of Racism here.
I like you am also colour/religion and Race blind, but I believe that one of the main reasons we have it over here is because the different races have all cumulated into one particular area, rather than integrate with the general population and unfortunately have brought their hate culture of other races with them.

I think one of the worst demonstrations of racism was the Cronulla riots in 2005.
It was really disgusting and deeply disturbing.

Pre-dating all of that of course was the genocide against our first Australian after the colonization.
 

IMO we've lost touch with the definition/meaning of racism.

The term is too often used as a convenient way to shout down or explain away what is, in reality, an individual's actions towards others.

I've been accused of being a racist here at SF and in other places, but my opinions are based solely on a person's behavior towards me and as a member of society.

IMO it's not possible to have a constructive discussion about race in America without getting bogged down by our past.

"I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." - Martin Luther King Jr


 
"Racism" has probably been part of the human experiences since the day when a Cro-Magnon first met a Neanderthal. Every race and ethnicity feels, deep down, that they are superior...no matter what they say/do publicly. There are good people in every race, and some who are totally worthless.

"Racism" has become a heated topic, once again, since the George Floyd incident, but about the Only thing that has changed in the past couple of years is the number of Blacks who have landed jobs appearing in TV commercials....as companies seek to portray themselves as being "politically correct".
 
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I think we overuse the term racist. It devalues the word... There is real racism, but calling too many people or things racist makes the real problem harder to identify.
Mike said:
all or most accusations of racial abuse are aimed
a white people, by Asian or Black people, very few go the other
way and I have wondered why
Click to expand...
All people are capable of racism, unfortunately it is "color blind". However we tend to use the term more often on the majority, or those in power. Their racism is more likely to injure. Anyway that's my guess as to why.
 
There's isn't anything that won't cause some humans from calling other humans, "them". If "them" has some identifiable characteristic, then it's easier to identify "them". Since "them" aren't us, there's no reason why we should treat "them", like we treat us.
The only racism I'm qualified to discuss is here in the US. Being white, I can say I've never been a victim of racism-DUH!!! I may not spit on black people that I see. Yet, if I believe that blacks are stupid, drug dealing, criminal low lifes, do you really think I'm going to treat "them" like I would treat whites (us)? Do I believe if the US was75% black, would the situation be reversed? Damn right-were all human. We've has 250,000 years of running around the woods in small packs, and only a few thousand years of being "civilized", we have a lot of growing up to do.
 
Racist?

I still don't really know what that is.

Haters?

I do know some haters
In jail, mostly

I don't hate anybody, but..... I do have some prejudice in me
Maybe hate (?)

I learned to hate bread of color
Early on
Ever since Connie Ekert showed me her white Wonder bread
It was slathered in Sunny Jim peanut butter
all shiny, glistening in the sun

Asked for a bite

She gave me a small corner

It.....was......Wonderful!

I could feel it build my body 12 ways

Back home, we had ol' brown bread

My lady mostly cured me of that hate by baking whole wheat bread

....but, still...down deep inside.......
 
I live in an area of Sacramento where violent territorial disputes are going on all the time between 4 factions, Whites, Blacks, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Occasionally those disputes get deadly. Not all the people of those races are in this fight, though. Just estimating, I'd say a good 40% who live in this area don't judge others by race.

Right here in my own apartment complex, the Blacks outnumber the Whites by quite a margin but most of us coexist quite peacefully with no racial tension whatsoever. However, an elderly Vietnamese woman who lived in the apartment complex directly across from me was treated horribly by both Black and White children; older kids from about age 8 to 12. One day I had to go stop a bunch of them from throwing rocks at her, and helped her go file a formal complaint with the manager (she didn't speak English), but it didn't stop. This was strictly racial. She was a sweet lady who kept to herself and never bothered anyone. We used to have tea together, and she'd bring me traditional food and sing traditional prayers to me on Tet; her New Years Day. Her son came to visit her a couple times a month, and he and I got along really well. I'd tell him about stuff the kids did to her and, ultimately, he found her another place to live, cuz there was no solving it.

Anyway, yes, I see racism here, as much from one race as another.
 
Alligatorob said:
I think we overuse the term racist. It devalues the word... There is real racism, but calling too many people or things racist makes the real problem harder to identify.

All people are capable of racism, unfortunately it is "color blind". However we tend to use the term more often on the majority, or those in power. Their racism is more likely to injure. Anyway that's my guess as to why.
Click to expand...


I agree here, and I'll add.

If racism is just a matter of not liking certain people ..... then there is nothing wrong with that. IMO, it is only human to gravitate towards those we like & shy away from/ignore, those that we do not like. And we are entitled to justify the reason to ourselves without the approval of others.

Now if our dislike goes beyond just not liking and turns physical / confrontational etc. That takes it to a whole other level ..... And just should not exist.

The earth is large enough that we should be able to live on it/share it ......... without breaking into a chorus of kum-ba-ya.
 
As far as I can tell the feud goes back and forth depending on circumstances. Each "race" has a portion of their population that hates other races. White on Black..Black on White, Brown on Black...Black on Brown, Yellow...on White...White on Yellow, Red on White...White on Red, etc.... I feel like the Whites hate more than the other races.
 
rgp said:
I agree here, and I'll add.

If racism is just a matter of not liking certain people ..... then there is nothing wrong with that. IMO, it is only human to gravitate towards those we like & shy away from/ignore, those that we do not like. And we are entitled to justify the reason to ourselves without the approval of others.

Now if our dislike goes beyond just not liking and turns physical / confrontational etc. That takes it to a whole other level ..... And just should not exist.

The earth is large enough that we should be able to live on it/share it ......... without breaking into a chorus of kum-ba-ya.
Click to expand...
Because of the color of their skin?
 
Paco Dennis said:
As far as I can tell the feud goes back and forth depending on circumstances. Each "race" has a portion of their population that hates other races. White on Black..Black on White, Brown on Black...Black on Brown, Yellow...on White...White on Yellow, Red on White...White on Red, etc.... I feel like the Whites hate more than the other races.
Click to expand...
I've even heard of Black being prejudice against other blacks.. because of the shade of their skin or as with South Asians, prejudice against Caste , and they suffer from the effects of prejudice and racism in just the same manner and sometimes worse than if it was coming from another race..
 
I agree with posters above ... the term racist is way overused and frankly lost meaning....

It is OK to dislike some people and most of the time that is based on character........... not a skin color.....or group.
Too many have taken this way too far and now accuse anyone and everyone of racism just because it gets a reaction.
 
I had a situation late last year where I liked a hair stylist’s work on me once, but the second time was a mess in many ways. It was a ticklish situation because she was the only African American working in the shop. I wouldn’t dare say anything critical or ask for a different stylist the next time because they’d think I was being racist. Very awkward. So I had to “vote with my feet” and find different shop.
I was raised in a quite diverse environment; people worked together, went to school together & got along.
 
I think the term has been weaponized. Just like "transphobic" etc or other "phobic" Are there ignorant and dangerous racists out there. Absolutely.

It can be used against people though. A really good boss I had about 15 years ago told me this story. She gave an employee a disciplinary write up and was immediately accused of writing this woman up because she was racist toward "Asians." My boss said she said nothing and just let it go. The woman made formal complaints, that were obviously taken seriously and the department of justice showed up at the door of her home with papers. Her husband answered the door. The case was immediately dropped. One guess?
 

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