[Eugine]

Well, everyone here who reads or watches news should have heard about the Don Imus situation. I won't go into detail with that...

What I really want to discuss, is racism. Watch this. This basically says how I feel. I honestly believe (and for the record, I'm black, if you haven't recognise by now -__-'') blacks contribute the most hate to blacks, I'm not saying there isn't outside hate, but we downgrade ourselves.

As you can see, I'm not a racist... I love white and asian culture, and practically try to see things from different points of view. What would the world be without the rock genre and Naruto ^___^ ??

So, what's your opinion on racism? Is it gone? Coming back? And like the video asks, are we tackling it the right way?

[Someone Else]

Anyone who said they supported racism would be flamed by everybody + banned. ;)

I think racism HAS still been around so it's not coming back, or going away. There's going to be racism and other segregation as long as people are different.

[Golden Legacy]

I agree with Wind Dude. Racism seems to be inherent in people, and can't be changed. Sure, some people are definitely more virtuous than others, but when it comes down to it, it's a reality that we all have to get by.

[Hotshot101]

I don't have a problem with blacks, whites, ect. I think racism is just another stupid reason for people to attack each other. I do agree with Wind Dude. Its just another barrier that stops us all from working together.

[PDM]

**** yo' couch, asterisk asterisk asterisk asterisk asterisk asterisk.

For the record, asterisks were to imply I'm not actually racist.

[I'm Always BROKE]

Racists suck.

[PDM]

I concur.

[FlamingDuck]

Interesting video. But yeah. Racism is still around, and it will probably always be around. Sometimes it is more subtle than others, but it's still there.

[TheEnglishman]

I don't think it's ever going to go, but I think there is a lot more tolerance now, than in previous years.
I can't say skin colour bothers me though. Some of the funniest people I know are black.

[Golden Djinn13]

Racism and Stereotyping are like a married couple that will never die. ;)

It's been around so long, that it will be impossible to get rid of. There will always be people in the world to carry it on to the next generation.

[Aquamarine]

I agree, racism is something I just don't understand. Imagine you want to buy a cat from a local pet shop and they offer you a gray one first, but you don't want it and furthermore hate it because of the colour of its fur. Then they offer you an almost identical, but ginger cat and you love it at once. That doesn't happen, does it. Why is it so different for people?

I think it would be more logical for racists to hate white people. After all, they are the ones who enslaved, killed and caused wars, not the black people.

[Hotshot101]

Thats true, but then the blacks are probaly afraid of what the whites could do to them and its not just blacks its asians and whatever color you can think.

[TheEnglishman]

Aquamarine, on Apr 15 2007, 07:26 PM, said:

I think it would be more logical for racists to hate white people. After all, they are the ones who enslaved, killed and caused wars, not the black people.

As most racists are white (though not all) I don't think it's that surprising.

[Someone Else]

You know, I was a bit under the impression that it was mostly black/mexican people these days, but I am white so my opinion is probably a bit biased. Black people could act they wanted to, at least in western US because it isn't politcally correct for a white person to make slurs back. Remember though, this in the was of the US.

But, let's not get into a "who is more racist" arguement. That would be racist!

You know what's funny though? I'm friends with a lot of mexican and used to be with a lot asian people (they all went to a different school, darn racists ;)). There are a lot of them in the Bay Area of California for some reason. And I can only name a handful of white people who I'm friends with. Huh.

[Golden Djinn13]

Its so ethnically mixed here on the Eastern Coast of the US, that its impossible to go anywhere without hearing some sort of racial comment each day. It gets more difficult to meet people from other backgrounds without already knowing some sort of stereotype on them. ;)

[Toasty]

Racism is still here, yes, but to much, much less of a degree than it used to be. I don't personally know anyone who's racist. One thing I wouldn't approve though, is a white person and a black person marrying eachother. Sometimes it just becomes too hard on the kids.

If I'm sounding racist by saying that, I'd like to clarify that I'm not. I have good friends from many different ethnic backrounds.

[PDM]

Haha why would being white and black be hard on a kid? I know a half white half black guy, there's nothing wrong with him o_O;

[TheEnglishman]

Mr.T, on Apr 16 2007, 03:19 AM, said:

Racism is still here, yes, but to much, much less of a degree than it used to be. I don't personally know anyone who's racist. One thing I wouldn't approve though, is a white person and a black person marrying eachother. Sometimes it just becomes too hard on the kids.

Well one of my aunts is married to a black person, and their kids don't seem to get any hassle.

[gsninja]

Racism...Personally, I'm not a racist. I'll admit, though, that I find stereotypical jokes funny. Sure they're bad, but I don't take them seriously. Why? Because they're jokes. I know that not every black person like fried chicken and watermelon, that Jewish people aren't money whores, etc. But I'm still going to find the jokes funny, since I know they're not true.

Also, it's not only the white people that are being racist. Think about it; a lot of black people are pretty racist too. There are some that constantly blame the white people for their problems. Seriously, I say we've been kissing their asses for too long, with all the hate crime laws and what not. Sure there is racism against blacks, but they keep bringing up excuses if they get arrested and brought to court, like hate crime laws or the fact that they're only being arrested because of their race. That's not true all the time, y'know.

[Platinum Sun]

Racism is a story of either massive overreaction or underreaction. We either have Imus' long career being irrevocably destroyed by one offhand remark, or we get the KKK being granted permits to collect donations on the side of an interstate. There's really nothing that can be done about racism as such, but the reactions to it need to be adjusted. For the most part, everyone needs to just chill out.

[Golden Djinn13]

@gsninja: I disagree with you on that last part, because race does play a part in our legal system. I watched a small report last week about how a black male was sent to jail for17+ years, for smoking weed. A white male was arrested for a number of crimes, such as armed robbery. Both men were sent before the same judge in the same state, yet the white man never spent a day in jail.

Try and call that a fair trial. :)

[Toasty]

It's also possible that the white kid is either rich, has a lawyer as a father, has an important person as a family member, or is related to the judge. But that doesn't rule out racism.

One cartoon I watch from time to time is the Boondocks. Pretty funny stuff there. XD

[gsninja]

Golden Djinn13, on Apr 17 2007, 09:42 PM, said:

@gsninja: I disagree with you on that last part, because race does play a part in our legal system. I watched a small report last week about how a black male was sent to jail for17+ years, for smoking weed. A white male was arrested for a number of crimes, such as armed robbery. Both men were sent before the same judge in the same state, yet the white man never spent a day in jail.

Try and call that a fair trial. :)

I know that's an unfair trial and that the black guy should have been let off easy instead. I'm just saying that in some cases, they try making those excuses I stated before when it's not at all why they're being sent to jail.

[Aquamarine]

Golden Djinn13, on Apr 18 2007, 04:42 AM, said:

@gsninja: I disagree with you on that last part, because race does play a part in our legal system. I watched a small report last week about how a black male was sent to jail for17+ years, for smoking weed. A white male was arrested for a number of crimes, such as armed robbery. Both men were sent before the same judge in the same state, yet the white man never spent a day in jail.

Try and call that a fair trial. :)

WTF?! 17+ years!? Jesus Christ... I would barely have any friends left if that law applied to Serbia.

[Shikonaurum]

I'd like to point this out: Prejudice is not racism. Just because we may be inclined to prefer one over the other does not mean that we are racist. It's just when we act upon the prejudice that things become a problem. In my mind, at least.

That being said, it's hard to deny that racism isn't prevalent today. Racial profiling is pretty bad, but you have to admit, stereotypes are there for a reason. Because people representing their category act upon those stereotypes. It's not like we decide to whack on a label for no good reason.

I live in a pretty diverse place, although I will admit that my school is sort of lacking in blacks and hispanics. So I can't really say.

The court system is still flawed these days, especially in inner cities and down south, so it seems.

[Platinum Sun]

I'll admit that my school is lacking in... everything. We have no oriental or hispanic kids, one middle eastern exchange student (for the first time ever) and only a handful of african-americans. I think that this has made me kind of subconsciously racist, because whenever I go on vacation to southern cities the first thing I think is "Holy crap! Black people!" I react as if I had just seen a giraffe or something. At least I have then sense to keep my mouth shut about it though...

[Shikonaurum]

Thanks heavens.

I find it sort of funny when people speak about schools without Asian people; I go to a school where we're (rather infamously) 30% Asian, although I suppose Stuyvesant conquers basically every other high school in the United States in percentage of Asians.

I heard a report on NPR discussing innate prejudices, about how people tend to notice attributes that they usually don't see; for example, many places are lacking in their population of blacks. It was fascinating to see how it played out -- the speaker was discussing the difficulty of seeing eye-to-eye with a person when you could only see his or her race. And it's not stereotyping a person into a category; it's just that it's usually hard to focus on the words when something "out of the ordinary" is speaking to you.

Upstate New York doesn't have many Asians? Funny...

[Toasty]

Our school is full of hispanics. Probably about 1/3 of the school is hispanic, 1/2 white, and the other 1/6 being African American and Ukraine (sp?). The only thing I dislike about that setup, is that most of the Mexican kids act all tough and don't bother to speak english (if they know it), or won't bother trying to learn it. There's a few good ones in the crowd that I'm friends with though.

[Aquamarine]

How come you've got so many Ukranian kids at school, Toasty? I just find it strange.

[Split Infinity]

Shikonaurum, on Apr 20 2007, 11:47 AM, said:

I heard a report on NPR discussing innate prejudices, about how people tend to notice attributes that they usually don't see; for example, many places are lacking in their population of blacks. It was fascinating to see how it played out -- the speaker was discussing the difficulty of seeing eye-to-eye with a person when you could only see his or her race. And it's not stereotyping a person into a category; it's just that it's usually hard to focus on the words when something "out of the ordinary" is speaking to you.

That's because most black people come from the third world, and when they arrive in their new country, they don't have the money required to live in the more expensive places, which is why you won't see many in the city.

On your second point, I have that experience as well sometimes. I almost never see any black people no matter where I go, and when I do, I can't help but feel slightly intimidated. I do have a number of black friends at school however, which leads me to wonder...is racism less common against children?

[Eugine]

Oh well, besides the recent invasion of white people to see the Cricket World Cup, I haven't seen a white person, in approximately a year. I haven't talked to one in Grenada directly (spoke to a few on vacation) my entire life ^__^

Here, GSSF, is the only place of my life with interaction with whites ^__^. Feel proud ^__^

And btw, I think they do go cities, well atleast the English speaking blacks. I think cities like NY or London is more favourable ;)

[Split Infinity]

Perhaps they have immigration support plans?

[Eugine]

No. Family.
... Oh, add Toronto to the list ;) ... I think that's it.

It's more like the city (eg. NY), then they locate in suburban, or move to other states (eg. Florida)

[Aquamarine]

Do you have a reason for not speaking to whities or is it just by chance like that? How do you manage to avoid them so well?

For some reason I've always wanted to have a few black friends. I've never had any since there aren't almost any black people living in Serbia.

[Split Infinity]

He said he hadn't seen any white people for a while, and never spoke to them when they came in. Which is fine; there's no reason anyone needs to talk to a tourist, except maybe to give directions.

[Aquamarine]

Dude, I know what he said. I am allowed to ask some question, aren't I?

[Split Infinity]

I just answered them, numbnuts. But perhaps Eugine can enlighten you further.

[Eugine]

Anyway, it's by chance. I'm just not an outgoing person really.

Anyway, racism isn't only between whites and blacks. Anyone here can summarize why the Koreans, Japanese and Chinese can't get along? I'm tired to read pages after pages of history... ^^

EDIT: Oh, and I've been hearing rumours among my friends that Eastern Catholics doesn't agree with Western Catholics? Aqua know anything about that?

[Aquamarine]

Eh... No, I know nothing about that. I'm not a religious guy, so I can't know, though it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. People hate each other for such petty reasons, like religion. I mean it.

[I'm Always BROKE]

What about Jews and Muslims? They are hating on each other for generations now... Also, I always hear from people that my group of people I hang out with is so multicultural. ;)

So far 2 other guys and me are the only whities and there are still people who wouldn't say I'm white either so yeah, we're a very multicultural group indeed.

[Someone Else]

I wish I had more black friends too. I used to have a black friend who I can't remember how I met him, it was so far back... but he was a grade ahead of me and then went to a different High School.

He came back to my school, but he has different "kinds" (talking clique-wise, not race-wise) of friends than I do so, you know how it is.

[Toasty]

I've had good friends that've kinda done that. They never changed schools, they just kinda blew me off.

My closest group of friends isn't very multicultural, but my friends and aquantances are.

[I'm Always BROKE]

My best friend infact is half-black but being stereotypical here he acts more like a white than a black guy... By alot. But we're getting of-topic here.

[Split Infinity]

How does a black guy act then? Not to imply racism in any way...

[Golden Djinn13]

Split Infinity, on Apr 23 2007, 03:38 PM, said:

How does a black guy act then? Not to imply racism in any way...

Just for the record, Im black. (In case you think what im gonna say is racist ;) )

I think we ALL know how they act by now. If not, they are loud, and listen to rap. :(

[Someone Else]

Do you guys watch 30 Rock? The latest episode with the infamous Black Crusaders, lmao. XD

So anyway, how about Bill Cosby? Trying to get black children to act more er, appropriate I guess.

[Aquamarine]

Oh no, don't let SoT get started with Bill Cosby...

[PDM]

You're all racist for thinking of black people when discussing racism!


We have way too many asians here. Rafael is asian. He is here. SEE?! lawl all of my friends are asian or black.



We have a lot of black d00ds here too.

And east indians...

And mexicans...

And natives...

[Nyktos]

I found this quite interesting.

[Kitz]

Everyone's a little bit racist in some sort. Haven't you heard of the song by Avenue Q? It tells alot of things about racism. XP

[Elliott]

DiddyKong, on Apr 16 2007, 12:17 AM, said:

Racists suck.

That's about as helpful as me saying "Blacks suck."

I personally believe that there are some, perhaps many, differences between the races that are much more than merely skin deep. I think there is much more involved with racism than just the way a person looks, at least for some people. Sure, these days modern societies are so multicultural that given a few hundred years all the races are going to blend together thus eliminating race and racism, though at what cost? What's wrong with pride in our heritage, whether you're African, European, Asian, Polynesian, Middle Eastern etc. Don't we as human beings have the right to be proud of where we came from, even defensive? As an example, I read into and look back on all the great achievements, discoveries, inventions and social / educational building blocks that European culture is responsible for...

The Sistine Chapel, anything by Monet, Escher or van Gogh, the political and educational systems that have been refined over the many centuries, the multitude of inventions by Da Vinci that without which we would be lost today, the theories put forward to Newton, Kant Nietzche, Rand, Voltaire (just a small taste of the more well known deep thinkers and free thinkers), the music of the romantic and baroque eras which were the founding principles for just about all music afterwards etc. Not to mention the myriad of literary works produced by this prolific continent. Even the architecture is worth admiring, compare the Colosseum to any of the pyramids and tell me what's more aesthetically pleasing.

Where would the world be if a giant wall was erected around Europe 300 years ago and no one was allowed in or out? What would become of what is now known as America? Mull that over.

Just thinking about all that instills me with a great belief in the intellectual and philosophical excellence of this race as a collective whole. Now this isn't the time nor place to get violent, or malicious, or offensive, but aren't I as a rational and mature human being entitled to be proud of my ancestry and even wear it on my chest and employ it to inspire me onto greater plateaus of knowledge and understanding?

If the African American community is allowed to profess black pride, why is it so taboo for me to do the same? Obviously the correlations between white pride and the Nazi movement hold a lot of people back with trepidation of being crucified for it, but I don't believe it should be so. If I want to embrace my race, why not?

[Eugine]

Nice post Agatio, and I agree 100% with your post, but being proud of your heritage isn't racism ^^. Actually, I strongly suggest everyone protect their heritage, and be proud of their race. It's great for Tourism also =)

Encarta said:

animosity toward other races: prejudice or animosity against people who belong to other races.