Is Racism Real?

i was always taught at school that black is not a colour, its the name given to the abscence of colour, maybe this is what offends, call someone black they have no colour, therefore being colourless, so do they really exist if they have no colour if not does racisum exist.

Originally posted by Freeborn
reply to post by Parallex

 

Complete [EXPLETIVE DELETED]

Because I have a mistrust of Islam does not make me a racist.

One mans 'mistrust' is another mans racism. You call it mistrust, I call it veiled bigotry.

And why did you think I was referring to you? Guilty conscience much?

Originally posted by Freeborn
Only in your imaginary little world that exists solely in your mind and where you use different standards to judge and criticise people to fit into your stereotyped world.
Where you and you alone are the knight in shining armour and defender of the abused and dispossesed.
Where you have these imaginary battles where you emerge the victor in your own little world.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!

Would you care to discuss the thread or are you more than happy to sit here and verbally abuse me at every turn?

Originally posted by Freeborn
You know absolutely nothing about me, my life, my beliefs or my values other than those you have made up to fit into your pre-conceived ideas.

If you have nothing to contribute to this thread and the topic in hand, keep out and stop trolling!

You're right - I know nothing about you. Apart from the fact that most of your posts in this thread have been disrespectful, aggressive and often downright rude. Not to mention displaying the veiled 'hate-speech' distinctly against the terms and conditions of the site. Good to see the fascist in you coming out by trying to deny my freedom of speech as well... thanks for that.

Now that I've tried to defend myself civilly, back to the topic.

I think Seagull put it best - racism has always been here, and there, and so it will always remain. Does that mean we have to tolerate it though? Of course not - it's learning to recognise it that is the hard part. These racists will try and dress up their hateful sentiments in all sorts of flowery language and efforts. The internet provides great opportunity for the flowering of racism - faceless people can make baseless claims, and people will believe them.

Especially about Muslims. LOL LOL

Parallex.

Originally posted by badgrammaman
i was always taught at school that black is not a colour, its the name given to the abscence of colour, maybe this is what offends, call someone black they have no colour, therefore being colourless, so do they really exist if they have no colour if not does racisum exist.

I've been through several iterations of what that group is supposed to be called. When I was very young it was still "negro". Then "African-American". Then "black". At that point I stuck on "black" and decided to change no more; I wasn't going to be pushed around like this!

But really the choice is up to the majority of the people in that group and/or their self-appointed spokespeople. It seems "black" is considered acceptable, it doesn't get me in trouble to say it, so I say it.

(I wonder how many of them know that "negro" is just the Spanish translation of "black".)

Originally posted by oniongrass
(I wonder how many of them know that "negro" is just the Spanish translation of "black".)

Exactly.

The other thing that annoy's me is when black refer to other blacks as "'n-word's" in a joking friendly manner but they would be offended if a white person used the term - even if they weren't being racist.

Originally posted by Parallex

Originally posted by Freeborn
reply to post by Parallex

 

Complete [EXPLETIVE DELETED]

First things first, bollocks is not an expletive.
If it was then a MODERATOR would have removed it and taken appropriate action.
Your personal censorship was totally unnecessary and I fail to see what purpose it was intended to serve.

Freeborn
Because I have a mistrust of Islam does not make me a racist.

Parralax
One mans 'mistrust' is another mans racism. You call it mistrust, I call it veiled bigotry.

Call it what you want, it's not racism.
I mistrust Islam, I have nothing against Muslim's whatsoever.
I have absolutely no sense of racial superiority over anyone, the idea is absurd and abhorent.
If you can't differentiate between the two that's your problem.

Parralax
And why did you think I was referring to you? Guilty conscience much?

Obviously because of our previous entanglements, no need for Sherlock Holmes there!
Or did you think I'd be too scared to rise to your blatant baiting and trolling?

I have no guilty conscience at all I assure you.
Why should I?
And if I did wouldn't I just fade away discreetly hoping no-one would notice.
Again you are so wide of the mark it's unreal.

Freeborn
Only in your imaginary little world that exists solely in your mind and where you use different standards to judge and criticise people to fit into your stereotyped world.
Where you and you alone are the knight in shining armour and defender of the abused and dispossesed.
Where you have these imaginary battles where you emerge the victor in your own little world.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!

Parralax
Would you care to discuss the thread or are you more than happy to sit here and verbally abuse me at every turn?

Cherry picking now as usual.
So predictable.

That was a response to your deliberate and blatant baiting and trolling.
You posted in a thread that was numerous pages long and made absolutely no attempt at all to contribute to thread topic.

Your sole intention was to bait a member you had crossed swords with in another thread.
You then proceeded to try to portray yourself as THE ATS avenger and fighter of facism who stalks the boards every day fighting racism and facism.
Do you realise exactly what that sounded like?
Credebility zero my friend.

You seem to be one of those people who takes great delight in winding other people up to score imaginary points and victories.

Freeborn
You know absolutely nothing about me, my life, my beliefs or my values other than those you have made up to fit into your pre-conceived ideas.

If you have nothing to contribute to this thread and the topic in hand, keep out and stop trolling!

Parralax
You're right - I know nothing about you. Apart from the fact that most of your posts in this thread have been disrespectful, aggressive and often downright rude.

One example please, other than the response to you....you say 'most' implying there are plural, just one will do though.

Parralax
Not to mention displaying the veiled 'hate-speech' distinctly against the terms and conditions of the site. Good to see the fascist in you coming out by trying to deny my freedom of speech as well... thanks for that.

For pity's sake, one example of hate speech please as well.
Sure it'll be easy!

Denying freedom of speech?
Where?
Oh, you mean me asking you to stop baiting and trolling and that if you had nothing to contribute keep out.
That's not denying your freedom of speech, that's asking you to abide by T&C's!

Parralax
Now that I've tried to defend myself civilly, back to the topic.

I think Seagull put it best - racism has always been here, and there, and so it will always remain. Does that mean we have to tolerate it though? Of course not - it's learning to recognise it that is the hard part. These racists will try and dress up their hateful sentiments in all sorts of flowery language and efforts. The internet provides great opportunity for the flowering of racism - faceless people can make baseless claims, and people will believe them.

Especially about Muslims. LOL

LOL

Parallex.

You remind me of The Witchfinder General and his zealot obsession.
He saw witches everywhere, you see racism.

Racism is abhorent and needs to be eliminated.
Your dislike of it is commendable.
But not everything and everyone is racist.
And a dislike of a belief system and / or individuals is not necessarily racist.

I suspect Mods or Admins will have a word with us and ask us to cease letting our personal differences derail this thread, and so they should.

[edit on 7/9/10 by Freeborn]

reply to post by Freeborn



Do not feed the troll !

I have to say that Parralex raises some interesting points in some of his threads, but he clearly sets out to ''upset the applecart'', and uses this forum as some kind of ego ''proving grounds'' !

reply to post by oniongrass


i don't ask for compensation because that would hinder my pride as an independent person. it's easy to blame others and ask for compensation for ancestral abuse but i would be less of a man if i did.

reply to post by Freeborn


It's so nice to be loved.

Freeborn, your entire post (bar a few lines), was all about me. Now, I'm happy to be me, but your obsession with me is getting a little disturbing. Try and tone it down eh? I know you don't like Muslims, and you don't trust Islam. I don't trust Islam myself. I don't trust Christianity either. So why is it that whenever I speak about both of them in the same light, i.e. negatively, you get on your high horse about Christianity being far better etc etc?

Be consistent! Both Islam and Christianity suck donkey balls, and both induce racist behaviour in people. It's not rocket science.

reply to post by Sherlock Holmes


Sherlock me old buddha, I have no bone with you. So don't lower yourself to discussing people rather than the thread like Freeborn does. You can do better. Thank you for the compliment by the way - and yes, I do like to upset the applecart, it's the best way to get the juiciest morsels out of a debate rather than put up with neutered posts constantly.

Do you agree that religion induces racism?

Parallex.

[edit on 7-9-2010 by Parallex]

I'm white and wouldn't really be offended is someone called me a cracker....but then again that word wasn't used for the last couple hundred years to label me and my race and family as less than human. The word wasn't used to keep me down. Had it be I'd probably feel completely different.

Originally posted by rockoperawriter
reply to post by oniongrass

 

i don't ask for compensation because that would hinder my pride as an independent person. it's easy to blame others and ask for compensation for ancestral abuse but i would be less of a man if i did.

You're entitled to feel that way, but later on you may just wish you had the money instead of more debt or difficulty. I've found that a lot of images of what a man should do are just ways to get men not to take what should be theirs.

Other men are surely taking these things, those who are given them by affirmative action laws. They may or may not feel it's diminishing their manhood. but they're taking, I'm sure it's rare for someone to turn down a preference that could help them because they don't want the preference and think it's unfair.

You cannot get the preference. They compensate others' ancestral abuse but not yours, because others are advantaged over you legally. The law is against you. The law should be fair, and then if you chose to turn down a preference it would be your choice. At this time it is not.

reply to post by Parallex


You flatter yourself.
You are nothing to me other than just another member who I have happened to lock horns with.
Nothing special at all either way.

I answered the points you raised after your trolling exercise.

My thoughts on organised religion can wait for another day.

Hopefully our next interaction will be more courteous and more in the spirit of ATS.

Now that everyone has made their opinions on everyone else known forever, would it be possible to return to the topic of the thread?

Racism... real or not. (my opinions are on record)

Obviously racism is real.

Let's face it, in a world where somebody has to go out of their way to say "I'm not racist" it demonstrates that there are racists and that most of us feel a need to differentiate ourselves from them.

Are you proud to be black or white or any other race? That's a racist stance, even if it's not intended to be.

We're a diverse species. According to science that is a good thing. Diversity maximizes our odds of survival.

Then again, the world has grown so small that differences of race may well be a temporary condition for us. In a few hundred years we may well all be of one race with only some minor genetic differences from individual to individual.

I wonder, if that were to happen, would people who looked the same and shared a common culture still bicker about those minor genetic variations?

Originally posted by george_gaz
reply to post by ANOK

 

Lol erm what about South Africa?

I know plenty of whites from South Africa who have been discriminated against because of their colour to the point that living there was dangerous.

Don't you think that might have had something to do with apartheid?

Oh yea no reason for them to hate whites right...





In their OWN country. Get some perspective.

I gotta say, IMO, it shouldn't. The N-word, (because thats what we're really being guided to discuss here) is nothing more than a word.

I remember back in HS, I had some dude that loved to give me a hard time. I knew something about him that he was ashamed of. So, what did I do? I called him names to reference the information I had.

Its the same thing with the N-Word. People say it to African Americans because they know it gets under they're skin.

What did your parents tell you if you we're being bullied in school? (besides fight back) IGNORE IT, and he will stop.

A very informative lesson most dont seem to have ever understood.

If people ignored the word as it was being slurred to them, it would lose its power.

And the rap songs that promote the word have a paradoxial effect. In one sense, it takes away hurtful meaning from the word, then again it enforces the belief that is okay to say it.

Bottom line, if your called a racial slur. Ignore it. Why in the hell would someone want some ignorant man having control over they're emotions. Let it go and move on. If not for them, for yourself.

reply to post by Parallex


My apologies, Parallex.

Although it's no excuse, I have to admit that I'd ''had a few'', at the time of posting my comment.

Personal attacks are not really my style, so I'll blame the alcohol for yesterday's out of character outburst.


To reply to your question:

No, I don't think that religions encourage racism. I have never come across any religious text that supports the notion.

However, I certainly think that some religious institutions encourage racist attitudes.

Let's also not forget, that it was a group of Quakers that instigated the abolition of the British Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

[edit on 8-9-2010 by Sherlock Holmes]

if i hear someone say that black is not a color then i'll ask what is sanguine? and are black people truly black? or is it stigmata?

reply to post by ANOK


Right. I get it ANOK. One is allowed to be a racist when they have a reason to?

Nice perspective.

Thanks

I agree Racism is very much real and still alive. There are groups out there trying to find ways still to make their race feel more superior than others. You got groups like KKK, bohemian grove, black panther party, La Raza, etc. Most of your destructive ones sadly come from the KKK or bohemian grove. I wish one thing that would seriously happen is that the human race would one day unite. But that is just a fictional story.

reply to post by dragnet53

There are groups out there trying to find ways still to make their race feel more superior than others.

Is that really the main motive?? Feeling superior...??

When I look at it, in my life I am part of a number of social groups. I have my Judo group and we come together because we all like judo. I have my friends and we come together because we all like to do the same things. I have my family and we come together because we are family....

With every social group I belong too their is a clear reason why I belong to that group. The condition of being part of such a group are clear.

Now I also belong to a group called "the Dutch" but somehow the conditions for belonging to this group are pretty vague. We like to fool our selfs that they are not because without an outside source to reflect on, we can not determine what defines us. Out of fear of loosing the identity of the group we feverishly look for differences.

Surely somebody not being born in, and raised according to the standard of, that group is a reason to identify them as different. But what if you cannot determine a difference based on that conclusion because well...morals and values are pretty much universal. You discover that what defines your group is actually what defines every other group as well....???

Your mind goes in denial and you look for irrational differences to make sense. It's the fear of loosing one's identity that is making us identify people as different based on superficial matters.

I think a one-world society, for instance, would only work if we had a little outside threat from our E.T. friends. If they turn out to be not so different from us ethically or morally, we could always identify them based on the fact that they are green.....

Peace