Are we all racist by nature?

reply to post by kellerphoenix


I wouldn't choose either one.....to die. I would choose both to live...and we would all leave and go have a meal together.

reply to post by Absco


No thats selfish

ok...

you walk into a party. thing is...it's all broken up! white people hanging out in one group, black people hanging out in another, asain people hanging out in one group, middle eastern people hanging out in another group (and so on and so on...until you've got every color there is represented yet segregated).

ok....what group do you feel most comfortable walking up to and talking to first. if you're honest...you probably chose the group that you belong to! unless...you have some hatred towards your own "kind" for some reason.

birds of a feather flock together. racism is inherit. there is nothing wrong with racism. but...i define racism as just seeing the physical difference between the races. prejudice...that's when you allow those differences to effect how you act. being prejudice....not natural. that is learned. you're either taught to hate a certain group of people or you learn through countless experiences with a certain group of people, who consistently treat you bad, that their "kind" is "bad".

but if i saw some brand new group of people (skin color) that i had never seen before nor heard of...i wouldn't think they were bad people. i might have a healthy fear of the unknown...but i wouldn't think that they were gonna rob me, take my job, have a small penis, eat curry and/or be good/bad at sports. those thoughts that humans have...those are learned.

reply to post by micmerci


Hmm never thought of that. Well I am 99% sure I'm not the 1%

What would it be if I shot myself and let them go at it Saw style?

reply to post by kellerphoenix


I would just refuse to choose and participate. If I couldn't do that and I HAD to choose I'd offer to be killed myself instead. If I couldn't do that, I would try to do something random like flip a coin. If I couldn't pick at random I would would try to pick at random anyway without anyone knowing.

Like I would just think of someone I know at random, and pick like the third or fourth letter of their name or last letter, and if the letter is an even number in the alphabet then treat that as heads and if it was an odd letter treat it as tails or something like that. Try to think of the most random thing I can to use as a seed. If I do it all in my head no one will know.

A good discussion for some math people might be, what's the best, most fair, way to consciously pick a random number in your own head for this type of situation lol.

If I truly couldn't pick at random and REALLY had to pick, I'd probably pick the one of my own race to die. Basically the best way to say it is, he'd just have to take one for the team.

But honestly I wouldn't feel too bad about it. The morality of it all goes back to the person or situation making me choose in the first place. If that's not fair, then that will boil over into my decision and no matter what I pick, that also will not be fair. It's just an unfair situation.

But it depends on what you mean by natural. Racism is natural. Everything that exists in the universe is natural because we live in a natural world and not a supernatural one. But that doesn't mean it's good.

I think what you mean to ask is racism genetic, cultural, or learned behavior? The answer is, yes. All three.

I think fear of things you don't understand and wanting to hang out with like people is genetic. It's probably an evolutionary trait from people living in tribes. That can turn into cultural racism if society lets it.

Today in my opinion most racism we have left is passed down. Mothers and fathers of the previous generations were just about the biggest stumbling block to getting rid of racism.

reply to post by kellerphoenix
Kill them both, just to be safe. Humans are dangerous, dirty things.

OK, fine - are there any qualifiers here, effort required for the killing (or are we instead saving only one from something, etc.)? I'd say save whichever is most likely to survive otherwise (like in I, Robot w/Will Smith's character's issue), but all things being equal otherwise, I'd probably have to fall back on the coin flip option as well. Could care less about being considered racist, but that would at least absolve some responsibility if you happened to choose the one who was a mass murderer or some such.

reply to post by ICEKOHLD



Do you know any of them? because if not then how do you mingle Being a party I would gravitate towards the ladies of ALL kinds and collaborate with those races doing that. So I guess genre funny questions

reply to post by ICEKOHLD
Hmmm...no. Not my kind of party. That place is full of nervous tension and I'm pretty sure a fight will break out eventually.

I'd go find another party without so much apparent hostility floating around.

reply to post by kellerphoenix


That is an impossible scenario.

When you say there is nothing different about them but the race, what do you picture when you see "race?" If one has pants sagging, long braids or corn rows, a gold tooth, and a tear drop tattoo, and the other looks like a family man / accountant, then you save him. It wasn't race it was appearance or stereotype.

But on the flipside, if one is a cracked out meth head, shaved bald, in a wife beater, yelling for help in broken redneck english, and the other is a black family man / accountant, then you save him. It wasn't race, it was appearance or stereotype.

When most people think "race" they thing "stereotype." I don't believe anyone is intrinsically racist, but we learn by experience where potential friends and foes lie. It is a matter of self-preservation to recognize danger at first glance. Sometimes our first instinct could be wrong, but it is still important for survival to be able to make a snap judgement and then investigate a little further if opportunity allows. So some stereo types scream danger, and others scream safety.

If you are a gang-banger, and you grow up that way, seeing another gang-banger may scream safety, where seeing a white man in a suit may scream danger. If you are a white man in a suit, just the opposite. It isn't racist, it is just experience and survival instinct.

We instinctively have fear of the unknown for our survival.

I don't remember it, but my grandmother told me what I did the first time I saw a black person. I didn't watch TV and where I lived wasn't multi-ethnic at all. She told me I starred him all the time he was there, watching is every move...

Now, life has taught me to NOT be racist and to not judge a person only by what he looks like.

It would be lying to yourself to say that we do not have prejudices and stereotypes at all, humans will always extrapolate the first impression of anything to classify it and be ready to act accordingly.

It can be a person, a place, an object, anything!
Our brain functions this way, no getting around it and it is a vital part of our intelligence and survival instinct.

Where to morality comes in is : "Do we stop ourselves to this prejudice or to we evaluate the situation with critical thinking."
That's all that is important. People getting hurt physically or mentally by racism is a very sad thing.

So yes kellerphoenix, I believe that we could racist by nature

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


See, that was the gist of my earlier post. I think the gender aspect would eliminate the racism in the equation. I am a white male and if the two people were a male white and a female non white- I would choose to save the female. So does this mean that chivalry trumps race? My decision would remain the same even if I were to never meet either person ( eliminates choice for personal gain)

That is a very interesting Gedankenexperiment. I would say that humans are selfish first and fearful second, and that racism is the fruit of that.

I think the answer of weather it is racist to pick your own race to save resides in the motive of why you chose your own race. If you found any pleasure in seeing a person of another race be killed, or feel they deserve it because of their race, than you are probably a racist. But if you felt empathy and sadness you would probably have to look for another answer behind your motives.

when i see someone of similar descent I am bombarded with a whole host of culturally relevant characteristics.I see distinguishing marks and cues that I understand and identify with. I am not just seeing a white person, I am seeing a history of possible cultural norms that fall in line with my life. I see myself, not just in their skin color, but in identifiable social traits and symbols. The person of another race who lacks these relatable traits offers just enough disconnect from my own life that Its slightly less painful to have them die. But it is more about self preservation rather than hate.

The picking of your own race to live might be selfish because in identifying with them you're really trying to save yourself, but i would not say its racist. At it's worst it maybe cultural bias, but if its a choice done with remorse I wouldn't call it true racism.

Originally posted by dolphinfan
reply to post by kellerphoenix

 

It would depend on whether or not one of them was a woman and what she looked like. If Halle Berry is one of them, the other is in trouble.

I guess that makes me sexist rather than racist.

Damn you - good answer and I hadn't thought about how that would skew my decision.

We'll say they're both attractive females to level this out, otherwise I think I'd probably fall into your same trap - regardless of looks, I'd probably have to save the woman if there was a split in gender.

reply to post by getreadyalready
Say one looks like Peter, and the other like Cleveland - both typical, lower/middle-class suburbanites.

If there are no other apparent class differences, where do you fall?

Originally posted by micmerci
reply to post by Ophiuchus 13

 

So does this mean that chivalry trumps race?

I think some are designed to be this way to ensure genetic productivity. Before chivalry it is children first and you can apply the same scenerio you did to your recent statment - if it were a adult of the same color or child of another color- the child first. These are like embedded neuro activites to ensure genetic saftey.. good thinking

This is more a question of duality. Us versus them so it depend on your experiance in life.

For instance im a white guy who really have trouble relating to the the macho tatoo guys that are so involved with with their exterior. So if I had a white guy of that type and a normal looking black the white guy would not stand a chance. I have an oriental best friend so I kinda choose orientals over whites. The oriental girls are so pretty .

I would rather go with the unknown than something I know will be a little bad. The thing is all bad things that have happened to me have happened from whites so if im racist then it's against whites. I would choose badlooking over goodlooking if it was a man. If it is a woman then it all depends on the eyes.

Human can suck whatever abilities, race, gender, looks, class and country. We are a pain really but you gotta love our potential. Namaste

I think there are other factors to be considered here beyond just race. In my case, based on the way I was raised, the sex card would come into play as well. Is one a lady and one a man? That would precede any consideration of race. For instance, I'm a white guy, but if my choices were a black man and a white woman (or a black woman and a white man) I would choose for the man to die. Also, is one attractive and the other not? We are also taught to over-value that trait as children. In that case, would you choose an attractive person over the other, regardless of race. However, if all other things were equal I think its safe to say that most people would choose the member of their own race to survive. I don't even think thats really racist, just like goes with like most of the time. Just like I don't think its racist that if Chinese people move to the U.S. they tend to live in neighborhoods with each other, just as I would likely do with other Americans if I moved to China. I suppose it depends on your definition of racism, but I don't believe those things are racist.

Interesting note, the term racist was originally used to describe people who merely studied races.

"Are we all racist by nature?"

The answer is: NO.

It has nothing to do with "nature". Racism is a socially acquired behavior.

The proof is very simple: little kids, between 3 and 5 years old, aren't racist. If you reunite a large group of kids of that age, being some of them white, some of them black, and some of them Asian, the kids will all play togheter, or will form small groups not based in any racial criteria.

People only become racists when their minds start to be poisoned by a racist society.

reply to post by apushforenlightment


I completely agree, a matter of your experience in life.

reply to post by kellerphoenix


No, I believe we are racist by sepration and purposeful division - meaning this is a taught thing that started hundreds of years ago. Divide and conquer. If their were other beings with seven arms and one eye invading we probably wouldn't care about skin color.