Ignorance in statement? Awareness to the things we say.

[Rain(ame)]

Well, this is really about how we may be viewed by others because of statements we make in our own ignorance. Do we show we are an opinionated person? Can that come off as racist or rude?

A real life example:

I had asked a kid who usually tells me much about rock, metal, and such about disturbed. Pretty much around when they weren't well known yet. His response was "I don't listen to rap music." Then I had to explain to him that it wasn in fact not rap or anywhere near it. That was a rather...insulting thing. So I tested him and asked him something pertaining to a cover of a Michael Jackson song. Again his response was "I told you I don't listen to rap music." Now...that was the icing on the cake...how could anyone not know about him at that point? I still gave him the benefit of the doubt, though...and mentioned where he came from. I even mentioned the Jackson 5. The "rap music" comment came up again.

Now...statements made in ignorance would lead you to think this person was racist. A black person asks him about a band...and since he doesn't know it...he automatically assumes it's rap? Statement made in ignorance.


Another example:
You go to hang out with some people, and they start talking about music being put on. The next statement is, "I don't know if I have anything you'd be interested in..." While not taking offense....it still kind of hurts how someone could make such an ignorant statement, as opposed to just asking what you listen to.

Another statement made in ignorance. You don't know what the other person listens to. It'd be better to just ask as opposed to making a fool out of yourself and assuming. It may even be a good idea to throw a few artist names out there to see if they heard of it.



Now both of these examples pertain to music, but it can really apply to anything. Most people are guilty of it at some point in their life. It could be offensive to a person on the recieving end as well.

Do you think that awareness in ourselves for mindless statements such as these can break down the walls that still remain inbetween people? It's not even a race to race, but a culture to cultre or style to style type of thing. The "rock" look to the "urban" look. If a person wear urban style clothing does that automatically mean they watch a certain kind of movie, speak a certain way, listen to a certain kind of music, or have a certain attitude?

 

[GSUB]

[font="georgia]I understand exactly what you're saying.

Yes, in some situations, it's not racism, just ignorance. People make assumptions about other people so that they can fill in the gap about what they do not know about someone. Humans dislike not knowing things, so the mind basically fills in the gap.

This can be applied with many other things. The mind puts in place of what does not exist that would make the most sense or be the most common.

ex: In today's society, the black stereotype is to like rap. You don't know this black person at all. So you fill in the gap with the stereotype.

It's a horrible thing which I think will get better over time, with oncoming generations.
i don't think racism is always what's going on in the mind.

Good post Rai (ame).
[/font]

 

[Palpi]

I listen to music that anyone from any ethnic background or any lifestyle may not like. If I were to say that it is not out of racism or ignorance, but this music is not really loved by many people. (It is Ska by the way)

I do listen to an all black punk band called whole wheat bread

 

[Zero Beat]

Is this an actual debate or a social thread? Everyone seems to be agreeing with one another. I'll give it a couple more posts.

Might as well contribute though:

Do you think that awareness in ourselves for mindless statements such as these can break down the walls that still remain inbetween people? It's not even a race to race, but a culture to cultre or style to style type of thing. The "rock" look to the "urban" look. If a person wear urban style clothing does that automatically mean they watch a certain kind of movie, speak a certain way, listen to a certain kind of music, or have a certain attitude?

Awareness about anything can break any remaining walls because the more you know, the more obvious things become.

People wear what they wear due to their cultural surroundings or when they feel like 'breaking the mold' and rebel against that culture, to answer your last question.

 

[Sukai]

That's funny, but is in no way racist.
It was....stupid, because even in ignorance, one wouldn't make dumb assumptions like that.
I don't listen to rap, I enjoy varieties of rock music.
However if I'm asked of a musical artist I'm not aware of, I may be ignorant of the artist, but that in no way means I'm going to assume it's a different genre, especially when the person asking me is aware of my musical preference.
Yes your friend said something that was just stupid, although fueled by ignorance, was just stupid.

 

[GSUB]

That's funny, but is in no way racist.
It was....stupid, because even in ignorance, one wouldn't make dumb assumptions like that.
I don't listen to rap, I enjoy varieties of rock music.
However if I'm asked of a musical artist I'm not aware of, I may be ignorant of the artist, but that in no way means I'm going to assume it's a different genre, especially when the person asking me is aware of my musical preference.
Yes your friend said something that was just stupid, although fueled by ignorance, was just stupid.

Your whole post contradicts itself.

(bolded the areas as to why)

 

[Sukai]

Your whole post contradicts itself.

(bolded the areas as to why)

Care to elaborate?
Your point isn't very credible when it's unclear to how does my post contradicts itself.

Ignorance is the lack of knowledge or education, it hints in no way to make stupid assumptions.
If someone asked me of a musical artist that I do not know of, my ignorance of the artist isn't going to cause me to assume something else, in doing so I just say ,"No, I don't know of <artist>, what are/is they/he/she like?".
Contrary to what I think you're getting to, people can be rational about something they are ignorant of.

Stupid is lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity. Ignorance and stupidity can go hand and hand, but doesn't always have to.
Ignorance is not knowing of something.
Stupidity is assuming you know something which you do not.
My post doesn't contradict itself in anyway, you interpreted it wrong.

 

[GSUB]

Care to elaborate?
Your point isn't very credible when it's unclear to how does my post contradicts itself.

Ignorance is the lack of knowledge or education, it hints in no way to make stupid assumptions.
If someone asked me of a musical artist that I do not know of, my ignorance of the artist isn't going to cause me to assume something else, in doing so I just say ,"No, I don't know of <artist>, what are/is they/he/she like?".
Contrary to what I think you're getting to, people can be rational about something they are ignorant of.

Then I think you missed the point of the origianl post.
Rain is saying that (for example) a black person(A) says, "Hey, do you know _______ (An artisit)?"
Because the person(A) is black, the other not black person(B) assumes that person(A) is mentioning an artist that person(A) likes.
And because person(A) is black, person(B) assumes that the artist would be a hip-hop artist or a rapper.

This is ignorance. Not stupidity.

Stupid is lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity. Ignorance and stupidity can go hand and hand, but doesn't always have to.

But I do agree with this.

 

[kingdomofthehearts_snucas]

In my opinion, that ^ is more like stereotyping. I could be wrong, but it reminded me of a time where I was talking to somebody new at school, and they assumed that I cut my wrists. I am not emo but people assume by the way I look. Although it is a valid point I see it more as stereotyping. The reason people do this is because the human mind tries to find out ways to interact with people without realizing that they are shrouded by their own ignorance.

-KOTH

 

[Sukai]

Yeah GSUB, that's stupidity.
Believe it or not I'm a black guy, and I engage in such conversations with whites, asians, and even other blacks. They don't out-right say, "I don't listen to rap", they'll answer intelligently with a desire to know of the artist. They're ignorant of the artist, but they don't stereotype anything.

I guess it's more or less a matter of opinion, but stereotyping in general is really stupid.
--In my opinion that is.

 

[KrazyGlue]

Yeah GSUB, that's stupidity.
Believe it or not I'm a black guy, and I engage in such conversations with whites, asians, and even other blacks. They don't out-right say, "I don't listen to rap", they'll answer intelligently with a desire to know of the artist. They're ignorant of the artist, but they don't stereotype anything.

I guess it's more or less a matter of opinion, but stereotyping in general is really stupid.
--In my opinion that is.

Stupid is kind of a harsh description, but yes, stereotyping and ignorance are because of either a lack of intelligence or ignoring intelligence.

In a response to the original post, yes, that was stereotypical and ignorant, but it was not racist.

 

[GwJ]

This is an easy one. This is [usually] human ignorance. We are assuming that a black person would most likely be listening to rap because that's what kind of music they've usually been associated with in the media. Note how I say the media, not in reality.

 

[Faithkeeper]

To those saying "ignorance is bad":

No one is debating this, answer the question.

Do you think that awareness in ourselves for mindless statements such as these can break down the walls that still remain inbetween people? It's not even a race to race, but a culture to cultre or style to style type of thing. The "rock" look to the "urban" look. If a person wear urban style clothing does that automatically mean they watch a certain kind of movie, speak a certain way, listen to a certain kind of music, or have a certain attitude?

First to answer the question: Yes I think it can help, but in most cases I do not think this will fix the problem (as I feel it is rooted in deeper than ignorance).

For the sake of clarity, I will address ignorance as stereotypes because the given examples give me the liberty to do so. [If not, correct me Rain(ame)]

I don't have any online citing for the following, but I can tell you it was first introduced to me through a Mr. Don Fitzgerald, who has a masters degree in Psychology. Hopefully logic will be enough.

Stereotypes are an unconscious biological occurrence whose origins make evolutionary sense. Stereotypes stem from mankind's need to be able to quickly identify an individual. If they are unable to identify the individual, they must use visual (or other) clues to determine if this individual is a potential threat. This ability also relates to the need to relate unknown individuals to a particular group, such as tribe A, of friends, or tribe B, of enemies. This ability is inherently advantageous and I won't bother to explain it without need. From this, stereotypes have spawned as the modern application of this biological adaptation.

Since this is an unconscious process the majority of the time, it is very difficult to change (few people are consciously trying to be "ignorant"). But through repeated example, things the conscious "knows" can affect and change the unconscious[to a degree]. (I can give example if necessary) Therefore, if there were repeated examples of individuals breaking the current stereotypes, or the whole issue was given enough thought, then theoretically there could be mass change. Do I think this scenario is likely? Not completely, I believe with the world's growing awareness (as mentioned by others) these things will happen on their own up to a certain point. So in summary: yes, things can improve, no, I don't think they will be completely resolved.