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[LoveToMySilas]

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?

[Uronacid]

I wrote this last year...

Intro

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.

What is a racist?

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.

What causes people to be Racist

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.”

Conclusion

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.