Are people inherently racist?

[condor]

In my opinion, people start as racist and become less so, the more they meet and interact with black or Asian people.

I often become racist when I hear ghetto talk as it sounds excessively harsh to my ears. I think most people begin racist.

[Zoop]

I think most people who say this are racist themselves, and are just merely projecting their own prejudice onto the other people.

The fact that you claim to "become racist" when you "hear ghetto talk" indicates that you fit the bill.

[#FF0000]

In my opinion, people start as racist and become less so, the more they meet and interact with black or Asian people.

I often become racist when I hear ghetto talk as it sounds excessively harsh to my ears. I think most people begin racist.

Seems like nonsense to me. Are you telling me that infants are aware of racial and ethnic stereotypes, or are even self-aware enough to know if someone else is of a different race?

[Rafiq]

Everyone please ignore condor.

[#FF0000]

I think most people who say this are racist themselves, and are just merely projecting their own prejudice onto the other people.

The fact that you claim to "become racist" when you "hear ghetto talk" indicates that you fit the bill.

I might be over-inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt but I think it's good of OP to be honest that he's got prejudices. I think a lot of folks do and pretend otherwise.

If OP were saying that it's alright or good to have these prejudices, that'd be one thing, but I don't think he is.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

I can say, absolutely, that NO ONE is born a racist. Prejudice is a learned behavior. A child that has never been exposed to racism, when put in a group of children of different ethnicity, will not automatically think ill of the other children. Racism is something learned from authority figures.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

I don't know, man, have you ever talked to a baby babies have some fucked up opinions.

[Comrade #138672]

Are babies even capable of having opinions?

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

(It was a joke. I don't think this thread is serious enough to warrant anything else.)

[Comrade #138672]

(It was a joke. I don't think this thread is serious enough to warrant anything else.)Ah. Forgive me for being stupid then.

[ComradeAllende]

In my opinion, people start as racist and become less so, the more they meet and interact with black or Asian people.

I often become racist when I hear ghetto talk as it sounds excessively harsh to my ears. I think most people begin racist.

People don't really "start out" racist, at least in the sense that they believe their race is better or worse than other races. Prejudice usually develops during the early learning stages, where the individual absorbs social information from his environment. While a white person from (say) Beverly Hills is not necessarily a racist, odds are that he will exhibit some bigoted tendencies when around nonwhites.

As to your predicament, this is common for individuals raised in one environment and transplanted into another (or experiencing the characteristics of another). I personally grew up in a white upper-middle class suburb, so "ghetto talk" (or Ebonics) doesn't seem "natural" to me; of course, I have to realize that there are reasons behind this (structural racism, economic segregation, etc.), and try to avoid stereotyping others. The burden of proof is entirely on me; it may be that the black guy "speaking ghetto" is a gangster or a pimp, but (A) the odds are unlikely and (B) I have to provide evidence to prove this. Stereotypes don't count.

[Aslan]

Remember what racism is and it's history. Racism entails the idea that you race or ethnicity is superior to other races and ethnicity. People aren't inherently racist, as in there is no gene in the body of a Klansman that makes them racist by default. What makes racism though is indoctrination to the belief that your race is superior to all others. If you remove racism in a culture then you can eliminate racism.

Where I live, racism is still rampant. Although not as dangerous as back during reconstruction. The south is still a place where people still have this vile belief in the dark recesses of their minds.

[ShadowStar]

In my opinion, people start as racist and become less so, the more they meet and interact with black or Asian people.

I often become racist when I hear ghetto talk as it sounds excessively harsh to my ears. I think most people begin racist.

This is a ridiculous idea. Infants can't understand basic ideas, let alone be inheritely racist. This argument sounds like apologism for racists.

[Counterculturalist]

People aren't inherently anything except products of their material conditions and environment. Because we are all born into a world where the unnatural concept of "race" has currency and leads to concrete effects on people's lives - in particular, a world in which "white" is the default and "master" race - we all internalize beliefs based on this construct. However, these beliefs are learned just the same, and we must struggle to unlearn them as a process of liberating humanity.

[Sibotic]

It's not entirely clear how you'd be racist without even knowing that other races exist, for instance, or realising that they are or are not of note. Racism clearly has different motivations.

[Quail]

I don't know that the OP was expecting from this thread... We're certainly not going to sit here and make you feel better about being racist. I think pretty much everyone ends up with some racist beliefs or thoughts that they need to try and unlearn because we live in a racist society and subconsciously take on board some of its values as we grow up. But that doesn't mean humans are inherently racist at all.

[RedWorker]

The claim that humans are inherently racist would have to be based on "eternal biological laws", but ironically (or not so much for people acquainted with this issue) it'd actually be based on idealism.

[Ricemilk]

In my opinion, people start as racist and become less so, the more they meet and interact with black or Asian people.
Um, so where does that leave the black or Asian objects of white edification? I'm confused why you're talking about "people" as if black and Asian people are a second separate group, but then you explicitly also call them "people" at the end of the sentence.


I often become racist when I hear ghetto talk as it sounds excessively harsh to my ears. I think most people begin racist.
Well, you sound a little racist calling Black English 'ghetto talk' as if it's a form of slang instead of a complex dialect with well-documented grammar and phonetic rules equally (at times more) consistent as 'Standard' English of any given country. This is a specific complaint of many people.

But I'm given to understand individual racism is less destructive and pervasive in POC's daily life than institutional or structural racism anyway. If this is true, it doesn't matter whether we are born with some bizarre sleeper-power to discern race and come up with bad individual opinions, as much as whether developed antiracists can successfully dismantle white institutions before their children grow old enough to understand the world around them.

[Guardia Rossa]

I'm still surprised condor hasn't been banned and sent to the deepest layers of hell.

EDIT: "He makes interesting questions" I would think that instead of attacking something obviously racist for racism, we could affirm why to be against racism, and provide deep arguments against it. This would be a interesting answer. But this question has no asking for an answer of this format, it is purely a bait.

He is a troll. This is quite clear.

[Ricemilk]

Looking back on this thread, it's worth noting that a useful definition of antiracist for whites is to be traitorous to whiteness in an introspective but also organized way, actively working to undermine and ultimately destroy white institutions (cultural, social, economic, gender, etc), accountable for the real-world racial impact of their own behavior in the meantime.

In this way, there is no reason to assume antiracism describes only those people and movements which have successfully cleansed themselves of racism down to the subliminal level, but rather more realistically, we can learn to frustrate the workings of racism without worrying ourselves sick about whether we ourselves are within striking distance of some nirvana.