There are a few topics on here about racism but they didn't really get into the topic that I wanted to discuss. Today, our class was talking about prejudice and racism and what caused people to be racist. It was quite interesting really, because my teacher said that the reason why people are racist is because they're afraid.

What do you guys think about this? Or what do you think causes people to be racist?

Well, people innately search for other people who look like them, and depending on their environment in their childhood, if they have been told back then that black people have gangs in spades and carry around guns and smoke crack for fun, they are going to start believing that this is the truth. It's hard to force a child to change his or her mentality when they're fully developed adults, and so racism is developed this way. I was brought up in a strict Catholic home, so I wouldn't call myself a racist, but I do feel uncomfortable around people who are drastically different.

Our psychological evolution has just been this way. If we weren't all conditioned to believe in and or take stereotypes seriously in our youth, racism would decrease significantly. It's worsened because stereotypes exist for a reason; some are true, and some are plain exaggerated, but once you've witnessed more truth in those stereotypes, you start believing that it's the truth. Some people are able to distance themselves entirely and say that they are not racist whatsoever, who knows if that's the truth, but more people cannot and the majority rules.

well if i say something racist, it's because they have annoyed me so much. idk if it's because i think i am afraid of them..

i think a lot of things contribute to racism. i don't really think i'm a very scary black man. however i've been around a lot people who act "wary" of me at first, as if i might just randomly go crazy. i don't consider them to be racist though, even if they act somewhat scared of me they don't seem to hate me on sight. i've come across a few actual racist people, they don't seem that scared though.

I wrote this last year...




Many of you have lost your minds over the past week regarding "racist remarks", and use of Chris Rock's career-breaking comedy skit "Black people vs. N******." Well instead of freaking out on all of you, the same way you did to me. I decided to educate myself on the causes and effects of racism, something that all of you who "freaked out" failed to do, and prepare this essay for your personal pleasure.



First off, what is a racist? As it is something many of you accuse me of being, I asked a few of the accusers in the chat room what made me a racist and none of them could say anything aside from the actual statement, “You are a racist.” A racially prejudiced person is someone who holds a negative and personal bias against someone for their race; acting upon this personal bias is what leads to racial discrimination, and racism is the incorporation or combination of activities and procedures of major institutions, corporations, social systems, or other arenas of major social activity with the discrimination of a race.



Second, why are people racist? A study done in 1990 found that a large percentage of whites believe or speculate minorities to be less intelligent, and that minorities would rather be on welfare than work a job. Why do people have this mindset? I have read on many of the websites I visited that racist views had to do with competition. After all, isn’t that what so many people have defined life to be? How many times have you heard of life being referred to as a game? Hasbro knows. They invented it (The Game of Life). People view life as a game all the time. Do you think that racism might be a way for people to “stomp out the competition”? I thought to myself about this question. What do people compete for?

People compete for a variety of reasons, and you will find plenty of these reasons right here on cB. We compete because we are selfish human beings with the instinct to survive. I know you won’t die from failing to compete, but you will be disappointed in yourself. Competition is a way to protect yourself both intropersonally (your self-image) and interpersonally (the way other people view you).

As a German philosopher, Frederick Engels, explained, “Competition is the completest expression of the battle...which rules in modern civil society. This battle, a battle for life, for existence, for everything, in case of need a battle of life and death, is fought not between the different classes of society only, but also between the individual members of those classes. Each is in the way of the other, and each seeks to crowd out all who are in his way, and to put himself in their place.”

For example, someone might tear you down at school by making fun of your weight or your personality in front of their peers, but really it makes him/her feel better about himself/herself because it helps him/her believe that he/she is better than you (when in the grand scheme of things this is not the case). I recently observed members busting balls in cB chat by talking down to others and receive praise from their peers for doing it. Why do they do this? Competition. They feel better about themselves by acting like idiots because their peers praise them with laughter. This is not a complaint, this is the truth.

In the same way people tear others down to make themselves feel better, racists tear people of a certain race down in efforts to build up their own social class. People compete by finding the differences between groups, exploiting a group’s weakness, and comparing the weakness to their own strengths. For example, if something like hard work is valued within a social class, than this social class may exploit examples of laziness in another social class. This particular example is often observed when people associate minorities with the abuse of government programs such as Welfare. Focusing on these comparisons will make the people belonging to the social class or group feel better about themselves.

More examples:

• The “emo” group often refers to the “prep” group as “stuck-up” because they value the idea or concept of “being original”.
• The “prep” group often refers to the “emo” group as if they are “cry-babies” because they see themselves as “strong.”
• The “geek” group often refers to inferior groups as “unintelligent” because they value intelligence.
• The “down-to-earth” group talks down to people who refer to themselves or act as if they are part a group because they value not being in a group even though they actually belong to one.

People enter into these groups because groups make them feel better about themselves; it gives people a sense of belonging. Social groups tend to harbor people who share similar faults. Faults somehow disappear when a large number of people share them with you. They disappear because we begin to believe that most people share those problems anyway. In reality, we only perceive this to be true because the people we associate with share those problems with us. As it is said, “You are who you hang out with.”

These groups of individuals feed racism. I’ll explain, and I’ll use my case as an example. I have been constantly treated like garbage in my inner-city neighborhood, and I feel as if it’s in part because I am part of the only white family on my street. I don’t even talk to people on my street, yet they break into my home, address me using racial slurs, and disrespect me on a weekly, if not daily, basis. This may be a small percentage of African Americans, but due to personal experience with this particular group of disrespectful African Americans I’m given the illusion that a much higher percentage of this minority is the same way even though the majority of them aren’t that way.

Your brain makes daily decisions using logical operators. These logical operators are formed due to daily experiences and put into categories for use as shortcuts when making daily decisions. For example, you know not to touch a hot stove. You don’t need to analyze the science behind why that stove is hot and why you’re not supposed to touch it; you just know you shouldn’t touch things that are hot. “Hot” might be one of those categories in your brain.

Much of the activity that goes on in your brain is subconscious; you aren’t even aware that you are thinking. Similar to an involuntary reaction, only these thoughts are learned via life experience. In my case, the average African American I come into contact with in my neighborhood treats me like garbage. Due to the visual difference in the pigment of their skin, when I see a black person I get the urge to avoid them. Similar to the “hot stove” example, my brain is protecting me. Your brain doesn’t just protect you from physical harm; your brain protects you from mental harm. Disrespect causes mental harm because it gives an individual a lower self-esteem.

Because these thoughts are subconscious, they can cause you to become prejudiced without being racist. Prejudice is a personal bias against a stereo type, and racism is acting upon that prejudice. This is what I’m talking about when I say that I am not racist. I definitely harbor a subconscious prejudice against African Americans, I will admit that, but I do not do this on purpose. I fight to treat individuals fairly. When I state, “I will think twice before hiring an African American”, I’m merely being honest. I am forced to think twice because the first thoughts that enter into my mind are subconscious thoughts of prejudice. I have to think twice because I need to set those thoughts aside to make a fair decision. Is it ok to harbor prejudice and make an attempt to treat everyone equally?

Quoted directly from the American Psychological Association, “just because stereotypes can operate automatically and outside of awareness, that does not mean that there is nothing we can do about them. Keeping prejudice and stereotypes to ourselves is not a good way to deal with them. One of the best things to do is to confront them to push through the anxiety we feel about being prejudiced and racist and discuss these issues honestly with others.”



In conclusion, I am not racist, and am only trying to fight against the racial prejudice that I harbor due to my life experiences. I’m sick and tried of ignorant members on cB calling me a racist. Please, face the facts, face the truth. From my personal experience, it seems it’s difficult for people of cB to face truth, but again… maybe this is a hasty generalization.

i agree with that.

im not racist, BUT id have to admit of being prejudice towards certain races,uncluding my own, because of my experiences with a great number of them.

Sucks doesn't it. I find that people aren't prejudice towards a certain race instead they are prejudice towards people who look as if they belong to a specific stereo type.

^what do u mean?

thats not called being racist then.
Its called profiling or labeling.


EDIT//
nevermind I didn't read that right.

i dont think its really "race" but groups.

okay this is gonna be kidna hard to explain.

If you out there, youre more likely to see an "african American" in the "ghetto" group. same with "hispanics"

then you see the "whites" with the "preps" "punks" "emo" etc.

you also have the asians as the "geeks"

its all just pretty much based on the stereotypes. it jsut happens to be that the "ghetto" loud mouth in the hallway is an "african America" or "hispanic" and the guy in your class that always thinks he's right happens to be an "asian"

idk if that makes sense

And Vietnamese people always try to skimp out on giving tips to waitress, and Asians are "fresh off the boat." Blah, blah, stereotypes like these will always exist.

exactly, so ppl are always accusing others of racism, when really its not about that at all

^ i still don't see how it's not about racism at all. my race is what determines what stereotype u are going to put me in to begin with, so race is obviously a factor right?

these two terms are confusing

are you telling me all "african americans" HAVE to be "ghetto" or ARE "ghetto" or WILL be "ghetto".

you got the preppy "whites" prejudice against emo "whites"

but if they are prejudice to an emo "african americans" BAM! they get attacked for beign "racist"

same vice-versa.

everyone automatically jump into conclusion, that is theyre two different race, the other is being "racist"

btw im posting this before reading it over so sorry for all the mistakes

what did i say that made u think that? of course i'm not telling u that, seeing as i don't have to be ghetto, i'm not ghetto and i never will be ghetto.

i was talking about in ur previous post u said that others accuse people of racism, when it's really about stereotypes. i was asking how racism isn't involved in the stereotypes, because i thought that's what u were saying.

i don't exactly understand ur post =/

Racism is where one race discriminates against and has hatred for another entire racial population. It's a matter of them just being different or blaming other races for their short-comings. I have a Neo-Nazi uncle and he is the most narrow-minded person, ever. He doesn't believe that anybody else but Caucasian people should exist. It's not that they think all African Americans carry guns and hang out in packs and form gangs.

okay, in high school, i noticed that the "ghetto" african americans hispanics and whites were treated a lot differently than the "preppy" african americans hispanics and whites. vice-versa, therefor I've concluded, that its really not about racism. it really does matter what group you're under.

EDIT//



thats what i'm saying, a lot of the younger gerneration does get the two mixed up. i personally dont think they are educated enough about the matter.

i think it's about both, but i see what u're saying now.

i'll be discriminated against regardless of whether i'm "preppy" or"ghetto", but less or more according to which i am.

Yes, a lot of involves race because with race comes culture, and everyone's culture can't be the same, yet others of us can't help but to form these assumptions about other people (for instance today, Iraqis) because of what we're fed by the television and the mass media. However, racism and stereotypes are generally different terms.

I'll have you know I always tip 30% or higher.

it just bothers me when ppl say "oh its because i'm a s**c" im like "b*itch, ill smack you for being a stupid s**c" ...its obviosuly not because youre a "s**c"

Say someone mentally associates African Americans with gangstas and they don't like gangstas. If they see a white person dressed as a gangsta then they're probably doing to dislike him too. It's not the race it's the stereo type. It probably is a little bit of both. I'm just speaking from my own experience.

i totally understand

gotcha
i just needed an example, i agree too

geez was my example not good enough i guess i prolly confused you a little