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Are you racist?

Trust Rugglesby to bring an elephant into the room.
The poll is anonymous as far as I know and is not linked to your answers or to you. Rather than just ticking the "no" box I challenge you to delve a bit deeper. Personally I reject the term "race" I do not believe in it. Others have stated their thoughts that they align it to "breed" for other species. To me, a "breed" has been bred for particular traits. I am a Heinz 57 variety, my ancestry is pretty much anything from Irish to Australian Aboriginal and most in between. Any breeding for traits has been bred out of me, I am a mongrel. Some consider race to be based on language or religion. We are not religious, but could still have a prejudice against any or all religions. I do not believe that would make us racists. For the purposes of this question I would like you to consider that cataloguing people as a race, is in fact being racist. Not necessarily that you think ill of the people you put into those categories, but simply by the fact that you do make the distinction. Remembering that this is not just about ancestry but more about appearance, or religion or language. A racist person would look at my fair skin and auburn hair and declare me Caucasian totally ignoring my Aboriginal grandfather. So the question is, do you categorise people (including yourself) for any reason as belonging to a "race"? To emphasize my point I am making the poll questions harsh. Feel free to make any comments you like, this is only my opinion, I am wrong more often than right, but please consider it only as an exercise to think outside the boxes. Clearly their is no obligation to answer the questions at all and to answer is only a test of your ability to express your own doubts and certainties.

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Rugglesby 8 Feb 19
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55 comments

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16

Skin a different color?
Okay.

Hair a different texture?
Okay.

Speak a different language?
Okay.

Have different socio cultural mores?
Okay.

From a different country?
Okay.

All these things mean what they mean, they matter when and how they matter--and none of them point to anything that leads me to feel separateness.

I'm not a make-up artist: your skin color is nothing I need to worry about.

I'm not a hair-dresser: the texture of your hair is not my concern.

I'm not an authoritarian despot: your language, values, or nationality are not my business.

You're a person.

You're a person.

You're a person.

You're a person.

You're a person.

You love, you fear, you desire, you hunger just as I do. Not in exactly the same ways--perhaps in very different ways--but the underlying experience is consistently human.

I don't want anyone else to fail to see the fullness of my humanity through any blinders they may wear--so I work to keep my own vision clear.

Humans come in all shapes, sizes, colors, textures, languages, cultures, countries, societies, religions...but only one "race."

love it.

I had no doubt that you were a good person. This is further proof of what I already believed. That was beautifully said, my friend.

I sometimes wish there was a love button on this site........

14

Hell yeah I am racist! All you humans are f#@king idiots!

@JuinnWong yep, we are a disappointing species

At the same time we are pretty amazing though, just look at how far weve advanced. The methods now with 8 billion people on this planet and tools and weapons of mass destruction and rampant divisiveness...etc etc etc...yeah im a misanthrope but i just wanna point out that overall its pretty cool.

10

I adhere to the concept that we are human. ALL of us.

That said, sociologists noted traits in peoples of different regions. This includes things like heavy, 'folded' eyelids. Course curly hair, vs fine straight hair. Or fine but curly hair. If a region tends to one hair color, that will be noted. In short my introduction to sociology was about categorization but I don't recall reading anything about one trait being superior to another though there were theories posed about adaptation to climate.

I DO hold to the idea that race was invented as a political tool to keep certain peoples down, and to help other people flourish/profit.

In short: we are all mutts and race is a false construct designed specifically to divide us.

Saying that race doesn't exist is denying that some of our history is real and potentially trying to say it never happened, OR at least it can be seen that way. Thus, I don't try to throw out the term, nor the concept. I DO however, work to not be racist.

One more idea comes up... do we habitually flock to our perceived 'kind'? I have noticed this and I like Freemans comment on it as "tribalism" because it really isn't about race (I too am a mutt, I have a genetic trait that says I am black, middle eastern or asian but I look nothing like any of the above). What it really is about, I think, is fear. So, you group up with those who give you comfort and that might be along lines that you and I would call 'racist' though, in reality, this may not be the real intent/focus of the action.

Final thought: I think 'racist' is a bit like 'lady' but inverse. If you have to point out that you are a lady, you aren't. If you have to say you aren't 'racist', odds on you are.

excellent points, I have thought on the tribalism angle a lot. Speaking of tribe, the Noongar people of Western Australia are close blood relatives of mine, my mother refuses to acknowledge this as she was adopted and raised by British parents, she is even fairer than I am. She has many arguments, bottom line is she is racist claiming she only takes after the other side of the family.

yes, brilliant. thank you.

you had me Gnarloc until I read the 'lady' analogy. In these days of gender diversity, I don't even know where the word lady sits in 2018. Is a lady someone who doesn't swear or spit in public? Someone who doesn't have a tattoo, someone who crosses her legs and sits up straight? Is it a compliment or not?

Hear Hear well said!!

@MsDemeanour It is related to an old joke by a comedienne. In which she relates that if you have to say you are a lady, you aren't a lady. The context of that day was what you are describing, someone with manners and from the 'upper crust' of society. Too true, as you point out, that in today's world it doesn't hold the same meaning.

9

Yes. I am a racist. I think Homo Sapiens are superior to all other primates.
But some of my best friends are Chimps.....

But some Homo Sapiens (I won't mention their names because we all know who) are inferior to chimps and some even lower non-primates!!

my friends are more like chumps

@JackPedigo over here many of our political variety are so spineless they can't rate as vertebrates

barely

I believe there are many animals totally equal to humans. Horses, dolphins and whales, crows and ravens, certain dog breeds (tendong towards smarter, more independent and generally between 35 and 70ish pounds...i like shepherds/herders and mostly cannot STAND small dogs unless theyre well behaved) and most cats (can't stand mothers cuz they become total fucking assholes lol, as well as the ones that will swat at or attack you for almost no reason). There are definitely others - maybe gorillas - but theyre not coming to mind atm. Im exercising pretty hard while i write this so thats likely partly why.

@Neraven Totally eh? Yeah right, whateva

@CapriKious yeah i didnt used to use that word seriously...how far ive fallen lol

@Neraven When a dolphin, elephant or raven etc. tells me I am a racist, I will reconsider my position.

@CapriKious -eyeroll- just cuz they can't talk doesn't mean they aren't intelligent, compassionate and in some cases creative.

@Neraven I would never deny your points. Other than some singular instances of these species showing empathy for ours and other species, I think we have yet to find undeciphered treatises from any of them on the welfare of other species. That there are modal differences in our communication patterns there can be no doubt. That they live and should be given every consideration as such, You will get no argument from me.

6

We are socialized as racist. As long as human physical traits are used to hand out privilege, thisbwill not change. Up front we can work to overcome our feelings and get beyond them, but our subconscious remains contaminated by our past upbringing. It's better to be aware of it then to deny it or practice it overtly or covertly.

6

Firstly we need an accurate definition of race.

My two pennorth (two cents): Race is the first step in evolution. In the North sea there are 7 races of cod. They live in different places, migrate to different places and breed at different times. They all taste the same.

I think that there are different races of human beings to be an enormous advantage. No race is inferior to any other - just different. It gives us an advantage in surviving.

'Fraid I'm not a mongrel, not since 1735 which is as far back as my family tree goes back.

If I were younger I would be working on that.

I agree with the adaptation to environment angle, in my case red hair was an advantage in areas of lower sunlight needed for production of vitamin D living where I do i would prefer more melanin from the other side of the family.

@Rugglesby A good friend of mine is a ginger (see I`m not that racist) and he was an extra in a special comic relief edition of Blackadder. The scene involved Rowan Atkinson being chased by 200 red headed scots up a hill. It was a warm sunny day and the production team provided an industrial size tub of factor 50 sun cream for all the extras. As they all slapped this on their skin he said that he had never before or since felt such a kinship with his " roots " lol

I'm always astounded that people say "my family tree" - which ancestral line did you take? Male? Female? And how do you know who the females of your "family" mated with? All nonsense - I'm sure you're just as much a mutt as the rest of us.

@GoldenDoll I rely on my cousin Yvonne. She is the family historian. I could go back one more generation on my mother's side but I can't be bothered.

@273kelvin Yes, you are a redhead and you have native Australian ancestry. I think we got that.

5

I am racist against orange people. Soo..Trump and oompa loompas (the singing is creepy)

funny fucker

5

We are all racists. Anyone who says they aren't is a liar. We need groups where we feel welcome and to have a sense of security. Those groups can be a race, a religion, type of lifestyle or anything we feel safe within. This bonding is a human need.

The problems happen if we become insular or teach hate or violence against another group.

@icolan you live in a vacuum

@icolan, I'm using racist in a broader sense. For example, a person raised in an entirely White experience would feel uneasy if suddenly plunged into a wholly Black experience. You can substitute another race or two or religion or cultural background instead. Of course, there are always exceptions, but the rule is the same.

@icolan Again, I'm not using it in a strict sense. I think we're going to have to let this go.

@icolan last time. If you are raised and remain in a single race cultural norm, then you will have no actual, (other than television or movies); knowledge of another race's root behavior. And since humans tend to feel safer among familiarities, That person will see their own culture as better than the other race's customs.

However, you can apply the same effect to other religions, (Christian versus Muslim); nationalities, education, just about any set of variables.

For example, I am white, and until I became friends with a woman from Nigeria, I had no idea of how she perceived my actions. When her brother asked me out, my hesitation was there even tho I have never seen myself as racist. To be fair, they see American Blacks as condescending and racist toward Africans as well.

Another example is a Native friend of mine sees Natives from downriver, not on the same level as those from upriver. This behavior is a common prejudice among area Natives.

5

I hold the modern view that race doesn't exist. It is a human construct based on incomplete data. The things we call "race" are so fuzzy around the edges as to make the definition useless.

5

I don't understand the reason for the religion selection. Religion isn't a race.

It is if your Jewish,live in northern Ireland or the subcontinent of India and many other places.

@macrobius The word " choice " is to some extent redundant. It may seem odd on a site like this but one cannot opt out of ones culture that easily. Though I am an atheist by choice culturally and racially I am still a WASP. I once asked two friends of mine from northern Ireland a question. (Each of them came from opposite sides of the divide). " If you you were standing at a bus stop and a total stranger walked up. Could you tell if they were catholic or protestant? " They both answered yes.

@macrobius Tell that to someone who lives in Belfast, Glasgow or even Boston. The P separated me from catholics in education and to a certain extent culturally as an adult. Irrespective of my own personal views. I can no more go back in time and scrap all the catholic schools in my neighborhood than I can change the colour of my skin. That does not mean that should or do adhere to any tribal constraints regarding friendship or relationships. Just what I was born into.

@Eazyduzzit that is what I say also, but every time I make any comment at all re "X" religion, I am called a racist by many people.

5

I believe every human is racist to a lesser or greater degree because its self-preservation basically. a race isn't a colour or even another country. it's everyone who isn't your family. it's genetically built into us and many animals.watch a good documentary on chimps in the wild and you will see what I mean. personally am about as unracist as a person can be.

I agree with what you say in that we choose our "own" in preference to "others" I just personally consider the term "race" spurious. Just wait until I get onto speciesism.

race is just the only word I can think of my friend

Chimps have been filmed raping and attacking other groups of chimps and also filmed attacking and eating other species of smaller monkeys. Sea otters have been filmed attacking and killing other animals such as baby seals. Humans are simply another animal species. Humans feel safe and or secure in similar type groups and very few are comfortable with groups outside of their similarities. It's how we are taught and very few go against that teaching, unfortunately, be it other races, religions, or another sex.

indeed pretty much what I said so we haven't really evolved mentally with our big brains and civility and we live in unnaturally huge colonies.

4

Hell no! I'm not a racist. I hate NASCAR and think the Indy 500 is boring.

I agree on both counts

4

There is no such thing as 'race'. It is a social creation. We all share the same genes (mostly) and are able to cross breed. All differences are cosmetic and cultural. The thing that divides us is tribal. I totally believe, all of us are capable of racist behavior. Some is conscious and some is unconscious. Denying that we may have some unconscious racist ideas is counterproductive to our individual healing.

My late partner was from Iran. This tribe is considered Aryan. They get insulted if one mixes them with the Arabs who they look down on. She had some of this tendency because it was fostered throughout childhood. She admitted it as well. Admitting this is the only way to deal with the negative consequences.

@icolan even social sciences? !!

@icolan Next to physical changes cultural changes are the slowest. The term "race" has been around for centuries so it's hard to get rid of it overnight. It is said the genetic differences between chimps living in forested areas from those living in plains areas is greater than any group of humans. The term won't change overnight. Science programs I have seen have said the term does not meet the reality.

4

If there is a race, it's the human race, period. I do not classify peoples by that term. Whenever it seems necessary for me, in speaking with another, to use a designation for a person from a different background, I will use the term "ethnicity" as I believe that to be more descriptive and more specific, but also inoffensive, in my opinion.

I had the good fortune to have been brought up in an environment, and to be schooled with people of numerous national backgrounds, all different "colors," if you will, and never experienced any negativity because of that issue. In school, I had crushes on Black, Asian, Hispanic, and even ( a ) Hawaiian girls. I've had a Chinese wife, and a Filipina wife, and still have feelings for and respect both. My daughter, the light of my life, is half Chinese. I went to Compton College post-riots (Watts riots 1965) and never had any problems there.

My working career was in aerospace in Southern California, and if you know anything about either, you know that being racially biased in such an environment will eventually get you into trouble. Besides that, my degree was in Sociology, and I worked in Employee/Labor Relations for 13 of my 30 years in aerospace, and in HR for over 20 years; so, being a racist would not have been viable under those circumstances.

4

I voted ''No''. The reason being, I don't care where the fuck anyone comes from. If I like someone or I didn't like someone, it wouldn't be because of where they come from.

3

Definitely not a racist. I stay as far away from all NASCAR-related events as possible. (In my youth, I liked Indy cars, but I've grown as a person since then.)

3

I'm not even a specieist. I treat everyone on a case by case basis. We're all animals.

agreed, I have been trying to find a way to bring that up without causing offense.

Oath

3

I voted yes I am a racist and consider all races equal. Am I a hater?
No.I do actually see (and often admire color and gender). Do I hate or active try to have bias? No. I was raised in a sexist, racist country and often have to correct stupid brainwashing that I don't even know I have concerning sex and color. It actually pisses me off. To be honest I am very aware they at least could there be bigotry and do my best to get rid of it as much as possible. It is he same for anyone that is not hetrosexual. I was brainwashed to think they were sinners. It is bullshit. I now accept people as humans. We are all black africans(that is fact). We all are sexual no matter how that manifest. We are all some sort of sex even if it is both. I like to consider myself to be the most sexist(feminist), Racist(equal rights person) and non-hetrosexual bias person possible. Just to keep me honest and overcome my brainwashing.
Now I do consider myself a feminist, an equal rights, and lgbt advocate. I just hate my upbringing that was horrible so I now go to any measures possible to break the chains of bigotry due to my upbringing.

So I do admit my past as much as I hate it. I remember it so I don't repeat the same mistakes.
I feel like an ass for admitting this, The bullshit has to stop. I guess this is the best way to pay penance for my upbringing. I am not that Man.

I would agree with you wholeheartedly a few years back. I was brought up the same way. I'm at a place now, though that's "even". I'm bisexual even though raised to abhor anyone not heterosexual. My parents didn't share the same "race", yet one was preferred over the other. I'm happy now and free, and that's why my poll chose the no option.

3

the human race, we are one kind

3

If you are white and american raised, you are racist. Not because of personal beliefs necessarily, but because we benefit greatly from a long history of institutionalised racism. Better schools, better jobs,easier access to housing, loans, credit in general... I could go on. So the question is moot. One really needs to ask what we, as white Americans can do to dismantle those racist institutions.

Dave D.

3

Interesting that all the choices but one are Blatantly racist!??!

3

I grew up in a small town. We were poor but we were white. The "minorities" in the town were Hispanics and Blacks. In HS we had three black students and I don't know the count of the Hispanics. They referred to themselves as Chicano. I didn't really "think" about it, it was just the way it was. I assumed everyone lived much like my family did, being the default value. I did not see any overt racism. Also, I was not the socializing type. I got along with everyone. Then I joined the Army and learned what racism was. And yes, I grew up fairly racist. I have evolved since then, but sometimes I hear some of my previous learning pop up in my head. I try to be an accepting person, I can't say I'm perfect.

3

I voted "no". Remaining anonymous is pointless. I have had some "spirited conversations" with hypocrites.

3

I picked no but I should have picked yes and consider humanity equal as long as we're keeping this acknowledgment of racial heritage as racism. I believe that all sapience is of an irreducible value. Truly, I believe there is only one human species. I would like to say, one race and all as I believe in the cohesiveness of the notion, that we are all one race... I like that view yet I cannot deny the differences. Look, you're not going to take an Ethiopian and tell him to retain heat and survive as an Eskimo and you're not going to take an Eskimo and tell him to run a few miles as well as an Ethiopian. Evolution seeks ecological fitness and our environment effects this. Actually, if I thought USA ghetto culture was the only expression possible for a black man I might very well be considered racist in a hard sense towards the black man, but obviously it's not their only expression and they just so happen to be black. I believe we may judge a culture by its beliefs and values, and our thug culture here is delinquent. I hate to say this, but whats more, I am usually -or very rarely, attracted to other races sexually. It's just the way I am even as I recognize beauty in all races, I think this just has to do with my gene expression.

Recently I realized my white fragility. I would shut down on the subject of race ever arising as I found it frustrating as a divisive story perpetuated that causes needless suffering and strife. I would get angry with black people that constantly talk about their skin as if I care... but maybe that was the problem, I saw the senseless stories continuance as absurd and so I would respond abrasively in disapproval. Really though, what I was doing was delegitimizing other's experiences. Racism is a real and present problem, and humanity will likely never move on as they will just develop the story. At any rate, I believe in the individual. I will never release my notion that any man of any race may be of any character through their cultivation of focus and pursuits.

@MortalsWrath some of your experiences mirror my own, I have run training programs for Aboriginal Cultural Interpretation Rangers, taught bush skills to kids who identify as indigenous and am often on the receiving end of racial prejudice because I am NOT black yet if you will pardon a racist term, I am quadroon significantly more aboriginal than many of those who carry more of the accepted characteristics. @irascible Yes, the term racism is most often used when race is used to demean. Given so few people on this planet are of one ethnicity are the classification at all tenable? I did word my question harshly deliberately, certainly not to cause offense, but to get people to take the thought process an extra step.

I read an article by a doctor who stated that cold is the one thing the humans have not biologically adapted for. From what I understand an Eskimo`s body is more more suited to survive than mine. Culturally of course it wins hands down but if for example an Eskimo baby were to be adopted and brought up in a temperate climate. They would fair no better or worse in severe cold than any other.

Kudos to you for recognizing that in yourself. It seems that when people talk about an injustice they've lived through a lot of people write them off a being dramatic. The idea seems to be "well that's not been my experience,so that can't really happen as often/to the extent you say because I haven't seen it".

@273kelvin I hear Eskimo's sweat less to retain heat.

2

Biologically and evolutionarily, the concept of race does not exist in humans. Biologically, race implies a geographically isolated population that has evolved independent of its parent population and would under normal conditions not interbreed with the parent population. Not a new species, a subspecies perhaps.

Humans by their mobility has precluded the ability of any human population on this planet to be or remain geographically isolated. Interbreeding, either willingly or forced has occurred between all human populations. Every human carries a little DNA from every group somewhere in their code. There is no such thing as a pure group.

Skin color does not define race. It defines melatonin production as a result of geographic proximity to, or away from the equator or poles. It is a consequence of adaptation and sexual selection.

In humans, "race" remains a cultural construct, not a biological determinant.

For me personally, I am predominantly of northern and western European heritage. But for over 20 years of my teaching career I have lived on various Native reservations or taught in all Native schools. In all these instances I was by and large the minority. I have felt reverse discrimination, but never was deterred by it realizing that as they got to know me better it would disappear. And thats what happened

Now everybody has some area where discrimenation creeps in. Humans are about hierarchy, even if they consciously fight against it. To claim no racism whoatsoever is to dimenish the significance of what racism is according to scholars who study racism. Its to deny the insidiousness of racist behavior.

t1nick Level 8 July 16, 2019
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