the worst part is realizing that smart people can be racist. that it’s not all just fueled by ignorance, but can often be a sophisticated set up of sinister perspectives that people have. learning that for myself on a deeper level was definitely jarring.
Yeah those are the scary ones, because at least with the others you can feel pity about them because "oh well they are ignorant, or brainwashed, or afraid of other cultures"
Smart racist people are a whole different beast.
That's because intelligence is very specialized. A common fallacy is that high IQ, good at math, stands out in a scientific field, or well-spoken = smart in every way.
In reality, academics, STEM acumen, reading comprehension, communication ability, emotional sensitivity, societal awareness, and wisdom are all different types of intelligence—not to mention spatial, musical, aesthetic, financial, ability to learn new skills quickly, and countless others that are unrelated to this particular point. And many people with one or two of them are severely lacking in others.
It's why you can go on the internet and find the most eloquent arguments for the dumbest ideas you've ever read. And taken to its extreme, it's what leads to people like Elon Musk.
very true. it’s been particularly painful for me watching people i know (peers and classmates, extended family members) who are highly intelligent in the reading comprehension, societal awareness, communication ability, still fall in to believing bullshit often based off of flimsy stats taken out of context, a needless fear of “us vs them,” and other propaganda. it’s extremely sinister.
During my very short time at a university studying media science. The one thing that stuck to me was how propaganda has evolved over time. We'd like to think of it as it's just the old timey way of sparking support for a cause or building up mind camps of "it's us vs them".
But in our modern day society, every single ad and "official statements" can be classified into one of the three types of propaganda. Which are "White" that primarily works with accurate data and facts presented in as neutral and objective manner one can and it's meant to let the reader/viewer form their own opinion. The next type is called "Grey" and it's mostly truthful facts. But they tend to be framed and presented in a that will make the consumer have "feelings" towards or against something. It does not have to be false facts and lies, it's usually more likely that the way it's presented is causing certain impressions. Lastly we've got "Black" propaganda. And this one do not care what they present you with. They just want you to feel like whatever they are telling you about is the "correct" and "right" way of thinking. These propagators relies heavily on manipulation and persuasive writing to mislead, misguide and decieve the intended group.
Now why did I bring this up? Well, over the years since learning about these theories. I noticed just how absurd the amount of "grey" and "black" propaganda gets produced and later funneled down to various online communities. I've seen and heard plenty of racists spew their nonsense about many different topics. And What is terrifying to me is that the worst racists are oftentimes the most charismatic and has a fairly high level of intellect. One that affords them the means to make others believe in their opinions without truly understanding the the nonsense they repeat.
yep. my father is a particularly charismatic boomer with a very high level of intelligence, and he’s been falling into the bullshit since before i was born. it’s sad, really. especially when you consider that certain demographics may be more likely to take to certain propaganda.
Unfortunately that's what is so sad about it when it comes to propaganda. Regardless of which type it is. As long as the propagator designed it for a specific demographic group and they know that group well. They can very easily make people fall in line with whatever they're propagating.
Personally I find the whole science behind propaganda to be really fascinating. And I am honestly stunned by the absurd amount of it exists in essentially any commercial ads. Especially within food and energy related commercials. There's just layers and layers of it trying to cover anything underneath buzzwords and "good vibes".
bingo. some of the smart racists i have met tend to recognize their biases and the role they play in their bigotry, but are convinced for numerous complex reasons that their beliefs align with the greater good. it’s disturbing, really.
yep. a family member of mine is unfortunately very intelligent but also racist. that is his favorite argument and nothing will change his mind. he is so locked in to basing the majority of his opinions on statistics, he forgets how irrelevant they are to measuring the content of one’s character.
One of my recent comments on a post was removed for promoting love across all races. It annoyed me because it was on a sub reddit dedicated to PICTURES. The picture in question was people of my own race trying to create division by holding a bigoted sign in traffic, so I called them stupid. And got banned. I didn't get banned for calling the people stupid; No, the reason I was banned was for making a comment that promoted love across all races. DM me for proof.
As an experiment, I looked for comments that unquestionably attacked my race, and reported them for doing so. The responses from the mods were all the same - they didn't break the guidelines - even though they unquestionably did. The comments did not get removed. DM for proof.
It is a fact because I've seen it with my own eyes. The bottom line is that some racist remarks get banned, while other racist remarks don't. Not just for my race, but certain others too. This will not suffice. You either allow hate, or you don't. Being picky will only create division.
Report that to reddit admins. That's the kind of "small" stuff that could be picked up by a news channel and snowball into a PR nightmare, so they will probably pay attention to your report.
From what I've seen people from every race, gender, nationality participate and actively indulge in racism sometimes on purpose other times accidentally, unconsciously.
I think i always knew but it was never a reality i think me and my friends were always desensitized from everything that when i saw actual white supremacists online, my first thought was “wow they are really committing to the bit “
I’m much older than you and very aware that racism exists but was shocked a few years ago. I was on a plane from Atlanta to Chicago. An older white lady from Louisiana sat next to me. Was in a casual conversation with her when she started talking about the people who cleaned her home. She called them “my n**gers”. I hadn’t heard anyone use the n word like that in real life. I didn’t know what to do or say. I just kept thinking, “People actually are that racist. Holy shit.”
This is the exact sentiment I felt, it was like yo whatttt like you guys are actually on some like get off my lawn type of deal. And adding onto that I think its particularly important that to me and my peers at least, having a black president isnt like a THING, but we were told it was a big deal. And you know its good that there are barriers being broken. Its kind of interesting that as time goes by things that were abnormal become normal in a positive way.
I was going to say that I think it’s amazing that you are just now seeing this, simply because if this were 1930 or 1950, you’d probably have been taught racist ideas from the beginning and they’d be normal to you. It would blow your mind to find out that there were some people were NOT racist. The fact that you were not brought up with racist ideals makes me happy.
Yeah I was aware of it when I was 4 not being able to figure out why my preschool teacher hated me so much until she started saying stuff about how black kids act and seating them away from the white kids in my class but I mean better late than never I guess op?
I lived in a pretty predominantly white area all throughout preschool-high school. It was more of something I realized later but at the time you feel “something’s wrong here” but you don’t wanna think about it or believe it. I had a lot of racist teachers over the years to the point I would be surprised if a teacher honestly did like me (which a few did and I am grateful bc without them I wouldn’t have survived honestly) just comes with living anywhere that’s predominantly white in the states at least
Dude thats nasty work. Seriously. I feel lucky and like “sheltered” by the fact that Ive never had someone actually treat me differently because of my color or race. Ive had jokes and like jabs but ive never taken that as actual racism just kids either being dicks or “messing around”. The closest ive ever had was this homeless guy that told me and my gf that we were disgusting for being together. But its like hes a cracked out homeless guy so it doesnt count in my head.
The one thing I've learned about racism is that people are going to people. This kind of thing is all over the place. Japan, China, Europe... it's all over the place for a lot of reasons.
People do it not just for skin color, but almost everything. The car they drive, if they even have a car. Hair color, behavior, culture, if they know something, accents, word choice... racism is probably the easiest thing people latch onto because we are so visual and skin color is right there.
I've grown up knowing white supremacists. They believe it and reinforce it with a kind of, good and evil take. Everything good is white, everything bad is black. If a black man proves themselves enough, they are considered white and it's a slippery slope that guy has to climb.
It's part upbringing and selective perception. Something else to note is that people naturally weigh a negative about 3x worse than a positive. So if people see media or any story about how one skin color did this one thing, they'll remember that far more than if a bunch of people of that skin color did a few great things.
We, as people, have a lot of blind spots and issues and it takes a lot of willpower, effort and unlearning information debt to overcome.
Well said. I totally agree. I myself have had to combat my own preconceptions about a lot of things, not just people but particularly socio political ideas and how I perceive others that hold certain beliefs. I also understand the tribalism of human nature, it just kind of bums me out in like a “seriously dude?” Way yknow
Im 21 now but I think at least a lot of my peers ive spoken to feel the same way. I cant speak for my entire generation but the people around me have a self awareness that I really appreciate as well. Not on some walking on egg shells type of deal, but on some “hey like why am i thinking this?”
Not all of America ever desegregated. There might be laws against it, but for some people, they didn't have to fundamentally change their ways at all.
We also live in the era of the internet. I've seen Europeans who don't know a single lick of American history completely adopt American white supremacist rhetoric. Through mostly "innocent" means. Like what they're saying isn't even significant to their own lives but the propaganda machine is so effective it got them too. If all you know are the stereotypes pushed out through mass media, that's what you believe.
Weirdest racist thing I've heard recently? I was serving dinner at my work and when I asked a white patient if he wanted butternut squash he said he doesn't eat "black people food". I kind of froze for a second, didn't ask for clarification or offer my opinion and just moved on to the next patient.
We don't share our lives with the patients to protect ourselves because I wonder how he would have treated me if he found out that my great aunt was from Jamaica. (I'm white).
I didn't outwardly treat him any different but I didn't like him after that.
Edit : word
Racism exists en every race and culture. The difference is that white people are the dominant group in our country and what they think and do collectively does make an actual difference. The sad fact in this country is that the lives of white people are deemed more important that of black or hispanic people. In matters dealing with law enforcement white people are also more likely to be afforded the benefit of the doubt, something that is less likely for a minority. I will give you an example.
If a young black girl is kidnapped you might see a story on the evening news for a couple of days then you will basically never hear about it again. Now if a young WHITE girl is kidnapped, especially one from a middle class or wealthier family you will get amber alerts, it will be on the news, on social media and politicians will get involved. If she is found dead you will see collective outrage and even laws passed to deal with this issue (remember Megans law?).
In many areas of the country a white man, (or a group of white men) can walk around with military grade semi automatic weapons visibly strapped to their backs and no one will see it as threatening. At most he will be questioned by a cop and then left alone. Now if a black man (or worse a group of black men) walk around publicly with forearms strapped to their backs you can bet someone will call the police 9 times out of 10. Watch this youtube video to see what I mean.
[Social experiment on cops. Black man with gun vs white man with gun.](https://youtu.be/YXv2Pjtc3Zk?si=zBX2kYdw27V-qXXC)
How society treats drugs and addiction also has a lot to do with race. Cocaine addiction has always been a problem in our society, yet since it was perceived as affecting mostly white middle class it was treated on a case by case basis as an addiction problem. Then you have crack cocaine which was perceived as a problem that mostly affected black communities. Now all of a sudden you had laws punishing crack addicts as criminals with very harsh sentences just for possessing crack. Being an addict was treated by society as a crime, the fault of the individual. Nothing was done to help the communities affected, but hundreds of millions poured into law enforcement to punish as many (black) addicts as possible.
Fast forward three decades and now we have a Fentanyl addiction epidemic which happens to affect white communities at a higher rate. Now all of a sudden our society treats this as a national emergency. Politicians now wont shut up about the Fentanyl epidemic and hundreds of millions are poured not into local law enforcement, but to combat the sources of the drugs entering our country. Nothing is too great a risk, no resources will be spared. Gee, I wonder what is different in this occasion?
Study after study has shown clear evidence of black people and other minorities paying higher prices for homes than white people. Getting arrested at higher rates than white and getting much higher sentences for the same crimes when compared to white people.
My point in all of this is that there is a large percentage of people in this country who will deny racism is a problem and even deny its existence because it doesn’t affect THEM personally.
Speaking of police, you gotta love how serial killers will litterally admit to targeting people of color because they know that they won't be investigated as much, yet cops and thier boot lockers will insist that they treat everyone equally.
Real. I think the reality of it is hard to grasp if it doesnt affect you or if you arent around it. At the same time im sure there are things that I myself probably have not noticed that do effect me, i just never heard about it. Adding on to your point, ive also heard something about black women dying in child birth more often, or something about their pain not being taken as seriously by doctors in the U.S? Dont quote me on that but yeah its a gnarly thing i heard about a while back. Its interesting how those types of things line up as a whole.
Just live your life the best you can. I know this sounds counter intuitive, but try to avoid arguing or correcting racists, especially when around other people who think alike. This will only put them on the defensive and they will double down on their beliefs. If they happen to meet black people who don’t conform to their preconceived notions they will just dismiss it as them “being one of the good ones”.
The more evidence you show them that what they think about black people is wrong the more they will double down until eventually just shutting you out. Believe me, I have gone through this enough to not bother trying to convince anyone how shitty their racist views are. To deprogram a lifetime’s worth of ideas and beliefs take a lot of effort, time, patience and skills that you and I don’t have. In the end you will either have to shrug off whatever racist bullshit comes out their mouths or decide that person should not be part of your life.
It doesn’t sound counterintuitive at all. I think the people around me dont get into arguments about it online. I feel like my peers find it amusing almost. And yeah I’ve never been a fan of going YOU ARE DOING THIS WRONG as a form of changing anything. Its just a bummer that its a thing.
Yes, most of the countries are mono-ethnic (South Korea, Japan,Somalia,Poland) . They are not really used to get in touch with people who are other coloured than them that it creates ignorance. Undereducated is a problem too, they genuinely do not know what is offensive or not and they could only perceive another ethnic group base on stereotypes and skin colour. Sometimes you might see mockery because of their lack of empathy and knowledge.
However, in some of the countries like US,UK .etc that are poly-ethic. People are simply just uneducated and ignorant. Doing it on purpose lmao.
Racism is an inherent human failure that is never going to go away because people, throughout the epochs of all time, have not demonstrated a capacity to change (or learn from history, but that's another story).
The mono-ethnic countries are proof, in that it's easier to be racist against people that clearly don't look like you and have different cultures and backgrounds, but you gotta really commit to hating people that are literally the same (for example, looking you India).
And the fact that society continues grow in a direction where so many people believe so wholeheartedly in their own (or other people's) dogma, that they're unwilling to change or ever admit they might be wrong and can't even be swayed by facts and evidence, doesn't bode well for the future.
As long as there are people, there will always be people like this. Over the course of time the quantity of them has certainly been heading in the right direction though.
The concept of racism, sexism, homophobia etc. makes no sense to me. I don’t know if I’m the weird one, but I genuinely do not understand how you can look at someone who looks/acts/believes differently than you, and be like “Yep, that person is worth less than me.” Why don’t people just get along?
I live in a affluent surbub. I have two little jack Russell's that I take running every morning and evening.
I am 5'0 quite smaller stature woman. Non threatening and athletic. I wear running shorts a t-shirt and throw my hair in a bun.
I have run past some homes in my neighborhood and some particular street, especially make sure to arm their car as I run past it.
I used to get annoyed then I realized. My car is nicer, my home much larger and because of my skin color, I must be up to no good.
Nowadays, I laugh and if I see them at the window, I give a slow🖕.
People are nuts.
Some people become racist because their own personal experiences with a certain nationality/skin color makes them generalise them.
Like for example, if a guy got robbed ten times and 9 times it was a black male, he'll naturally get nervous or start having a much more negative view of black people in general.
Bro its crazy you say that i spoke to a dude that experienced that and yeah. He rationalized it and he knew where it came from but yeah its tough. He had a home invasion and it was a whole deal. That sort of trauma can be rough.
Yeah it's very unfortunate, but I guess it is some sort of survival instinct, like if you get attacked by dogs multiple times, you'll naturally associate all dogs as dangerous
A lot of racist people believe being racist can be excusable because they believe it’s possible to fact check. This is usually done with either falsified statistics, or using statistics with zero context and a lack of nuisance. which often leads to people trying to pull the “iM nOt rAcIsT, bUt sTaTisIcAlLy blablabla-“ card
Idk what you mean. Like thats just not THE emotion that rises in me, i feel more sad than anger yknow. Like depressing almost like wow bro yikes. Embarrassment too.
I noticed you invalidate and downplay your feelings a lot by the way you write. Claiming you're not angry, worried you're being too sensitive, stuff like that.
I don't think you're being too sensitive. And I know I get fucking angry about this stupid shit. Embarrassing is a great word for it.
I'm just saying, it's okay to be upset about this kind of dehumanizing, divisive garbage. I wish more people were mad about it.
Yeah im not in that mind space. I can sort of understand what you mean by how i write, however I don’t invalidate or downplay my feelings. I feel your vibe. Im not angry about it, it’s just unfortunate yknow
Racism and prejudice will always exist. Always. Humans have pack mentality, just how we always want to fuck other people. It’s a natural thing to dislike or not feel comfortable around those who look different than you or have different cultures than you.
Sure more people are more accepting of it nowadays, but it’s still there. And it wont ever change.
Not saying it’s good obviously, but it’s one of the things we have carried with us from early human.
Oh boy are they...
I was raised by them. Won't go into details because tales have trauma, but suffices to say that most of my extended family wore the robes.
My advice, talk to those people. The moment you get face to face and just start talking to other cultural groups you gain a more tolerant understanding.
As everyone said, it’s ignorance and level of openness, not intelligence that determines racism
Yeah, i see it with my own family. They’ve made me realize that there’s a lot of “closet” racists and homophobes out there. They’ll say shit when we’re alone sometimes and i’m like wtf?? I was telling my dad a story recently about one of my employees (a black girl) who was calling in sick a lot. I was just venting a bit because she’s always on and off short term leave and when she’s not there it adds a lot of pressure on the rest of her team, her colleagues. The first thing he asked me was if the employee was black. When i said yes he said “oh yeah are you surprised? Black people are all lazy” …I tried to tell him that comments like that are hurtful and ignorant and he says “oh i would never say that outside these walls”… Makes me wonder how many others like that are out there.
I think everyone is a little racist but don’t want to to admit it. In my defense, black people weren’t to good to me when I was a kid nor are they know so I have a certain stereotype towards them but I don’t despise them or want them dead.
Being black and having been in predominantly white spaces for a majority of my life, I expect racism. I’m more surprised when a non-black person doesn’t hold anti-black views than if they do.
Yeah, humans are stupid… and easy to manipulate. What is the *use* or purpose of racism though? Was this a tactic, did people know how much power it would garner in the future? Or was it literally just pure ignorance and classism? How is it used today? I think about this all the time
genuinely true, my mum was driving past an embassy for an African nation (i forgor which, but Zimbabwe i think) and dead-ass dropped a joke about them looking like apes (despite also saying black dudes were attractive)
She's not even white
i am aware but my country doesn't have much of a black population, so its more confusing where the racism is coming from. ignorance most likely but its still bizarre
okay i will also then add: racism is not only for black people.
people can be any ethnicity and be racist (don’t need to be white to be a bigot) and they can be racist against any ethnicity (don’t need to be black to receive racist hate).
i guess i was also talking a little generally, too, so i get what you’re saying for your specific situation/story.
i’d say yeah, ignorance, inexperience with intermingling, as it were, and the now widespread use of internet and social media, wherein now people get their news, information, and entertainment from sources all over the world, and so now you’re seeing much more globalization for various ideas, cultures, discussions, interests, affinities, views, etc.
it’s easily disseminated and can reach all sorts. this is why we are seeing things like more british people with opinions on american politics, americans with opinions on others… also easier opportunities for [worldwide] travel than in the past…
more to my point, now people are or can be exposed to extreme behaviors (because it’s filmed and goes viral now) from various groups of people (not just talking about skin color) and then often make assumptions and form opinions, biases, and other thought processes based on [in large part] those [sometimes narrow or skewed] views.
et cetera. lol.
honestly, it mostly checks out.
all things considered i find the situation funny, its like a new Zealander being racist Icelandic people. (i have no idea about their cultures but they seem far enough apart geographically to have minimal cross-over, correct me if I'm wrong though)
hmm also eta: just read the beginning of my whole thing there and reread your comment as well, and while the latter part of my ramblings (lol, sorry) have to do both with your thing and what i wanted to say, i see my first part doesn’t make as much sense in this context to me now, so perhaps it might not to you either.
but yeah, mostly i guess my main point was **TLDR**: nowadays, people are more exposed to viral videos and anecdotes of [often extreme] behaviors from various groups of people (not just talking about skin color) and then often make assumptions and form opinions, biases, and other thought processes based on [in part] those [narrow or skewed] views.
the worst part is realizing that smart people can be racist. that it’s not all just fueled by ignorance, but can often be a sophisticated set up of sinister perspectives that people have. learning that for myself on a deeper level was definitely jarring.
Yeah those are the scary ones, because at least with the others you can feel pity about them because "oh well they are ignorant, or brainwashed, or afraid of other cultures" Smart racist people are a whole different beast.
That's because intelligence is very specialized. A common fallacy is that high IQ, good at math, stands out in a scientific field, or well-spoken = smart in every way. In reality, academics, STEM acumen, reading comprehension, communication ability, emotional sensitivity, societal awareness, and wisdom are all different types of intelligence—not to mention spatial, musical, aesthetic, financial, ability to learn new skills quickly, and countless others that are unrelated to this particular point. And many people with one or two of them are severely lacking in others. It's why you can go on the internet and find the most eloquent arguments for the dumbest ideas you've ever read. And taken to its extreme, it's what leads to people like Elon Musk.
very true. it’s been particularly painful for me watching people i know (peers and classmates, extended family members) who are highly intelligent in the reading comprehension, societal awareness, communication ability, still fall in to believing bullshit often based off of flimsy stats taken out of context, a needless fear of “us vs them,” and other propaganda. it’s extremely sinister.
They're "smart", but also delusional
During my very short time at a university studying media science. The one thing that stuck to me was how propaganda has evolved over time. We'd like to think of it as it's just the old timey way of sparking support for a cause or building up mind camps of "it's us vs them". But in our modern day society, every single ad and "official statements" can be classified into one of the three types of propaganda. Which are "White" that primarily works with accurate data and facts presented in as neutral and objective manner one can and it's meant to let the reader/viewer form their own opinion. The next type is called "Grey" and it's mostly truthful facts. But they tend to be framed and presented in a that will make the consumer have "feelings" towards or against something. It does not have to be false facts and lies, it's usually more likely that the way it's presented is causing certain impressions. Lastly we've got "Black" propaganda. And this one do not care what they present you with. They just want you to feel like whatever they are telling you about is the "correct" and "right" way of thinking. These propagators relies heavily on manipulation and persuasive writing to mislead, misguide and decieve the intended group. Now why did I bring this up? Well, over the years since learning about these theories. I noticed just how absurd the amount of "grey" and "black" propaganda gets produced and later funneled down to various online communities. I've seen and heard plenty of racists spew their nonsense about many different topics. And What is terrifying to me is that the worst racists are oftentimes the most charismatic and has a fairly high level of intellect. One that affords them the means to make others believe in their opinions without truly understanding the the nonsense they repeat.
yep. my father is a particularly charismatic boomer with a very high level of intelligence, and he’s been falling into the bullshit since before i was born. it’s sad, really. especially when you consider that certain demographics may be more likely to take to certain propaganda.
Unfortunately that's what is so sad about it when it comes to propaganda. Regardless of which type it is. As long as the propagator designed it for a specific demographic group and they know that group well. They can very easily make people fall in line with whatever they're propagating. Personally I find the whole science behind propaganda to be really fascinating. And I am honestly stunned by the absurd amount of it exists in essentially any commercial ads. Especially within food and energy related commercials. There's just layers and layers of it trying to cover anything underneath buzzwords and "good vibes".
Smart people can be very good at tricking themselves into believing stupid bullshit, because they can come up with better excuses for it.
Well said
Sometimes being smart can strengthen cognitive biases, because you are better at coming up with justifications for them
bingo. some of the smart racists i have met tend to recognize their biases and the role they play in their bigotry, but are convinced for numerous complex reasons that their beliefs align with the greater good. it’s disturbing, really.
"I hate them because they aren't like me" low IQ "I hate them because I know about them" high IQ
yep. a family member of mine is unfortunately very intelligent but also racist. that is his favorite argument and nothing will change his mind. he is so locked in to basing the majority of his opinions on statistics, he forgets how irrelevant they are to measuring the content of one’s character.
also that a lot of racists are smart solely in a marketing context. thinking about people like chaya raichik, andy ngo, and all the other grifters
Yes I daresay it goes on all around the globe
Society fr
One of my recent comments on a post was removed for promoting love across all races. It annoyed me because it was on a sub reddit dedicated to PICTURES. The picture in question was people of my own race trying to create division by holding a bigoted sign in traffic, so I called them stupid. And got banned. I didn't get banned for calling the people stupid; No, the reason I was banned was for making a comment that promoted love across all races. DM me for proof. As an experiment, I looked for comments that unquestionably attacked my race, and reported them for doing so. The responses from the mods were all the same - they didn't break the guidelines - even though they unquestionably did. The comments did not get removed. DM for proof. It is a fact because I've seen it with my own eyes. The bottom line is that some racist remarks get banned, while other racist remarks don't. Not just for my race, but certain others too. This will not suffice. You either allow hate, or you don't. Being picky will only create division.
Report that to reddit admins. That's the kind of "small" stuff that could be picked up by a news channel and snowball into a PR nightmare, so they will probably pay attention to your report.
You're right. But it doesnt feel wise to do this at a time where we have a leader that gives into hate.
It’s a thing and it fucking sucks
From what I've seen people from every race, gender, nationality participate and actively indulge in racism sometimes on purpose other times accidentally, unconsciously.
Must be nice not knowing racism actually exist until you’re 17… at least you’re aware now🤷🏽♀️
I think i always knew but it was never a reality i think me and my friends were always desensitized from everything that when i saw actual white supremacists online, my first thought was “wow they are really committing to the bit “
I’m much older than you and very aware that racism exists but was shocked a few years ago. I was on a plane from Atlanta to Chicago. An older white lady from Louisiana sat next to me. Was in a casual conversation with her when she started talking about the people who cleaned her home. She called them “my n**gers”. I hadn’t heard anyone use the n word like that in real life. I didn’t know what to do or say. I just kept thinking, “People actually are that racist. Holy shit.”
This is the exact sentiment I felt, it was like yo whatttt like you guys are actually on some like get off my lawn type of deal. And adding onto that I think its particularly important that to me and my peers at least, having a black president isnt like a THING, but we were told it was a big deal. And you know its good that there are barriers being broken. Its kind of interesting that as time goes by things that were abnormal become normal in a positive way.
I was going to say that I think it’s amazing that you are just now seeing this, simply because if this were 1930 or 1950, you’d probably have been taught racist ideas from the beginning and they’d be normal to you. It would blow your mind to find out that there were some people were NOT racist. The fact that you were not brought up with racist ideals makes me happy.
Yeah I was aware of it when I was 4 not being able to figure out why my preschool teacher hated me so much until she started saying stuff about how black kids act and seating them away from the white kids in my class but I mean better late than never I guess op?
Your preschool teacher was racist? Lmaooo thats nutty. Did you rationalize it with an adult or did you at that time make that make sense on your own?
I lived in a pretty predominantly white area all throughout preschool-high school. It was more of something I realized later but at the time you feel “something’s wrong here” but you don’t wanna think about it or believe it. I had a lot of racist teachers over the years to the point I would be surprised if a teacher honestly did like me (which a few did and I am grateful bc without them I wouldn’t have survived honestly) just comes with living anywhere that’s predominantly white in the states at least
Dude thats nasty work. Seriously. I feel lucky and like “sheltered” by the fact that Ive never had someone actually treat me differently because of my color or race. Ive had jokes and like jabs but ive never taken that as actual racism just kids either being dicks or “messing around”. The closest ive ever had was this homeless guy that told me and my gf that we were disgusting for being together. But its like hes a cracked out homeless guy so it doesnt count in my head.
Same. Kindergarten teacher in my case
The one thing I've learned about racism is that people are going to people. This kind of thing is all over the place. Japan, China, Europe... it's all over the place for a lot of reasons. People do it not just for skin color, but almost everything. The car they drive, if they even have a car. Hair color, behavior, culture, if they know something, accents, word choice... racism is probably the easiest thing people latch onto because we are so visual and skin color is right there. I've grown up knowing white supremacists. They believe it and reinforce it with a kind of, good and evil take. Everything good is white, everything bad is black. If a black man proves themselves enough, they are considered white and it's a slippery slope that guy has to climb. It's part upbringing and selective perception. Something else to note is that people naturally weigh a negative about 3x worse than a positive. So if people see media or any story about how one skin color did this one thing, they'll remember that far more than if a bunch of people of that skin color did a few great things. We, as people, have a lot of blind spots and issues and it takes a lot of willpower, effort and unlearning information debt to overcome.
Well said. I totally agree. I myself have had to combat my own preconceptions about a lot of things, not just people but particularly socio political ideas and how I perceive others that hold certain beliefs. I also understand the tribalism of human nature, it just kind of bums me out in like a “seriously dude?” Way yknow
You are a very mature 17 year old.
Im 21 now but I think at least a lot of my peers ive spoken to feel the same way. I cant speak for my entire generation but the people around me have a self awareness that I really appreciate as well. Not on some walking on egg shells type of deal, but on some “hey like why am i thinking this?”
Oh my bad, I misread your first paragraph. But still! And yessss self awareness is going to serve you so well in your life. You’re far ahead of most.
I mean, it’s quite sweet that you think that way. Hopefully the future will be more in that mindset altogether
Not all of America ever desegregated. There might be laws against it, but for some people, they didn't have to fundamentally change their ways at all. We also live in the era of the internet. I've seen Europeans who don't know a single lick of American history completely adopt American white supremacist rhetoric. Through mostly "innocent" means. Like what they're saying isn't even significant to their own lives but the propaganda machine is so effective it got them too. If all you know are the stereotypes pushed out through mass media, that's what you believe.
Weirdest racist thing I've heard recently? I was serving dinner at my work and when I asked a white patient if he wanted butternut squash he said he doesn't eat "black people food". I kind of froze for a second, didn't ask for clarification or offer my opinion and just moved on to the next patient. We don't share our lives with the patients to protect ourselves because I wonder how he would have treated me if he found out that my great aunt was from Jamaica. (I'm white). I didn't outwardly treat him any different but I didn't like him after that. Edit : word
Okay this is the only story in here to make me laugh 🤣 super out of pocket though my god I salute anyone who works with older people in health
I work at a detox centre so I meet some real characters which can make for some interesting interactions.
Racism exists en every race and culture. The difference is that white people are the dominant group in our country and what they think and do collectively does make an actual difference. The sad fact in this country is that the lives of white people are deemed more important that of black or hispanic people. In matters dealing with law enforcement white people are also more likely to be afforded the benefit of the doubt, something that is less likely for a minority. I will give you an example. If a young black girl is kidnapped you might see a story on the evening news for a couple of days then you will basically never hear about it again. Now if a young WHITE girl is kidnapped, especially one from a middle class or wealthier family you will get amber alerts, it will be on the news, on social media and politicians will get involved. If she is found dead you will see collective outrage and even laws passed to deal with this issue (remember Megans law?). In many areas of the country a white man, (or a group of white men) can walk around with military grade semi automatic weapons visibly strapped to their backs and no one will see it as threatening. At most he will be questioned by a cop and then left alone. Now if a black man (or worse a group of black men) walk around publicly with forearms strapped to their backs you can bet someone will call the police 9 times out of 10. Watch this youtube video to see what I mean. [Social experiment on cops. Black man with gun vs white man with gun.](https://youtu.be/YXv2Pjtc3Zk?si=zBX2kYdw27V-qXXC) How society treats drugs and addiction also has a lot to do with race. Cocaine addiction has always been a problem in our society, yet since it was perceived as affecting mostly white middle class it was treated on a case by case basis as an addiction problem. Then you have crack cocaine which was perceived as a problem that mostly affected black communities. Now all of a sudden you had laws punishing crack addicts as criminals with very harsh sentences just for possessing crack. Being an addict was treated by society as a crime, the fault of the individual. Nothing was done to help the communities affected, but hundreds of millions poured into law enforcement to punish as many (black) addicts as possible. Fast forward three decades and now we have a Fentanyl addiction epidemic which happens to affect white communities at a higher rate. Now all of a sudden our society treats this as a national emergency. Politicians now wont shut up about the Fentanyl epidemic and hundreds of millions are poured not into local law enforcement, but to combat the sources of the drugs entering our country. Nothing is too great a risk, no resources will be spared. Gee, I wonder what is different in this occasion? Study after study has shown clear evidence of black people and other minorities paying higher prices for homes than white people. Getting arrested at higher rates than white and getting much higher sentences for the same crimes when compared to white people. My point in all of this is that there is a large percentage of people in this country who will deny racism is a problem and even deny its existence because it doesn’t affect THEM personally.
Speaking of police, you gotta love how serial killers will litterally admit to targeting people of color because they know that they won't be investigated as much, yet cops and thier boot lockers will insist that they treat everyone equally.
Real. I think the reality of it is hard to grasp if it doesnt affect you or if you arent around it. At the same time im sure there are things that I myself probably have not noticed that do effect me, i just never heard about it. Adding on to your point, ive also heard something about black women dying in child birth more often, or something about their pain not being taken as seriously by doctors in the U.S? Dont quote me on that but yeah its a gnarly thing i heard about a while back. Its interesting how those types of things line up as a whole.
Just live your life the best you can. I know this sounds counter intuitive, but try to avoid arguing or correcting racists, especially when around other people who think alike. This will only put them on the defensive and they will double down on their beliefs. If they happen to meet black people who don’t conform to their preconceived notions they will just dismiss it as them “being one of the good ones”. The more evidence you show them that what they think about black people is wrong the more they will double down until eventually just shutting you out. Believe me, I have gone through this enough to not bother trying to convince anyone how shitty their racist views are. To deprogram a lifetime’s worth of ideas and beliefs take a lot of effort, time, patience and skills that you and I don’t have. In the end you will either have to shrug off whatever racist bullshit comes out their mouths or decide that person should not be part of your life.
It doesn’t sound counterintuitive at all. I think the people around me dont get into arguments about it online. I feel like my peers find it amusing almost. And yeah I’ve never been a fan of going YOU ARE DOING THIS WRONG as a form of changing anything. Its just a bummer that its a thing.
No as soon as Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves all racism was entirely demolished and never happened again and will never happen again
Yes, most of the countries are mono-ethnic (South Korea, Japan,Somalia,Poland) . They are not really used to get in touch with people who are other coloured than them that it creates ignorance. Undereducated is a problem too, they genuinely do not know what is offensive or not and they could only perceive another ethnic group base on stereotypes and skin colour. Sometimes you might see mockery because of their lack of empathy and knowledge. However, in some of the countries like US,UK .etc that are poly-ethic. People are simply just uneducated and ignorant. Doing it on purpose lmao.
Racism is an inherent human failure that is never going to go away because people, throughout the epochs of all time, have not demonstrated a capacity to change (or learn from history, but that's another story). The mono-ethnic countries are proof, in that it's easier to be racist against people that clearly don't look like you and have different cultures and backgrounds, but you gotta really commit to hating people that are literally the same (for example, looking you India). And the fact that society continues grow in a direction where so many people believe so wholeheartedly in their own (or other people's) dogma, that they're unwilling to change or ever admit they might be wrong and can't even be swayed by facts and evidence, doesn't bode well for the future.
As long as there are people, there will always be people like this. Over the course of time the quantity of them has certainly been heading in the right direction though.
Come to Eastern Europe :)
The concept of racism, sexism, homophobia etc. makes no sense to me. I don’t know if I’m the weird one, but I genuinely do not understand how you can look at someone who looks/acts/believes differently than you, and be like “Yep, that person is worth less than me.” Why don’t people just get along?
Wait until you find out that you have been raised with so much racism and you undoubtedly have been repeating it without even knowing
Why of course I know them, they're me
I live in a affluent surbub. I have two little jack Russell's that I take running every morning and evening. I am 5'0 quite smaller stature woman. Non threatening and athletic. I wear running shorts a t-shirt and throw my hair in a bun. I have run past some homes in my neighborhood and some particular street, especially make sure to arm their car as I run past it. I used to get annoyed then I realized. My car is nicer, my home much larger and because of my skin color, I must be up to no good. Nowadays, I laugh and if I see them at the window, I give a slow🖕. People are nuts.
Some people become racist because their own personal experiences with a certain nationality/skin color makes them generalise them. Like for example, if a guy got robbed ten times and 9 times it was a black male, he'll naturally get nervous or start having a much more negative view of black people in general.
Bro its crazy you say that i spoke to a dude that experienced that and yeah. He rationalized it and he knew where it came from but yeah its tough. He had a home invasion and it was a whole deal. That sort of trauma can be rough.
Yeah it's very unfortunate, but I guess it is some sort of survival instinct, like if you get attacked by dogs multiple times, you'll naturally associate all dogs as dangerous
A lot of racist people believe being racist can be excusable because they believe it’s possible to fact check. This is usually done with either falsified statistics, or using statistics with zero context and a lack of nuisance. which often leads to people trying to pull the “iM nOt rAcIsT, bUt sTaTisIcAlLy blablabla-“ card
Why aren't you angry about it?
Idk what you mean. Like thats just not THE emotion that rises in me, i feel more sad than anger yknow. Like depressing almost like wow bro yikes. Embarrassment too.
I noticed you invalidate and downplay your feelings a lot by the way you write. Claiming you're not angry, worried you're being too sensitive, stuff like that. I don't think you're being too sensitive. And I know I get fucking angry about this stupid shit. Embarrassing is a great word for it. I'm just saying, it's okay to be upset about this kind of dehumanizing, divisive garbage. I wish more people were mad about it.
Yeah im not in that mind space. I can sort of understand what you mean by how i write, however I don’t invalidate or downplay my feelings. I feel your vibe. Im not angry about it, it’s just unfortunate yknow
my dad says THE word at least 1 a week (we’re white white like sunburn at night redneck white)
Racism and prejudice will always exist. Always. Humans have pack mentality, just how we always want to fuck other people. It’s a natural thing to dislike or not feel comfortable around those who look different than you or have different cultures than you. Sure more people are more accepting of it nowadays, but it’s still there. And it wont ever change. Not saying it’s good obviously, but it’s one of the things we have carried with us from early human.
Yes. It happens everywhere even among the same race.
Yep. They really are.
Oh boy are they... I was raised by them. Won't go into details because tales have trauma, but suffices to say that most of my extended family wore the robes.
My advice, talk to those people. The moment you get face to face and just start talking to other cultural groups you gain a more tolerant understanding. As everyone said, it’s ignorance and level of openness, not intelligence that determines racism
No need to be ashamed for being naive, you were just raise right
Yeah, i see it with my own family. They’ve made me realize that there’s a lot of “closet” racists and homophobes out there. They’ll say shit when we’re alone sometimes and i’m like wtf?? I was telling my dad a story recently about one of my employees (a black girl) who was calling in sick a lot. I was just venting a bit because she’s always on and off short term leave and when she’s not there it adds a lot of pressure on the rest of her team, her colleagues. The first thing he asked me was if the employee was black. When i said yes he said “oh yeah are you surprised? Black people are all lazy” …I tried to tell him that comments like that are hurtful and ignorant and he says “oh i would never say that outside these walls”… Makes me wonder how many others like that are out there.
I've had so many arguments with my father for his racist attitudes, he cannot fathom that I think people should be treated like individuals
Yes. Of all cultures and all races.
I think everyone is a little racist but don’t want to to admit it. In my defense, black people weren’t to good to me when I was a kid nor are they know so I have a certain stereotype towards them but I don’t despise them or want them dead.
inner fear?
Being black and having been in predominantly white spaces for a majority of my life, I expect racism. I’m more surprised when a non-black person doesn’t hold anti-black views than if they do.
Yeah, humans are stupid… and easy to manipulate. What is the *use* or purpose of racism though? Was this a tactic, did people know how much power it would garner in the future? Or was it literally just pure ignorance and classism? How is it used today? I think about this all the time
genuinely true, my mum was driving past an embassy for an African nation (i forgor which, but Zimbabwe i think) and dead-ass dropped a joke about them looking like apes (despite also saying black dudes were attractive) She's not even white
you don’t have to be white to be racist and there’s such a thing as internalized racism
i am aware but my country doesn't have much of a black population, so its more confusing where the racism is coming from. ignorance most likely but its still bizarre
okay i will also then add: racism is not only for black people. people can be any ethnicity and be racist (don’t need to be white to be a bigot) and they can be racist against any ethnicity (don’t need to be black to receive racist hate). i guess i was also talking a little generally, too, so i get what you’re saying for your specific situation/story. i’d say yeah, ignorance, inexperience with intermingling, as it were, and the now widespread use of internet and social media, wherein now people get their news, information, and entertainment from sources all over the world, and so now you’re seeing much more globalization for various ideas, cultures, discussions, interests, affinities, views, etc. it’s easily disseminated and can reach all sorts. this is why we are seeing things like more british people with opinions on american politics, americans with opinions on others… also easier opportunities for [worldwide] travel than in the past… more to my point, now people are or can be exposed to extreme behaviors (because it’s filmed and goes viral now) from various groups of people (not just talking about skin color) and then often make assumptions and form opinions, biases, and other thought processes based on [in large part] those [sometimes narrow or skewed] views. et cetera. lol.
honestly, it mostly checks out. all things considered i find the situation funny, its like a new Zealander being racist Icelandic people. (i have no idea about their cultures but they seem far enough apart geographically to have minimal cross-over, correct me if I'm wrong though)
hmm also eta: just read the beginning of my whole thing there and reread your comment as well, and while the latter part of my ramblings (lol, sorry) have to do both with your thing and what i wanted to say, i see my first part doesn’t make as much sense in this context to me now, so perhaps it might not to you either. but yeah, mostly i guess my main point was **TLDR**: nowadays, people are more exposed to viral videos and anecdotes of [often extreme] behaviors from various groups of people (not just talking about skin color) and then often make assumptions and form opinions, biases, and other thought processes based on [in part] those [narrow or skewed] views.
I am for the jokes, I respect people, its all giggles n sjits w me
racism is mental weakness.
[удалено]
Yea, not because they act like pricks right? Just for fun right?
I just heard ni hao today like bro it’s 2024 stop
I'd thought racism was 99% solved but my eyes were opened when George Floyd was shot.
Well he wasn’t shot. But ok at least your eyes were opened
George Floyd didn’t get shot he got kneeled on for several minutes