Continuing where it left off

[notyou2]

Science has shown that we're all racists. We are quicker to associate good words with people who look like ourselves and bad words with people who look different from us.

pretty much common sense, everyone prefers their own kind.

I used to work alot as a contractor in the mortgage industry and it entailed much travel.

Most projects would have quite a few black people on it.
The black people always hung out with other black people, and the white people hung out with the white people. Apparently, everyone on this project preferred their own kind.

An interesting thing I noticed as a white man was that I was friendly with a couple black guys. We'd talk and joke around in one on one situations. This one hotel had a bar and dance room, all the black guys hung out there after work. One night I decided to check it out. A couple of my black friendly acquaintances were down there. I tried to say hello to them but all of them blew me off. That avoided me like I was a pariah. I had a black roomate in college and I observed the same type of behavior.
Black people are every bit as racist as the most racist white person; don't let the media fool you. They do not want to let other black people know they're friendly with a white guy.

And honestly, i don't hold it against them. They have every right to stick together with their own race... and so should white people

They were forced to work with you, perhaps they didn't want to hang around you. Disliking a person is not necessarily racist.

[patches70]

Yeah, gannable is not describing racism, he's describing bigotry and prejudice.

If he wanted to give an example of racism then he'd have to attempt to approach his black acquaintances and they beat him and kill him because he's a white devil and that he is subhuman to them. That would be racist.

People even regardless of skin color gravitate to people who think alike as well, is that "intellectual racism"? I think not.
Liberals hang with liberals, conservatives hang with conservatives, etc etc. And on top of that the different groups assume things about other groups, which often aren't true or exaggerated and almost always not true about actual individuals.

That's a text book definition of bigotry. Not racism.

Making assumptions about people based on race/color/class (etc) with no prior interactions is bigotry.
Making assumptions about people based on race/color/class (etc) by past experiences of others of the same race/color/class (etc) is prejudice.
Thinking another race/color/class (etc) of people aren't human or evolved to the level of your own race/color/class (etc) and thus is subject to domination is racism.

And to gillipig's point- "Science has shown that we're all racists. We are quicker to associate good words with people who look like ourselves and bad words with people who look different from us."
We aren't all racists, we are pretty much all prejudice though.
It's natural and it's an ancient self defense instinct and I suppose science only tells us what we already know and is common sense.

It's just not necessarily a wise thing to do in these days to make decisions about people based on prejudices alone. But to our ancestors it was the difference between life and death. And if anyone ever tries to say they have no prejudices then you've met yourself a bold faced liar. Every human being on the planet has prejudices of one type of another. And natural.
Bigots are far more common than uncommon but no where near the levels of prejudices. And irrational.
But racists are few and far between, and dangerous. But even racists aren't much of a problem until they attain positions of power over others. Then it can get down right genocidal.

One of the worst injustices done in this modern world is to blend the meanings of bigotry, prejudice and racism into one blurred definition, IMO. You laugh off a bigot, you always try to fight your own prejudices and racists have to be dealt with quickly and succinctly. But taking the racist line to a simple bigot or the natural and often justified prejudice makes plenty of problems all their own and gives cover to real racists and racist policies.

Now we go around calling everyone a "racists!" until everyone just starts rolling their eyes at the charges and lo and behold people roll their eyes when real racists rise up and don't do anything until plenty of misery has happened.
At least, that's what I'm seeing in society.

Hell, I'm definitely prejudice toward tigers. If there was a tiger in my house I'd assume that bastard is going to eat me, even though that particular tiger may not have ever eaten or harmed another human being in it's life and all it may want to do is just hang out and get scratched behind the ears. I'd be prejudice as hell toward it though, and that would be a wise thing for me to be, wouldn't you all agree?

I'd even be bigoted toward the tiger because I'd want that damn thing out of my house and no where near me roaming free. Because tigers can and have killed and eaten people. Behind a cage, sure, no problem, where it can't get at me. I won't go in it's cage and I don't want it in my house.

But, even if the tiger was in my house, I wouldn't necessarily just want it killed. If it threatened me then I'd put it down if I could, escape even better, but if I can get it out of my house and back to where ever it really belongs, then that is just fine by me as well. So I'm not racist to the tiger, I'm all for live and let live and live free for both of us. Just not in my house because of my prejudice and my bigotry toward the tiger would not allow that to be a peaceful coexistence.

Does that make sense or am I just rambling?

[pimpdave]

All I know is the most racist of all the racists is the Tea Party and their Death Squads.

[mrswdk]

I would agree that people tend to gravitate towards others who think similarly to them. The skin color thing is bullshit though - none of my friends are the same color as me.

[macbone]

Harvard has some interesting tests about possible unconscious beliefs we have about other people. They have tests for attitudes on race (the "Race" test is about blacks and whites, but there's one for Asians/whites, Native Americans/whites, and Arabs), sexuality, religion, presidents, and weight, among others.

Go here to read about the tests, and then click "I want to proceed": https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

When I took the Race test, it confirmed that I have a medium preference for whites over blacks, and I'd say that's true, and it's also something that I'm not happy about with myself. I get that with folks here in Hong Kong, too. They have this idea that black people are more dangerous. It's certainly a complex issue, but the media is in no small part responsible for reporting the worst in many groups. (What makes headlines, militant Muslims, anti-abortion activists, and homophobic protesters out there killing and raping, or people working for peace and equality? Violence, like sex, sells.)

When I was in college, I noticed that I had a lot of female black friends, but only one male black friend (which was pretty much the same pattern as high school). I saw that as a flaw in myself and made an effort to be more of a friend to people regardless of race. The groups I hung out with were pretty multiracial - Asians, whites, blacks, Latinos. Still, probably 50% of the people I hung around were white. (I didn't think I'd marry an Asian girl, though. I figured I'd eventually end up with a white or black girl.)

[mrswdk]

Hang out with whoever you want, gemenr. I often avoid other people of my race in Beijing because the majority of people of my race that I meet in Beijing are c*nts. I don't look at my circle of friends and see a shameful imbalance though.

I wish I could meet some more Koreans, but that's because they're hot rather than because I have an Equal Opportunities quota to fill.

[macbone]

North Korean or South Korean? =)

[mrswdk]

North Korean or South Korean? =)

Ha. You caught me. I can't resist those 1970s military uniforms.

[notyou2]

North Korean or South Korean? =)

Ha. You caught me. I can't resist those 1970s military uniforms.

They are using you for food.

[pimpdave]

Yes but how does the Tea Party fit in to all of this? That's the question you should all be asking yourselves.

[notyou2]

Yes but how does the Tea Party fit in to all of this? That's the question you should all be asking yourselves.

Financing the racial hatred to start a race war, and then come to the rescue saying "I told you so"?

[warmonger1981]

Dr. Kenneth Bancroft Clark doll experiments. Know your history.

[Phatscotty]

is there anyone trying to say that all races evolved at the same rate over all of history?

[mrswdk]

Humans are all exactly the same, PS. Didn't you get the memo?

[notyou2]

is there anyone trying to say that all races evolved at the same rate over all of history?

Is there anyone trying to say the races are not evolved equally????

[2dimes]

is there anyone trying to say that all races evolved at the same rate over all of history?

Is there anyone trying to say the races are not evolved equally????

If race is a factor of evolution instead of mere slight adaptations how could it be equal?

I believe all differences between races are cosmetic. We can exchange blood and organs between us.

I shouldn't be in here I'm not willing to type the vast amounts of text to have a discussion of sufficient depth.

~squeals off in windowless van~

[saxitoxin]

is there anyone trying to say that all races evolved at the same rate over all of history?

Is there anyone trying to say the races are not evolved equally????