discriminating

[Effay]

i have a habit to discriminate (as do most people). if someones black i'll assume they like listening to rap music and speak ghetto-like, and if theyre hispanic, i have the same habit to assume certain things about them.
im not ashamed of it at all.

does this make me racist, even if i dont openly say racist things?
so many people i know avoid saying "black, hispanic, caucasian, asian" (which bugs me). these same people say we should avoid specifying someone's ethnicity altogether and races should not exist.
I disagree with this because not only is it being sensitive and trying too desperately not to be racist, but it can make conversations difficult. Whenever you're describing someone who isnt white, whats the first characteristic of their appearance you point out? Their skin color.
What if you witness a crime and the police question you and ask for the suspect's race? Do you just avoid the question because you're so afraid of being racist?
Thoughts on this topic?

i hope i discussed enough to start a conversation

 

[Matt11111]

This isn't discriminating. It's stereotyping.

 

[Effay]

This isn't discriminating. It's stereotyping.

k. thx for saying nothing helpful
if you dont think what i described is discrimination then you shouldnt be on this thread

 

[Sucumbio]

To answer your first question, yes. Although to be clear, the act itself doesn't make you racist, it makes you prejudiced. As in you literally pre-judge a person based solely on their appearance i.e. Oh you're black, you must like rap music. But by doing that you are inherently racist. This is because it has been proven, almost clinically, that such behavior invariably leads to hate crimes, hate speech, etc.

Is that a bad thing? Realistically you'll get away with it 90 percent of the time. Especially if you keep it to yourself. Stereotypes are based on common observation after all. And besides that, so many other people are similarly judging you so why not judge back?

However I personally choose not to live this way. By assuming you know the book by looking only at the cover you make assumptions that could turn out to be wrong or painfully different. This realization comes more with age I found. As in the older I got the more different kinds of people I'd meet, gay, trans. black, hindu, muslim, etc etc etc. I met a ton of people through video gaming and tournaments. Smash especially...

As for your second point, I think what you're witnessing is a transition in culture from a time when skin color mattered more than it it does now. Most young folks I know don't see black people or white people. They're just people. Obviously this doesn't mean they don't know what color a person is if a policeman asks them. It just means it's moved from the forefront of their minds to the back where it's something you remember but not something that matters.

 

[Cardboardtubeknight]

Relax, I'm white.

 

[SSG SAX GAMER]

k. thx for saying nothing helpful

I actually think what he said was helpful and has meaning. Being "racist" has to do with feeling your superior because of your ethnicity. Stereotyping has to do with grouping people together based on certain things even though they may not necessarily be true. Stereotyping could involve race but doesn't necessarily have to. For example, saying all Hindus wear turbins is a stereotype that doesn't have to do with race. The reason why the 2 sentences above are important is because stereotyping based on race doesn't necessarily equate to racism because it's missing the superiority. Unless of course you feel your race is superior because of the stereotype. i.e. "All black people steal, therefore I'm better than black people because I'm white and white people don't steal". that is an example of a stereotype that is racist. But thinking "All black people like fried chicken" is a stereotype and not racist because you don't think your superior because of it.

if you dont think what i described is discrimination then you shouldnt be on this thread

Debate hall is for people to argue both sides of a debate. It's not only for people to post if they disagree with OP's views.

 

[Tino]

Hey, I'm Hispanic American. What do you think I do?

 

[Matt11111]

I actually think what he said was helpful and has meaning. Being "racist" has to do with feeling your superior because of your ethnicity. Stereotyping has to do with grouping people together based on certain things even though they may not necessarily be true. Stereotyping could involve race but doesn't necessarily have to. For example, saying all Hindus wear turbins is a stereotype that doesn't have to do with race. The reason why the 2 sentences above are important is because stereotyping based on race doesn't necessarily equate to racism because it's missing the superiority. Unless of course you feel your race is superior because of the stereotype. i.e. "All black people steal, therefore I'm better than black people because I'm white and white people don't steal". that is an example of a stereotype that is racist. But thinking "All black people like fried chicken" is a stereotype and not racist because you don't think your superior because of it.


Debate hall is for people to argue both sides of a debate. It's not only for people to post if they disagree with OP's views.

Well said. I'm black myself and I agree with this fully. A friend of mine would list the black people in my class and say they all like fried chicken. He's not completely wrong either, I like me some fried chicken. No problem mate. You could be saying things a lot worse about me.

 

[Ten of Nine]

Treat everyone equal and assume nothing.

That is the simple idealistic answer. But no one follows it.

I see nothing wrong with stereotypes. They are usually correct, the 10-20% that don't fall into those stereotypes are the minority. They can get butthurt or insulted by the assumptions but....who cares it's usually not that offensive or worth getting into arguments about anyways. Most of the stereotypes involve purely subjective opinions anyways, they don't define a singular person (as long as you keep this in mind, no problems)

You have to also keep in mind that stereotypes can be extremely regional. I moved from Texas, to Ohio, to California.......massive differences in the way each race is treated and how they all interact.

 

[Gallowglass]

This was my response in the "Are humans inherently racist?" thread. I felt like this is appropriate here.


I don't think human are naturally racist but we have natural instincts that can make us prejudice.

In psychology it is known as "Out Group Homogeneity Bias" This is the view that we see people who are different from us as similar to groups that we associate ourselves with. This is the essential foundation of stereotypes and if we see that group of people for only the labeled stereotype and we become resentful of those traits then that will cause prejudices. That's my opinion in a nutshell.