Am I racist?
I found myself asking myself this question today. Like most things, I decided to ask you. I was shopping at a diamond store today, never mind you why (ok, pinky ring for me!). As I walked around I noticed two young and fit black guys (sorry, I am not a big fan of the term African American... and it takes way too long to type) who were in athletic wear. We were about 10 minutes from the Broncos HQ and practice facility, and my first thought was 'those must be Denver Broncos players'. That was my first thought. My second thought was 'Why? Does everyone who is young and black and successful have to be an athlete? Can't black people succeed in your corporate world too, you cracker?" So then I wanted to see if they were, because I am a huge Bronco fan and figured I would recognize them if I got a long enough look. Plus, I figured if I got a better glimpse and they were Broncos... then I wouldn't have been racist, just observant!…
Article comments
76 - Henrich (Henry) Wolfsberg
I don't particularly mind blacks or whatever but sometimes, being British, I find that Pakistanis make a massive fuss over racism and I do harbour some hatred of them. When at school I was suspended twice, at a Grammar school in the West Midlands, for racism and it was just stupid crap. Like 'f*** all them Pakis' or a little anti-Muslim jingle I created. ''Jingle Bells, Allah Smells, bombing all the way, oh what fun it is to bomb the Pentagon today'' and I got suspended for a total of 3 days!
77 - Tom Batts
I was at school at a Grammar school in Birmingham, England from 1983-1990 and racism was beginning to become a serious issue, so I don't know how old this Wolfsberger guy is but in England, possibly more than the U.S. racism is taken stupidly seriously.
I mean it's even worse now, we have to pander to Muslims so's they don't get upset and bomb us again.
78 - Nancy
I think all human beings are inherently racist, in a sense, if only because primate studies have shown that even lower-level primates such as monkeys recognize & act on differentiations between "us" - i.e. their own groups - and "them" - i.e. everybody else. Those higher on the scale, like chimps, are even more cognizant of "us vs. them" & behave accordingly, so an argument could be made that it's programmed into our genes to be racist.
I admit I categorize people according to stereotype. There's an ad online for dating showing a guy with very dark hair. I remember thinking 'I wouldn't want to date him; he looks Italian', because to me, Italian or Italian-American men tend to behave in a certain way I find off-putting. First time I saw Barak Obama, however - nice suit, well groomed, smile - I thought: ooooo...nice educated well off young man - and CUTE! Oddly, it wasn't his race at all that signalled I thought he might be My Type, but his perceived economic/social CLASS. I have found after some analysis, that I have little or no trouble with race, as long as the person being judged/perceived is of the right socio-economic class. There's been a couple of studies done that also confirm this tendency: that overwhelmingly, people have less reservations about persons of any ethnic background, as long as the s/e class is considered to be advantageous or approved.
Frankly, I'd be nervous of a couple of very large young guys of any race, especially at night, in an expensive jewelry store, while I wouldn't be of a male/female couple, or a couple of women. Why? Well, not because of their race, but because the vast majority of crimes such as holdups, etc. are committed by MEN, and it's a known (as well as unconscious) fact that men accompanied by women are far less likely to be committing crimes, especially of violence. Bonny & Clyde were an anomaly, after all.
I don't think just mentally recognizing and/or typing someone based on their physical appearance is necessarily racist; it's when we act on those assumptions that our thoughts transform us into racists, for example, if you had noticed the two young black guys, assumed that because they were black they probably had criminal intentions, and called the police. Otherwise, it's more like if you're in the vicinity of a hospital, and you see someone in a white coat, you assume they're a member of the medical profession in some capacity, IMO.
79 - Melissa Bloom
Is anyone aware of the recent spate of federal civil rights lawsuits filed by Jewish landowners against the City of Bloomington in S.D. Ind. I understand Barbara Leonard and Seth Patinkin, both prominent Jewish landowners, were pushed out of town by anti-semitic City Officials, including Mayor Mark Kruzan.
80 - casey
You may or may not be racist, but you definitely need to question your motives for buying a diamond. Your lust for shiny objects may be a cause of suffering for slaves in Sierra Leone
81 - bmcpride
after reading this it made me think, where i come from (australia) i dont like to call myself rascist but im sure alot of people pertray me as a rascist. here it seems that no matter what black people get more recognition just for being black that a white person does. i dont get money for going to school but black people do! if i call someone a black person im the bad guy, yet if i walk through some of my local pubs/parks/shopping centres i can be called a white cunt and they are not rascist! why is it i cant call them something worse (which i dont) but if they call me something its the complete oppistite they are just claiming back their land or some other crap?? i know our prime minister has just said sorry to the stolen generation, but i dont get why, because if the white man did not come to australia where would the black person be in this day and age? it just doesnt make sense to me, and like i said i dont want to be called a rascist but where is the eqaul minded point of view that we are all that EQUAL??????