Racism 101

AdmiralGreer · **AdmiralGreer**

There's no reason to argue- minorities have been hammered a lot, and to get back, they need to take it out somehow. And as there are more and more multi-racial unions and children, racism will become much less of a issue then it currently is.
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DeeLite · **DeeLite**

The portals and discrimination of all minority races does in part with all the mentalities whether of gender or race. But I feel why white people get the heel of it all is due in part with the part they played though out history as the most bias and judgmental of any race. And like any normal person I can be a hypocrite about their race and even mine, but that doesn't mean to say I'm racist myself.
Just that people are the way they are, which is to think that their superiority is the main factor but I mostly do it because I'm such a wise ass. But I also think that females face more discrimination above any race by not being treated as equals in many parts of the world.

JohnnyPsycho · **JohnnyPsycho**

Okay, let me clear up another common misconception, that is of the term "racism". I have taken classes in race and ethnicity, and one of the first things professors of these subjects tell you is a definition of the term "racism". Racism is how a majority group systematically subjugates minority groups or make them inferior. Racism is basically a big term that encompasses segregation, discrimination, stereotyping, etc. Black kids not being able to go to good college because their schools were poorly funded because largely white government organizations deem it futile to fund innercity schools where largely black populations live would be racism. The guy not wanting black people in his restaurant would be discrimination.

The only reason I bring this up is because of this wild idea people have of "reverse-racism", or that minority groups are capable of being racist. The fact that these groups of people are deemed as "minority" makes it impossible for them to be racist or use racism. They can be discriminitory by means of racial identities, but they cannot be racist. I don't mean to be nit-picky about vocabulary, but it's something that completely bothers me about how people discuss race relations today. Black society does not have the means or power to have a racist agenda against White society.* The term "racism" and "racist" have been turned into a synonym for discrimination and/or bigotry, but that is not truly what the term means.

Anyway, for people who aren't able to take college courses on ideas of race and racism within American or other societies, I suggest doing some reading. One book you might try is Ego Trip's Big Book of Racism!. I haven't read it yet myself, but it seems interesting...

[/RANT]

*Although, of all the minority groups in the U.S., African-Americans are the most highly recognized in our public consciousness, one of the largest populations nationwide (second only to Latino/Chicano populations), and one of the most historically promonent (again, within our own public consciousness); so largely black corporations and institutions are often viewed as having the capacity of large-scale discrimination that may mirror racism, but they by no way reflect the way in which mainstream American society has and continues to have effects upon the way in which racial/ethnic groups are treated and viewed.
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"The principles you live by create the world you live in; if you change the principles you live by, you will change your world." -Blaine Lee

"I plan to live forever. So far so good." -Steven Wright

counterparadox · **counterparadox**

I'm gonna sit the rest of this one out, I think. Racism isn't something I really like talking about. A lot of things are blown out of proportion and people just get mad and ugh. The KKK are hypocrits, but as an African, even though it isn't the norm or whatever, you have to admit that the steryotypes of blacks being hardend criminals didn't just happen on it's own. Yes, circumstances drove it to happen, but rahter than saying "We must be treated equal!" people should go back to the 60's and the teachings of Gandhi: don't demand respect, show people that you deserve it.

The world right now is filled with people clammering for their rights, but they don't fight the right ways.

But the point is, this isn't a topic I like talking about, because people use racism as a shield. ("I wasn't driving to fast, you just a racist cop givin me a ticket!") So don't expect anything more from me.
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Spookmonkey · **Spookmonkey**

TylerL · **TylerL**

A question to all those seen as "minorities" by the United States:

What is your opinion of Equal Opportunity?
Is it fair?
Is it patronizing?
Is it misguided?

John_Bono_Smithy_Satchmo · **John_Bono_Smithy_Satchmo**

Alright, I'll add my two cents after reading twenty minutes of near-essay posts:
Racist words have a strong power--people wouldn't respond to them so strongly if they didn't. Using racial slurs among one's race takes back the power of that word and nullify's it. Using them as a joke between people admits that they are powerful words and devalues them by identifying them--or something like that.
People are far too uppity about it in general, too, though. Umm... damn, I forgot all of my points. Stupid seizure-bots.
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Force-Attuned_Krogoth · **Force-Attuned_Krogoth**

Whoolly crap, I have no idea how I missed this one yesterday.

Anyhoo, I believe that the root of racial discrimination (not necessarily racism, as JP pointed out) is simply the fact that people notice race. Unfortunately, this is inbred into our culture. However, it always irks me when some ethnic minority claims they're being discriminated against, simply because they're poor. You know what? The vast majority of the poor are white, too. With the exceptions of the blacks (Damn Republican Reconstruction didn't redistribute any of the wealth) most of the members of these minority groups came here to get the (relative to the American middle class) low-skill jobs. As they (including blacks, now) raised families, they emphasized working as soon, and as much, as possible as teh way to "get ahead." In this way, they often neglected the major tenets of American urban culture, namely "knowledge is power." Now, hordes of them are complaining to me that I am suppressing them by not getting them to understand what they didn't want to hear.

I'm not saying that some discrimination doesn't exist, but I do believe that it is highly overstressed. In America, education is key to improving your socioeconomic status. The average Bachelor's degree will increase your pay by 40-50% over a high school diploma/GED. If a bunch of people came here not understanding the nature of America, and we spent many millions of dollars trying to tell them to stay in school, how is it my responsibility to make sure that they get the same pay? Is it me, or is capitalism based on the principle of equal oportunity, not equal results?
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AdmiralGreer · **AdmiralGreer**

JohnnyPsycho · **JohnnyPsycho**

FAK makes an interesting point, however, I want to also point out one minority group that has been here the whole time, and yet continues to have excessively high poverty rates: Native Americans. Being a member of that particular ethnic identification (in case anyone didn't figure that out by now), I have a particularly personal viewpoint on that subject. We've been here the whole time, and most of us want the government to leave us to our own ways. However, because we've had our cultural "knee-caps" blown out, many tribes are dependent upon government subsidies and commodities. Those of us that got off the Rez (short for "reservation") used to have to struggle hard to make a decent life outside of the reservation borders. Many reservations have notoriously low highschool graduation rates, and alcoholism and drug-abuse are high among the population. In a sense, reservations are synonymous with black inner-city "ghettos", except because of the fact that we've been shoved out in the middle of nowhere, where the job market is low and the ability to make our own living (meaning earning cash the good old fashioned American way) is almost impossible.

One solution: Casino gambling.

It's not pretty. It often causes other social problems among members of the reservations that have Casinos. But it also supplies these tribes with money and jobs. My tribe is located on the Hannahville Potawatomi Reservation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The closest city is Escanaba, Michigan. Since they opened their casino ("Chip-In Casino", which now has a huge hotel, with musicians and other talent coming in on the large stage daily, and, last time I was there, plans to open a golf course), my rez has also built a year-round elementary school, has a large Human Resources office and provides housing for its members. It also has built new houses for the elders of the community, including my grandmother. Plus, I get a $500 check from them three times a year, plus extra money that goes toward my college education.

We try. We've done very well exploiting the greed culture of mainstream capitalist white America, getting rich off of old white people's unbridled avarice. The tourists come year-round, and the casino keeps expanding, as does the opportunities for tribal members.

Just a little nugget for you to chew on...

And thanks to John Bono for better putting into words what I was desperately trying to grasp at earlier.
_________________
"The principles you live by create the world you live in; if you change the principles you live by, you will change your world." -Blaine Lee

"I plan to live forever. So far so good." -Steven Wright

John_Bono_Smithy_Satchmo · **John_Bono_Smithy_Satchmo**

TylerL · **TylerL**

counterparadox · **counterparadox**

Equal opertunity is racist against the majority. Take out the majority part of that sentence, and you end up with "Equal oppertunity is racist."

Seeing as how it works towards the exact thing it is supposed to work against, it's a paradox. It doesn't make sense.
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anime is teh s uck

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Force-Attuned_Krogoth · **Force-Attuned_Krogoth**

Well, there is someone in my Government class who disagrees with us. He believes that the ethnic minorities are, by default, underpriveliged. He quotes that 80-85% of college students are white, whereas only 76-78% of the overall population is. However, he fails to take into account the values of said minority groups.

As examples, JP says that the rez Indians have atrociously low high school graduation rates. I wonder how many of the families stress the importance of education? I admit that the Natives have been thoroughly exploited by "Americans" over the years. They have been kept apart through both the reservation system and the policy of separate government. Thus, they have not been encouraged to join mainstream society. Does JohnnyP believe that, because of this, he should get preferential selection for admittance/finance for college, or getting/keeping/advancing in his job?

Another, contrasting example is the Asian population. Many Asian-Americans understand that education is important, and the parents strongly suggest (or strongarm) their children go to college. This is especially true of Japanese immigrants (due to the extreme job competition in the land of the rising otaku). If you look at the statistics, a staggeringly disproportionate number of college students are Asian. Because of this, affirmative action plans for Asians have been cancelled, and the enrollment of this group hasn't changed significantly.

To answer Tyler's questions:
Is it fair? Hell no. By preferring one race to another, you are merely perpetuating the traditional (noticeably flawed) belief that race matters. If you want to make things equal, you must make it clear that IT DOESN'T.

Is it patronizing? Not really. It doesn't necessarily mean that the standards are lower, just that, all things being equal, skin color is a deciding factor.

Is it misguided? Is racial discrimination per se misguided?

Do you support it? That's a big negatory, with a capital "NO!"
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Krogoth uses Berserk.
Attacks are enhanced but defense weakens.
"Wait, that's not the cure button ... "

John_Bono_Smithy_Satchmo · **John_Bono_Smithy_Satchmo**

:appluads:
As the government books say, it's not equality of results, it's equality of opportunity.
On a slight tangent, did you ever wonder why third world countries stay that way for so long? Well, there are three main causes
1) The Berkini Fauso (sp?) scenerio: This poor country is landlocked and charged exorbitant fees by rail lines out of it. The people are hard working, but inevitably screwed by there situation.
2) The Afghanistan scenerio: Feudal lords take over and don't let go--all they want is power. To keep in power, they whip thier people in a frenzy by pointing the blame for all of life's problems overseas. How America manages to be a world power with near identical leadership is beyond me. (Another sidenote: It was really funny what Steven Colbert said about the army kicking out gay people in a time of war-- something like "We're fighting a war against extreme conservatives who base everything on religion. We wouldn't want to piss off god by allowing gays in the army, would we?"
3) The Somalia scenerio: People are just kinda lazy. Big fat foreign aid comes over all the time--more sittin' around time. Every time the country has an actual food surplus (about every ten years)--they go to war over it, destroying the food and farms in the process. But to tell the truth, they don't really mind. They like their way of life. It's just a money pit for stupid Americans who play into the "millions of starving children routine." Well, they're obviously not that bad off if they're healthy enough to have that much sex, and believe they can support a family. To paraphrase a quote from Brian Clevenger, "I didn't know your mating habbits endowed you with rights over the rest of us."
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