A topic that WILL make you think.

[Burori]

[quote]Principle I. Racism is an ideological, structural and historic stratification process by which the population of European descent, through its individual and institutional distress patterns, intentionally has been able to sustain, to its own best advantage, the dynamic mechanics of upward or downward mobility (of fluid status assignment) to the general disadvantage of the population designated as non-white (on a global scale), using skin color, gender, class, ethnicity or nonwestern nationality as the main indexical criteria used for enforcing differential resource allocation decisions that contribute to decisive changes in relative racial standing in ways most favoring the populations designated as 'white.'

Principle II. The aim of this peculiar post-1492 stratification process has been to aggregate an upwardly mobile and putatively 'white' racial group that is stratified internally and that strives to validate its own ascendancy using a shifting range of 'white' cultural practices which are defined as 'white' not on any presumed biological basis, but on the basis of "ideological whiteness"--a field of racial discourse and representation.

Principle III. The conceptual content of this historic and politically-charged discursive field is sustained by racial agents who in many ways articulate and justify the suppression of "ideological blackness" (and every form of non-whiteness this may entail) which may be accomplished by many formal and informal means of institutional domination, routinized interpersonal interactions, cultural imperialism, or by any other racialized means of information control.

Principle IV. As a generative principle of racism, "ideological whiteness" refers to a dual behavioral process entailing enactments of identify formation and resource access legitimation, both of which were practices once overtly recognized as aspects of "white supremacy," but which now may be more subtly and covertly reproduced as an observable and routine set of implicitly prescriptive, but explicitly disavowed white supremacist beliefs and practices to which all who identify as 'white' (or who behave as 'whitened') are expected to adhere--especially white males--if they wish to maintain their own racial standing as members of these two privileged 'white' groups and assert their negotiable right to privileged resource access.

Princple V. Collectively, the 'white' and/or 'whitened' members of this racially privileged global population tend to bolster their shared political intent to impose patterns of restricted resource access on racially subordinant populations, and aim to preserve their presumably non-negotiable right to prescribe, and even dictate, lessor resource access rights for certain upwardly mobile members of the 'non-white' population whose internalized racism, reliable complicity, and carefully scrutinized willingness to cooperate with racial dominates is always required and rewarded.[/quote]

Now if there has been a topic about this I appoligize but I feel I may have a different thought on this then what there has been. This week my Economics/Social Studies class has been descussing on this topic and a question popped up from our teacher, Can Racism be stopped?

For example: A Systemic Discrimination is almost impossible to stop because it is in the system itself.

Racism is as common as a cut on a limb. It is shown and hurts. Sometimes it heals but then again it could get worse. It could grow to an infection or worse a disease.

I am a bit offended by those who are racist. However I would never go up to someone and say that they should change their perspective and change their thoughts. But if I saw a white citizen attack a poor jewish/African American/or anyone else who seems different I would go up to them and...well I would lose it.

Anyways I believe I went off topic. I believe you can never get rid of Racism. The reason why, It all goes to the chinese symbol and belief, Ying and Yang. Racism is there to balance an ancient equation. But there is a time when I feel it should never have exists. Unfortunately it does.

What is your opinion or thought on this?

[Semjaza]

I find it rather odd that the article you've quoted pretty much puts all responsbility for racism on European cultures and current white generations. It seems very one sided and biased to me.

I saw a documentary titled "The Journey of Man" that had a doctor, Spencer Wells, tracing ancestry back to the dawn of homo sapiens via genetics. He basically checked the blood of males going farther and farther back until he reached the origin. This is because Y chromosomes are basically passed on exactly the same, unless there's a mutation. He also used these mutations to trace it back between specific areas of the globe.

He wound up finding the oldest group of people that are still living today are the San Bushmen in Africa. They have genetic markers unlike every other group of people outside of Africa and their language is not even remotely duplicated elsewhere.

Basically, for various reasons they wound up spreading across the world. They wound up on various other continents because of the ice age at the time that helped great bridges between the various masses of lands. People's features changed overtime because of various genetic mutations and colors changed because of obvious differences in weather (Africans are darker skinned to help protect from dark sun, whereas lighter skin came about due to wearing more clothes to combat the weather, etc).

Knowing this, I really don't know how [i]anyone[/i] can really be racist from just the color viewpoint. We're all from the same damn place. We're all technically related. It just seems moronic to me. I judge people based on how they act and that's it. I've never made a decision, to my knowledge, that was based on racial sorts of things.

However, even this doesn't matter to many people. Most simply refuse to believe the genetic evidence at all. People naturally have come to hate or be wary of those that are different from themselves. There's really not much you can do with older generations... but I think that if the current generations and those after us are shown a better way of dealing with this issue, it will become less and less of a problem over time.

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]As for racism being "essential", using the Yin Yang as an example...well, I must say: I do not agree.
Racism, as you stated, is an inevitable, and extremely negative, thing. It is [I]only[/I] negative. I don't see how hating a particular group of people based on their skin colour is in any way positive. And it's definately not "essential."

Though there has been a great deal of evening out, as far as different members of society ('different' as in 'not white', female etc...), it's just not good enough.

I hate racist people. No one has any right to speak/act against some one based on their ethnicity. You can hold whatever opinion you want, but if it is baselessly negative (or generally negative at all), keep it to yourself.
Now, this principle, of course, does not apply to [I]all[/I] aspects of life. Just the ones like the aformentioned issue (that is: discrimination).

EDIT: Another issue about racism, is that most people see it as a black and white issue. Obviously, it isn't one. It's a black, white, yellow, red and brown issue, and the offending (i.e. racist) party can be from any one of these groups.

[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Burori]

Oh my. I am so sorry Tony. I did not see that hehe.
What I meant by the Ying Yang thing was that there are just as much Racism as there is of it's counterpart. I know it seems hard to understand. I suppose I should think of a better example. So sorry for the confusion.

[wrist cutter]

Look, it's like this.

This isn't about black and white; this is about the fact that everyone and their dog is an asshole. Everyone. You bet there are white people that hate black people, and there are black people that hate white people. There are non-religious people that hate religious people and religious people that hate non-religious people. There are gay people who hate straight people and straight people who hate gay people. There are attractive people who hate ugly people and ugly people who hate attractive people. [b]We're all ********[/b], and don't for a minute think I exclude myself from that group.

So let's stop playing the victim game. Everyone's justified in their hatred because everyone's an asshole, and as an asshole you can hate whatever you want.

[Burori]

May I add Wristcutter I was not trying to play any victim game. I was only wondering if Racisim could be stopped. I understand and know what you mean by what you meant. But may I add also that the reason why most black people hate white is due to many assaults towards them from centuries of being treated as dirt.

In my own opinion I feel that racisim could be stopped if 'like you said' everyone would pull their head out of their 'bum' and realise the truth, We all are human.

I suppose the right question to ask is, How did it all began? Like the question of what came first the chicken or the egg, Who started the idea of a entire perfect race?

[JulyFlame]

Hm. Hard to say that racism is based on cultural differences or skin color. It is simpily in human nature to be prejudiced, for that is essentially what racism is. But that prejudice has turned from skin color now to morely how you look. The only way to destroy racism on Earth is to destroy us, when you think about it.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Hah. You can't eliminate racism (or any negative -ism, like anti-Semitism) because you can't eliminate the distinctions on which they are based. Everyone thinks they're better than [i]someone[/i] else, and they justify it based on whatever, and that's often these sorts of distinctions.

What you CAN do is discourage people acting on racism (or whatever) by creating laws and enforcing them. That's pretty much all you can do, in fact. Well, that and run some huge advertising campaign where you do the "everyone is equal" thing, but that rarely comes across I'd say.

The thing is, when people are seriously hurt by racism (whether that be career-wise, or anything) is when we have actual problems to address. ...Hmmm I guess that could bring us to a debate over affirmative action, and I guess it [i]is[/i] relevant to the topic, but I'd just say affirmative action should be applied a lot less generally than it currently is. It's sometimes a good thing but very often leads to the opposite of what it's trying to solve. So I think it just has to be applied with good judgement (can it be? I don't know, I tend not to trust most administrative people to do what's right unless I know them personally.)

Anyway, in short, NO, we can't stop racism. But we can curb its negative effects to a certain degree. ...I'm going to think more on this issue, and return with a better post.

[Baron Samedi]

[color=darkred][size=1]I believe this generation will be one of the last racist generations. We are such an eclectic mix...how can we possibly sustain the level of racism of previous generations?

Will racism be phased out: Highly likely.

Also, I believe that lots of the Asians are highly racist towards others. i.e. Japanese [or Chinese] view themselves as waaay more superior than Koreans or Vietnamese. Racism is everywhere...but going. Slowly going.[/color][/size]

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New][QUOTE=Baron Samedi][color=darkred][size=1]I believe this generation will be one of the last racist generations. We are such an eclectic mix...how can we possibly sustain the level of racism of previous generations?

Will racism be phased out: Highly likely.

Also, I believe that lots of the Asians are highly racist towards others. i.e. Japanese [or Chinese] view themselves as waaay more superior than Koreans or Vietnamese. Racism is everywhere...but going. Slowly going.[/color][/size][/QUOTE]

I agree with your points on us being the last really racist generation. After all, the number of inter-racial couples is rising drastically.
How can a generation of half-whites, half-blacks, half-Asians or [I]whatever[/I] be as near to racist as we are today? It simply wouldn't make sense.

Also, people today are alot more tolerant (if not celebratory) of racial differences. We'll pass that on to the next bunch of kiddies, I should hope.

And, YES!, part of it is people being too obsessed with their own culture. I have met quite a few fanatically-Chinese/anything else (I happen to go to school with alot of Chinese people, so, of course, I've seen more of them than any other group, as far as this point goes.). It's one thing to be proud of your race, but preaching your superiority to others is just...well, racist.

There's a black guy in my art class, who walks around saying things like, "You whites and Asians all look gay, no matter what you do to your hair or whatever. Black people on the other hand..." He, as an individual, doesn't seem to realize how much of an, as Wrist Cutter would say, asshole he is being.
Too many people think their being part of a visible "minority" makes them immune to charges of racism.[/FONT]
[/COLOR]

[Burori]

I am very happy to see all of your opinions on this matter. I am also happy to see that they all are mature.

Actually ScirosDarkblade before I read your thoughts on it I forgot to mention there is this program called, Seeds of Peace.

It is based on placing two teens from one culture with another who hates each other. They listen to each other and many times in the end realise they both share many things of the same together.

Racisim is a terrible thing though. It has raged on for centuries. It is hard to truthfully to take it off the globe. But like Baron said it is dying slowly it seems. Hopfully it will leave and the human race can realise that everyone is the same.

I also want to add if it is okay with everyone if I can show this in my class. To show the points (fine ones I must add) that Racisim may be going/or staying. I hope this isn't breaking any rules if another Moderator could place his/her thoughts in this. I would like to hear what others think of it and if it can be stopped. Thanks again everyone for mature thoughts.

[Xander Harris]

People often think of racism as "White vs. red", "Black vs. Jew", etc. But there is also plenty of racism within the 'basic skin colors'. For instance, I don't know wether this is still the case (perhaps one of our black members could tell me?), but there used to be discrimination by 'pure' blacks against those who were part white. In India, there is 'racism' of a sort between the different classes of society. The Scottish, the English, the French, heck, most of Europe used to be perpetually at war with one another. There were other reasons for the wars as well, but one of the reasons was that the various ethnic groups in Europe had strong racist feelings toward each other. I could go on and on

A few personal examples of racism: here in Northwest Iowa I have encountered some racism against myself. (A lot more so when I was younger, people are used to me now, so we get along better.) Most of the Dutch Iowans around me are blonde and tanned. I have fair skin and black hair, and have encountered a bit of racism because of it. Not nearly as bad as many Jews and Blacks have, but I do have some idea of what racism looks like. (not that I have anything against blonde people... I've had many a crush on blonde girls ;) ) I also have seen some racism against our local Hispanic population. A kid in our school shot himself in an attempted robbery/scam (what an idiot). He claimed that some 'Mexicans' busted into the store, shot him, and made off with the cash. Everyone believed him, and there were many racist comments thrown around in the following days.

I think that racism is a human reaction against the unknown and the different. Skin color doesn't really matter. What matters is the attempts of selfish and stuck up humans to squash those who are different from themselves, and who threaten their status quo. Violence against gays can be attributed to this. The classic example of Jocks picking on the Nerds follows this. Small towns shunning members of the community for not mowing their lawns fits this. The next time you want to mock someone because they have different interests than you, or don't wear the right clothes, or act a little strange (in your opinion), think about this: you are perpetrating racism.

The KKK would be proud.

(sorry if that rambled a bit too much... but hopefully I got my point across)

[IceWolfEyes]

[QUOTE]I forgot to mention there is this program called, Seeds of Peace.

It is based on placing two teens from one culture with another who hates each other. They listen to each other and many times in the end realise they both share many things of the same together.[/QUOTE]

I've heard about this program. The teens become buddies with one another and swear everlasting friendship. Problem is, when they go home, they are exposed to their family. Their families remain the same and the prejudice returns. When these teens were contacted several years later, they were back to the idea that their culture was better then the other. These teens never wanted to meet again. The idea is a good one, but like so many others it just didn't work.

Racism can be eliminated, but don't expect immediate or lasting results.

Here is a good idea, we should stop seeing people in the flesh. Communicating online seems to work well. Most of us on OB have never met any of the people we chat with. I can't see you, and you can't see me, therefore we can't discriminate each other on the basis of skin color. Makes sense, ne?

[sublime2004]

[size=1][b][color=darkred]
This argument isn't about where we came from. It's not about simply being black, white, asian, or hispanic. It's about superiority complexes. Racists think they're better than anyone else.

Do I think that racism will end? No. Because when "the races all become the same" it won't be about skin color. It will be about social status, or possibly even about genetic breeding. If you have read "[u]Brave New World[/u]" by Aldous Huxley, you'll know what I mean.

Who knows. It may even be about how many windows you have on your house. But it won't stop. As long as people have emotions and personality defects, racism will never go away.[/size][/b][/color]

[Guest Midnight Rush]

[QUOTE]Principle I. Racism is an ideological, structural and historic stratification process by which the population of European descent, through its individual and institutional distress patterns, intentionally has been able to sustain, to its own best advantage, the dynamic mechanics of upward or downward mobility (of fluid status assignment) to the general disadvantage of the population designated as non-white (on a global scale), using skin color, gender, class, ethnicity or nonwestern nationality as the main indexical criteria used for enforcing differential resource allocation decisions that contribute to decisive changes in relative racial standing in ways most favoring the populations designated as 'white.' [/QUOTE]


All the $60 words in the word cannot make you any less wrong. You would blame [I]all[/I] racism on white Europeans?! Thats not only senseless, but a good lawyer could construe it as racism. I have a few questions for you Burori:

1. Were the Black Panthers racist?
2. Were the Imperial Chinese racist?
3. Are you racist in attributing racism to whites and whites alone?

For 3, I will submit that you are. THe answers to 1 and 2 are "yes". Racism is a notion of superiority by one group of people with certain characteristics over another. Although many whites are racist, many blacks, many Asians, many Hispanics, and the like are as well. Are you white? If you are go into Harlem and spend the night. Just one night. I'll bet you $100000 you'll wake up dead.

Also like Baron Semedi said, most (not all) Japanese view themselves above the gai-jin and the Korean/Vietnamese which some call by a very nasty naem which I won't say here. And even subconsciously the Chinese generally view themselves as being the [I]only[/I] civilized nation on earth. Not just us "barbarians' as we would be called, but the other Asians as well, even the celebrated civilization of the Japanese is considered inferior by a portion of the Chinese.

I haven't figured out the quote thing yet, but Burori also said something else which I disagree to: Asians, Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, ect. [I]are not[/I] the same! We are equal in the sense that our value as human beings are equal, but all of these groups have a powerful individual culture and to class us all as the [I]same[/I] would be to destroy these varied and interesting cultures. One group is not better than another, just that we aren't the same, if we were, the human race wouldn't be as interesting (nor as many girls with different kinds of hot-ness ^_~).

[Burori]

[QUOTE=Undefeated]All the $60 words in the word cannot make you any less wrong. You would blame [I]all[/I] racism on white Europeans?! Thats not only senseless, but a good lawyer could construe it as racism. I have a few questions for you Burori:

1. Were the Black Panthers racist?
2. Were the Imperial Chinese racist?
3. Are you racist in attributing racism to whites and whites alone?

For 3, I will submit that you are. THe answers to 1 and 2 are "yes". Racism is a notion of superiority by one group of people with certain characteristics over another. Although many whites are racist, many blacks, many Asians, many Hispanics, and the like are as well. Are you white? If you are go into Harlem and spend the night. Just one night. I'll bet you $100000 you'll wake up dead.
[/QUOTE]

I don't think you looked at the post that I said that I realised that I posted the wrong definition of the word Racisim and even said to Tony that I made the mistake.

To answer your 3 question I am not attributing it only towards 'whites'.

You extremely misunderstood what I meant there and I apoligize if I confused you.

[Amity]

Racism. I think it's disgusting. But then again. Aren't we being 'racist' for hating it? We all are racist in some manner. I know that too. I don't want to hear, " Amity, you stand corrected!" Or, "Amity, speak for yourself!" I just don't want to hear/see the complaints about my post to this. I have my thoughts/ opinion, and all of you have yours too. But this I know I am right at. You hate racism, then that makes you just as bad as anyother person who discriminates. Therefore, no, you can never abolish racism. It will never end. Why? Because it's like I always say, everyone has their own thoughts and opinions, and there has to be some way you can let everyone know that. And that's by expressing those thoughts and opinions in w.o.r.d.s.

As I read through everyones post, I drew up my conclusion to 'racism' We're all racist.

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]I'm not racist. You aren't racist.

Racism is discrimination [I]based on race[/I]. You could say that we're all prejudice, but there is such a thing as being biased in a positive way. For instance, you could be biased about whether or not to leave your four-year-old cousin in the care of a child molester, when you have the option of leaving him with your closest friend, who wouldn't hurt a fly.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Sara]

[QUOTE=Amity]Racism. Aren't we being 'racist' for hating it?

You hate racism, then that makes you just as bad as anyother person who discriminates. [/QUOTE][size=1]Don't be foolish. The answer to you question is "No," as racism is discrimination against a person or person based on [i]race[/i]. It has nothing to do with criticising a widespread, hateful idealogy.

Frankly, I don't see racism disappearing any time. It has nothing to do with some cosmic plan of yin and yang, either. People are just stupid. [/size]

[Luna322]

[COLOR=DeepSkyBlue] I believed that parents or authority figures pass on their beliefs to children; if the parent or authority figure believes that his race is superior to all the others, the child will learn that. It is up to the adults to teach children that racism and prejudice should not be acceptable, but could hate be inevitable? [/COLOR]
[COLOR=Purple] It seems that it is human nature to fear the different and unknown, and fear leads to hate. This is where, I believe, that education is important. Teaching people about what they fear may banish the fear because they know more about it. [/COLOR]

[Guest Crimson Spider]

Personally, I think that racism is a little over-stressed, aswell as the concept of discrimination. Or atleast the whole "white has the most biased towards itself" idea. That certainly isn't the way in Vegas.

[quote] intr.

1.
a. To make a clear distinction; distinguish: discriminate among the options available.
b. To make sensible decisions; judge wisely.

2. To make distinctions on the basis of class or category without regard to individual merit; show preference or prejudice: was accused of discriminating against women; discriminated in favor of his cronies.

v. tr.

1. To perceive the distinguishing features of; recognize as distinct: discriminate right from wrong.
2. To distinguish by noting differences; differentiate: unable to discriminate colors.
3. To make or constitute a distinction in or between: methods that discriminate science from pseudoscience. [/quote]

Discrimination doesn't necissarily have to be bad, as Godelsensei stated. I can walk around and recognize that if I were to buy a black person something for his birthday, that he'll enjoy an R&B CD rather than the rap-rock that I listen to.

You see, racism psychologically and genetically holds ground to certain extents. That is why it is a constant issue. The term "generalization" has one of the definitions of [quote]3: the process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances (syn: abstraction)[/quote], meaning that the majority fit into the catagory.

Yes, everyone should be treated with the same rights. But you can treat people differently while giving them the same rights I.E. when I say high to one of my [u]nerdy[/u] white friends or women, it usually consists of "Hey! How's it going?", while another male ethnicity (and some women) I would say something to the extent of "Sup." with a head-nod upwards (experience has taught me that)

Originally, religion was used as a scapegoat for racism. The white man's burden, or a twisted perception of the perception of John Calvin's perception on the bible which was that it was pre-determined whether or not a person would find salvation, was used for a long time. (even though there is support to the arguement that Jesus may have been black) But in natural society, we discriminate both positivly and negatively from experiences, and not fear. These experiences are often taught to us from other sources.

For awhile, I was racist against mexicans because of my experiences with them. Through the beginnings of school, I had good experiences with them. Then when the neighborhood (now consisitng entirely of North Las Vegas) went down the drain to not just mexican, but POOR mexican families, the quality of my living went down aswell. (Funny thing was, one of my best mexican friends moved out when this happened. When we asked why, he said: "well, it's because of all the mexicans that moved into this place." When we stated that he was of the spanish/brazilian mix, he said: "Well, these are trashy mexicans".) Due to the now majority, the positive biased towards whites actually went down in the entire Las Vegas (many reasons why this happened). But they were still being taught that the White Man was the oppressing majority and had everything done for them, which wasn't true in the least bit. So basically, the school itself taught discrimination against the extreme white minority. Me, having a melenolin lack (tanning, skin tone, ext) was PURE white. I still am, actually. But the point is that I didn't like mexicans because I feared them. I didn't like them because they were being (insert donkey) to me. I wasn't too afraid of them, because when I hit 8th grade, I had a major growth spurt and was suddenly 3 inches taller and wider than any Mexican around.

If it somehow someway isn't from experiences, then it comes either from paranoia, or the general seeking of the likeness of ones self as we do with friends. But these come from mere assumptions, and have experiences to back them up.

[James]

[color=#707875]Racism -- like any form of negative discrimination -- is based on ignorance. It's as simple as that.

When we talk about discrimination, it should be obvious that we're discussing [b]negative[/b] discrimination. Obviously if someone says "You have a discriminating taste in food", they aren't saying that you're a bigot. lol

I think that every nation and society is different. Where I live, I grew up with a lot of kids from other backgrounds. In particular, if you are Australian and if you live in a big city (especially Melbourne), you won't go a single day without interacting with an asian person, for example. And chances are that one of your friends or best friends is asian.

I say asian -- as opposed to any other group -- because the number of asian people in Australia is growing rapidly and has been for many years. This is significant because for me, as someone who grew up in this environment, I don't necessarily identify an "Australian" as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, tanned surfer or something. That's the stereotype and while it [i]is [/i]somewhat true (go to Sydney and you'll understand lol), it's also an ageing idea. And it really hasn't kept up with the times.

For me, there is absolutely no distinction between racism, homophobia, religious intolerance, etc etc. In every single case, you're talking about ignorance being the source of the hatred or disapproval.

When I look at human history -- particularly the 20th century -- I see one common trend; negative discrimination has decreased, while civil rights have increased.

Obviously, there are still plenty of racist/homophobic/religious zealot people out there. But I think that their numbers have decreased over time and it has become less acceptable to hold those ideas as legitimate, because there is a more common understanding about human/civil rights and a generally more intelligent population.

And what do we find with the statistics? Things like racism tend to be a lot [i]less [/i]prominent in areas of the world that are more highly educated. So I think you can draw the obvious conclusion that increased education/awareness/intelligence is linked to decreased racism/homophobia/zealotism, and so on.

Part of it is ignorance, and part of it is personal experience. I think it's probably fair to say that if you have only negative experiences with one group of people, you will probably have some kind of suspicion of those people for a certain amount of time -- or until something else changes your viewpoint.

Of course that's not a reasonable position to hold. You can't take the actions of a few individuals and then paint an entire group of society in that way. The fact that we even group society in these little boxes is really another form of ignorance in my view. It makes things easier to understand and more digestable.

So, in the longterm...I don't think racism (or any "ism") will ever entirely disappear. There will always be [i]someone [/i]out there who has a chip on their shoulder about a particular group of human being, for whatever pointless reason. But in general, I think we're always moving in a more tolerant direction.

And that is definitely a good thing, not a bad thing. It's amazing how we as human beings (all fundamentally the same, regardless of age/gender/sexuality/race/religion) can treat each other like second class citizens, simply because our personal beliefs/philosophies/hatreds conflict with someone else. The more I think about it, the more foolish and ridiculous it seems.

But as wrist cutter said...people are ********. Perhaps that summarizes it best.[/color]

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Australia and Ontario seem more and more alike, the more I hear about Australia. Aside from the temperature, I mean.

The school I attend is 80+% Asian. The neighborhood this school is located in is maybe 85% Asian. Some one not used to this could be made to feel like a foreigner in their own home.

Another form of prejudice, based on race, seems to be how some inidividuals are biased towards [I]themselves[/I]. People will pursue an image or goal that is stereotypically assosciated with their race.
Eight out of ten people arrested for gun crimes around here seem to be black. This is statistically, well, weird, seeing as 30% of the area is Asian, 40% is white, and I'm not sure about the devisions of the black and Hispanic population.
I'm not saying that black people are natural criminals (which would be an absurd statement to make, as race is one of the least prevelent parts of our genetic makeup), but that alot of people are pressured into perpetuating their racial stereotype.

[quote name='CrimsonSpider']Yes, everyone should be treated with the same rights. But you can treat people differently while giving them the same rights I.E. when I say high to one of my nerdy white friends or women, it usually consists of "Hey! How's it going?", while another male ethnicity (and some women) I would say something to the extent of "Sup." with a head-nod upwards (experience has taught me that)[/quote]

Why? Every one greets every one with whatever random word comes to their mind. This statement just seems weird to me. I don't find it weird that I know "non-white" people who say "Salutations, salutations!" as a form of greeting. Maybe they, as individuals, are just "nerdy", as you put it.
Based on your previous statements, I doubt you would immediately classify all white people as "nerdy", but the above statement sure seemed to imply that. *raises eyebrow* I hold nothing aggainst you, Spider, as I have read your other statements, which basically say you at least try not to be racist, but you could have worded that one a little better.

And, dude, if you don't say " 'Sup?", regardless of your race, you're just weird.

O.o[/FONT]
[/COLOR]

[Amity]

[QUOTE=Sara][size=1]Don't be foolish. The answer to you question is "No," as racism is discrimination against a person or person based on [i]race[/i]. It has nothing to do with criticising a widespread, hateful idealogy.

Frankly, I don't see racism disappearing any time. It has nothing to do with some cosmic plan of yin and yang, either. People are just stupid. [/size][/QUOTE]


I suppose you are right. I'm very sorry. I didn't mean it as a direct attack or anything, but that's what it looks like from my point of view. Maybe if I took the time to look at the situation from anothers perspective, it'll make me realize a little more into the conflict.

I do think that racism, can never be abolished. There are descendents of those who held slaves that think they can bring back slavery, what it was like, be fore the Civil War conlfict arose. For instance, there is this boy that goes to my little sister's school and he has, "The Confederacy Lives On..." and things like, "Slavery will have it's come-back..." on his freakin' binder. Of course I reported it...but where I'm living, you will see more than just that. Tennessee and Kentucky, are the worst places to be right now, in my eyes.

And Godelsensei, I said 'Sup' all the time. :smirk:

[Panda]

I think the amount of racism has gone down, but I don't think it will ever be completely gone. My hubby and I are an interracial couple and we don't see anything wrong with it. Many of our friends laugh when we mention it since they don't even think about the fact that we are different races. They will usually go..."Oh yeah, you guys are interracial aren't you!". It is like it's a suprise to them that they didn't even notice. That is a wonderful thing. They see us as human, not races.

Education is the key. If people stay closed minded and teach their children to stay closed minded, racism may go on forever. When people are open to learning about each other and teach their children the same, we will be that much closer to ending racism.

"I have a dream, that one day my four little children will be judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin."- Martin Luther King Jr.

I hope one day that dream comes true. :)

edit: The correct quote should read: "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." I should double check my quotes before posting. Sorry!