Are Americans Racist?

Where I live, it can be easy to forget that racism exists outside of the small percentage of elderly people who continue to embrace outdated racist ideas. Even then, their racism isn't particularly hateful, more of a belief in common racial stereotypes. I live in a fairly liberal, mostly educated area. I've lived in other places where racism is alive and well, and it surprised me, at the time. I was fairly young, and was startled to see that so many people were flying confederate flags in from of their homes and businesses. What message are you sending? And why?

 

I sincerely don't know what the intention or point of this post is. :dizzy2:
Are you saying that this is what I'm saying...? Or what? Confused.

By the way I admitted to being what I would consider 'racist' so...again...
...not certain what point was trying to be made. Could you clarify it some?

Thanks,
GoingHome

 

In why do you consider yourself a racist?

 

I think it's racist to consider all Americans racist. There are people here that are ignorant to anyone that doesn't share their same skin color, sitting on their front porch with a shotgun, ghost outfit in their closet... y'know (that's a joke btw... or... is it?) But there are also fun, loving, open-minded, accepting people here too. It's the same as anywhere. People are good or evil or somewhere in between. People are just so cliquey. Giant groups of people that are completely absorbed by mainstream media that pushes propaganda making people hate each other and do and say horrible things. Nothing seems original anymore and anything that isn't spreading that type of message is just weird. Like I said before, honestly, I do have racist thoughts growing up in the environment I live in, but I keep those thoughts to myself. Am I racist? ...maybe. Do I consider myself racist? no. Might make me somewhat hypocritcal, but... oh well. I don't judge an entire race of people just because of something one person does.

 

Terrapin

First I’m not sure if you could call Americans a race, I think it is a nationality and possibly a culture but not a distinctive ‘race’ – I mean Americans even divide themselves along more racial lines, Native-American, Black-American, Hispanic-American etc so if would seem even they don’t see themselves a racial whole.

Second I was reacting to the comments of an American politician who in talking about the troubles that happened in Ferguson seemed to be saying that if the racism in the US wasn’t tackled it could ‘bring down the republic’.

To which I was asking “Is racism so prevalent and powerful in the US (or parts of it) that the view that it could end the union is a valid one?”

Is America so racist, so rife with racial tension and antagonism, that the issue could destroy the union – I found that hard to believe but was asking.

 

The word he ment to use is probably discrimination. It is a form of discrimination to seriously say all americans are racist. Racism is also a form of discrimination.

 

Asmo

I agree - I was reacting to the comments of an American politician who in talking about the troubles that happened in Ferguson seemed to be saying that if the racism in the US wasn’t tackled it could ‘bring down the republic’.

To which I was asking “Is racism so prevalent and powerful in the US (or parts of it) that the view that it could end the union is a valid one?”

Is America so racist, so rife with racial tension and antagonism, that the issue could destroy the union – I found that hard to believe but was asking.

 

At what point do we say that racism is rampant in America? What happens when the next black youth gets shot by a cop, and the one after that? Do we just keep saying "White people have been killed by cops too"? Maybe the cops generally are out of control and it isn't an issue of race. Maybe we're all being distracted from the larger problem as they turn this into an issue of race. If black people keep getting killed and their murderers (like that phoney piece of rubbish Darren Wilson) keep not being indicted, then I think it's pretty obvious what's going on. They had better watch their step, too, because this will not be turned into a racist, fascist country. Things could get out of control real fast if they aren't real careful with their stupid plans. I don't know if it alone would break the Union, but the Union is at the breaking point already -- as if half of us don't already just want to see the other half get killed as it is.

 

I don't consider American people a race, America is a melting pot. People of all colors, creeds and frankly, even some of the strangest beliefs lol. More a nationality. I guess I did overstep my boundaries a bit by refering to the OP (oh, that's you oops), or moreso the topic as being racist. That wasn't my intention. I just hear a lot of people refer to Americans as one solid group of people that all think and act the same way. I guess when it comes to talking about politics it does makes sense. Sorry about that, I tend to be a little scatterbrained sometimes. The idea of racism bringing down the union is a little farfetched.

I, for one, do repect authority to a certain degree. As long as they're doing their job protecting citizens' rights and going about it how they're supposed to, I always will. I might have said this in an earlier post, but I couldn't imagine leaving for work protecting the area not knowing if I'd be coming home at night. Especially if I had a family and children to support. That being said, I also believe there is a firm abuse of authoritative power going on in this country. I understand that officers on the job are just as afraid, even with the skills they are trained with, as people that are in the wrong and decide to flee from the presence of the law or act out against authority that some may very well deserve. But when officers start drawing their guns when being called to investigate children having a snowball fight... there is seriously something wrong in this country. But then, you have to look at other countries too, what happens there every day? The lesser of two evils is still evil. I suppose it all boils down to legal documents and how you percieve things in general?

There are a lot of videos and other evidence giving officers of the law a bad reputation, but also, I believe there are a lot of things that they are doing themselves that is doing the same. At this point, I don't really care too much about the whole Michael Brown case. It's sad, I wish it had never happened, I think there should be more programs to get kids involved in to prevent this kind of activity (depending on what ACTUALLY happened, which I don't believe we will ever know), but I think people really over-reacted by rioting and destroying businesses of people who worked hard to get where they are and had absolutely nothing to do with the matter at hand. Now, the thing that happened in New York, I think of differently. THAT should never have happened. Of course, he should have complied to being searched if he had nothing to hide, but in some places you do have the right (or should) to refuse being searched without probable/reasonable cause without a warrant. But there's another thing, social conditioning. To inherently run from the law, avoid the police, etc etc. I don't know. There are so many variables and if I go on long enough, I'm sure to offend someone about something I tend to use facts and bring about things I think I know but aren't necessarily true. Hence my tendency to be scatterbrained lol.

 

Yeah, and it's all political, not racial. Liberals and conservatives just don't want to live in the same country anymore.

Most of the racism just simmers at the level where it makes public interactions tense and unpleasant.

 

Maybe no more or less than any other country, but still some carry over from the ACW.

 

I find it hard to imagine a time when some white ethnic groups discriminated against other white groups, since I’ve never seen it, but it wasn’t that long ago. My grandparents could remember a time when a person of mostly Italian ancestry marrying someone with German or Irish or English heritage was considered to be a mixed race marriage in the South.

Maybe, hopefully, future generations will feel that way about black / white racism.

 

Here are some thoughts


It seems to me that a lot of Americans are infected with the malignant meme of Social Darwinism especially amongst those on the right, it underpins a lot of free market and neo-liberal thinking and even the very concept of the ‘American Dream’ is built on it the view that if you are worthy, intelligent and hard working you will gain success and wealth. Of course there is a dark side to this because some might concluded that if someone is not successful and not rich then they must be unworthy, unintelligent and lazy. If worth is gauged on monetary worth and success on where someone is on the socio-economic ladder and then one look at a society in that way and depending how that society is divided then such thinking could lead to what could be seen as a racist point of view and may lead to actual racist ideas.

Median Net Worth of income 2010




Looking at some figure like this it could be seen how easy for someone with a Social Darwinist outlook who may equate wealth with an indication of worth, intelligence and work ethic could draw conclusions that could be seen as racially discriminatory.

And these people wouldn’t think of this as racist, because to them it would be ‘scientific’ they would not be in their eyes be racist but realist.

 

Why do you think the Hispanic number is so much higher than the black number?

 

I saw something recently that made me think about a different aspect of this question. How do you react to different kinds of people that you encounter in public settings? What is your initial reaction to them?

I'm more cautious around young black men, late teens through late twenties, and older black men who appear to be dirty and/or wearing dirty clothes. I don't see this as true racism, because I have no personal safety concerns about black women, black children, or 30+ black guys who are clean and neatly dressed, with calm mannerisms.

Jessie Jackson has admitted that it makes him uncomfortable to be followed late at night on a sidewalk by young black men. He can't deny that this demographic group has a bad reputation. Knowing this fact doesn't make him prejudiced against black people. Knowing this about him makes me feel better about myself.

When we have concerns about the behavior of a narrowly defined group of people, are we not judging them "by the content of their character, not the color of their skin" as Martin Luther King wanted?

 

I believe it also depends on the environment in which you live. Living in a Section 8 neighborhood or a neighborhood that all the businesses keep leaving due to crime or economic downslide, it's really not that easy for anyone to find a worthwhile job. Regardless of race. I might even go as far as to say it depends on widespread lifestyle preference?

 

a conversation about race by craig bodeker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNRVL8tibOo

 

Yes indeed there it is. This graph mirrors SAT scores interestingly enough. Here's some data on the prospects of people with African skulls competing with persons with Caucosoid or Mongoloid skulls.

Uncomfortable, but salient truths regarding the potential for economic equality.

http://www.jbhe.com/features/49_college_admissions-test.html

But there is a major flaw in the thesis that income differences explain the racial gap. Consider these three observable facts from The College Board's 2005 data on the SAT:

• Whites from families with incomes of less than $10,000 had a mean SAT score of 993. This is 129 points higher than the national mean for all blacks.

• Whites from families with incomes below $10,000 had a mean SAT test score that was 61 points higher than blacks whose families had incomes of between $80,000 and $100,000.

• Blacks from families with incomes of more than $100,000 had a
mean SAT score that was 85 points below the mean score for
whites from all income levels, 139 points below the mean score
of whites from families at the same income level, and 10 points
below the average score of white students from families whose
income was less than $10,000.

East Asians - 4 twins per 1,000 births, average age when first walking ~13 months
Europeans - 8 twins per 1,000 births, average age when first walking ~12 months
Africans - 16 twins per 1,000 births, average age when first walking ~11 months

the same pattern rears its head in the way of gestation periods, age of crawling, onset of puberty, testosterone levels, bone density, and brain size.


Hitting Kids http://cdn-images.9cloud.us/71/piccit_corporal_punishment___world__343472640.gif

Current Slavery Rates http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/17/this-map-shows-where-the-worlds-30-million-slaves-live-there-are-60000-in-the-u-s/

Birthrate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_birth_rate#mediaviewer/File:Birth_rate_figures_for_countries.PNG

Maybe partially due to all the raping going on there https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/statistics-muslim-countries-obsessed-with-womens-honour-have-one-of-the-highest-rape-scales-in-the-world/

LGBT rights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory#mediaviewer/File:LGBT_rights_at_the_UN.svg

IQ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IQ_by_Country.png

Someone concoct a decent argument that contradicts the results which say the poorest white kids in the county significantly outperform children from black families pulling in $80,000 to $100,000 per year.