Racism

[Crisis]

I hate that too. It happens on the flip side though as well. I have said and I will continue to say that I would never vote for Sarah Palin. Next to nothing could make me vote for Sarah Palin. I hate her positions, I hate her so-called "morals," and I am completely unable to respect her.

And you gave good reason why. That's how it should be, but sadly, not everyone sees it like that.

 

I'm in the rock and hard place with politics -- I'm fiscally conservative, but socially liberal. I support he Democrats on abortion, DADT, gay marriage, and universal health care, but I stand with the Republicans on fiscal issues (except social security) and gun issues. This means, every election I have to figure out what issues are most important and vote on them as well as the people running

I'm fairly Middle-Conservative, but I'm for gay rights, and on the fance about abortion (<-- Which I think should be circumstancial)

 

 

I was actually going to vote Republican until McCain picked his running mate, even though I don't like his morals either. While morals factor in for me, on a political decision, abilities, experience and positions are bigger factors. someone can be a horrible person and still be a good politician. Sarah Palin, however, changed that.

I didn't much care for Obama or McCain either one.

[solaflar3]

I was in a situation last week where I had to deal with racist views. Not sure if I handled it well - however I had to maintain professionalism.

 

I have a new case at work - a boy with behavioural difficulties. It was my first session with the family and I was speaking with the mother trying to get a history. I don't want to appear to be a snob but the mother came across as very much a 'chav'. It was difficult getting the history as the mother kept going off on rants about various things. One of the rants she had was over Disability Living Allowance.

 

DLA is a welfare benefit in the UK for disabled people. It is VERY hard to get; you have to fill in a 50 page form which looks into every part of your life, you have to provide a lot of medical and paramedical evidence (I am sometimes called by the Benefits Agency to provide reports for DLA claims) and more often than not you have to have a medical before you are awarded the benefit.

 

The mother it turned out had tried to claim DLA for her child a few years previously. She had been turned down as the child didn't have an official diagnosis at that point. She told me she telephoned the Benefits Agency and asked why to be told that there was insufficient evidence to award the benefit to her son.

 

She said she then asked 'If I were black or f ing Paki I'd get it though, wouldn't I'?

 

I tried to ignore that comment even though I was steaming inside and just stated that all I knew was that the Benefits Agency had very stringent conditions for awarding DLA and multiple sources of evidence must be provided. Then I tried to steer the conversation back onto the matter in hand.

 

What I actually wanted to do was to rip her a new one and tell her that DLA is not and should never be a reward for cr@ppy parenting resulting in the child from hell.

[Crisis]

I hate people like that ^^^... They piss me off so much...

[Kazeko]

Ugh. Really?

 

I'm skin-color-blind. I mean, I'll see a person, and think "Oh look! A person!" I can't really describe how it works... But if you see a person with red hair, do you react any different than you do to a person with brown hair?

 

...Wait. Hair color gets discrimination too. That's a bad example. Uhhh...

 

Suffice to say that I don't label people by their race, and I don't usually even think about it unless someone points it out.

[Crisis]

I use skin color, and recogniize it regularly, I just use it for identification purposes. I might say "that black guy by the counter in the blue shirt" or something. I see it like I see clothes.

[RheaZen]

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011...y_republica.php

[NakedSchnitzelFace]

I'll admit that I'm the teeniest bit racist D:

 

I wish I weren't and I don't have a problem with most of the people I've met, any color/race/whatdoyouwantmetocallit. And I dunno how/why I am... But I used to spend a lot of time with my racist grandparents, so that may have something to do with it >_>

 

Apparently when I was a baby, a black woman tried to pick me up and I freaked out and she got upset D:

She thought my mother was racist, but my mom isn't and she really doesn't give a crap about skin color. :\

[SnowSherry]

I live in a country with institutionalized racism, but an upstart political party is fighting hard to overthrow the establishment.

 

It's about time.

 

The Wheels Of Justice Grind Slow, But They Grind Exceeding Fine

[DaniBoo]

Personally, I think everyone has been racist one point in their life.

 

Ok, so there are some races I can't stand, but I would never ever treat a person of that race differently.

 

So my mind is a bit racist, but like I said, I treat everyone the same, no matter what race

[RheaZen]

Personally, I think everyone has been racist one point in their life.

 

Ok, so there are some races I can't stand, but I would never ever treat a person of that race differently.

 

So my mind is a bit racist, but like I said, I treat everyone the same, no matter what race

So you treat them the same despite not being able to stand them. Uh huh. What makes those particular races so appalling to you?

[Kazeko]

I don't hate races per se, but I hate the stereotypes attached to races, and I hate it when they're perpetuated (especially by people of that race).

 

Like the "sassy black chick". Where did that even come from? Is it supposed to be funny? It's just annoying. :/ Although I suppose it's not such a good example because I would hate that behavior no matter whose it was.

[aj20]

People at my school are stupid. If you don't give them a high five when they have their hand out or something or they say they like something even something little like a food or movie for example and you say "Nah, I don't really like that." even in the most polite way ever, they say "Wow you're so racist." even if you're the same race. They think its funny or something and try to make people laugh. It makes me so mad!

[MysticTiger]

I don't hate races per se, but I hate the stereotypes attached to races, and I hate it when they're perpetuated (especially by people of that race).

I agree. There's being racist by attaching a stereotype to a person because of their race and then there's someone of a certain race who goes out of their way to act how their stereotype describes them. I dislike people who do this. And I dislike it even more when the stereotypes are hurtful to others.

Edited April 20, 2011 by MysticTiger

[Kamak]

I don't hate races per se, but I hate the stereotypes attached to races, and I hate it when they're perpetuated (especially by people of that race).

 

Like the "sassy black chick". Where did that even come from? Is it supposed to be funny? It's just annoying. :/ Although I suppose it's not such a good example because I would hate that behavior no matter whose it was.

The issue is that not everyone can help perpetuating stereotypes. Is a Black person eating fried chicken "setting his race back" by doing something he enjoys? Granted, there are more negative stereotypes out there that get perpetuated, but frankly, there are usually just as many people of other races doing the same exact action, the only reason they're ignored is because they don't fit in the stereotype. There are plenty of White, Hispanic, and Black students that are "good at math", but when someone sees an Asian that's good at math, generally most people call to mind the stereotype, similar to when they hear a story about a black student dropping out of school (there are definitely at least as many white students dropping out as black students in my area, likely way more). It's basically the same principle that goes into "guessing" whether your cell phone rings. You can guess 99 times and be wrong, but the 100th time when you guess right, you'll believe you've predicted the event, when really you're overlooking the fact that it didn't happen 99 times (It's just that an affirmation is generally more likely to be retained in your mind than a negation).

 

As far as the "Sassy Black Chick" goes, it's positive discrimination (as long as she isn't supposed to be an unpleasant person). Basically, this is a way to get "token" characters into a movie with a positive spin without playing into stereotypes (unless they're positive or "harmless" such as the Asian Math nerd or the Indian programmer). This is why many times you'll find the main character with a token minority best friend, or find the most qualified person in a field is a minority. This doesn't necessary mean it's bad, but it can make the viewer have expectations, especially if they're the only person of their race/gender in a prominent role in the film.

 

In other words, if there are 10 white males (or X Y's where X is a race and Y is a gender) in a movie, you can have one be a jerkass, another be the kind-hearted lover of animals, another be a hot-blooded go-getter, another be the mentor, etc. and you'll have a fairly diverse set of personalities being displayed for the audience to relate to and understand. In this instance, there's no "White people/males are all like X (or hopefully there won't, unless all of the characters are cookie cutters of each other). Now let's say you have one female in the movie. If she's the girl next door, then all girls are shy and submissive and have to wait for the guy to admit he loves them. If she's a damsel... well, you're shooting yourself in the foot there. If she's a housewife, expect angry letters unless she's also kicking ass or is lovably snarky. This leads to authors/directors/writers choosing a very safe island where women are capable, down to earth, brighter than the men around them, and will more often than not be able to defend themselves and the men in the cast. However, despite being made to be the most capable person in the cast, they're still a secondary character and ultimately the plot won't be resolved by them usually, and sometimes they'll have to be taken out of the picture in some way (being captured helps) to prevent viewers from wondering why they don't resolve the plot themselves instead of the idiot in charge. Beyond females, minority races/groups are ripe for being used as knowledgeable support cast. Many will be beyond tech savvy, doing hollywood programming miracles in the flash of an eye while everyone else just gapes in amazement, others will just be well read and knowledgeable in a certain field. You may see lots of minority scientists around, and it never hurts to have a minority Senator or President to try to make the experience unique. If the minority is also female (such as the sassy black friend), expect them to be the source of comedic one-liners, especially in chick flicks. If it's not them, it's usually the token gay guy that makes the quips.

 

And again, none of these examples are terrible, however, when used ad nauseam, it begins to get very stale. Whereas a sassy black chick may be funny the first time, by the 50th movie you've seen her in, you're left wanting a bit more from her, especially for the black women in the audience who only have her to identify with in a movie, the person that's supposed to represent them best. Usually, this problem occurs because Hollywood doesn't like moving out of the comfortable island they've put themselves on. They don't want to have multiple characters of the same minority on a show, because then they can't run with the same formula. After all, you can't have two Hispanic presidents at the same time. They then have to venture out and find other safe islands to explore. Is it okay to have the second female character be a * if the first one is a sweetheart? These are the issues that pop up when they have to branch out, and when done incorrectly, it can be very biting to the audience. There was one movie (can't remember the name for the life of me) where there were 2 black characters. One was a crack dealer, the other was a senator... this leads to a very bad image that these are the only characters indicative of an entire race, an entire segment of society. It creates images such that a black person can reasonably expect to either be a crack dealer or a senator, there's no middle ground explored and the race is both viewed positively and negatively at the same time with no indication of which image is "the norm" or "real".

 

So these are the issues that are faced... Hollywood is content with sticking to their islands until the viewers force them to leave, and once they do that, they have to balance the negative and positive images of the various races, genders, and cultures they seem to represent.

 

Personally, I'd just prefer them to do what they can. If they find someone that suits the role best, they should get the part. The only issues to me would be to not stretch willing suspension of disbelief (If the parents are White and Asian, and their biological children are Black and Hispanic (that kinda stretches things a bit... if adoption were in the picture, fine, but otherwise...) or if a character is based off of a book, they should resemble them somewhat (such as not casting a blonde-haired blue-eyed person as Harry Potter... though now with better hair dyes and contact lenses, that's not as big a deal). However, I do realize this could lead to conflicts if the villain is the only member of their race/gender/culture (Evil Hindu) in the movie... (or if there's a one race cast because they fit the roles much better than the other people who auditioned)

 

In an ideal world, people wouldn't look to token characters to represent them/their friends/etc., but unfortunately, the implications can be startling and many people have used these token characters/lack of token characters to send hurtful messages to the people they're supposed to represent...

 

-K-

Edited April 20, 2011 by Kamak

[Kazeko]

Is a Black person eating fried chicken "setting his race back"

 

No, because eating fried chicken in and of itself isn't stereotypical.

 

A black person going out of his/her way to eat fried chicken every day, while loudly proclaiming "I love fried chicken!" or something similar... I don't want to say "setting his/her race back", because it's just fried chicken, but it is something that I'd find annoying. (Well, if it was *because* they were black, if they just like fried chicken then who am I to judge? So do I.)

[Xbcdrt8741]

I don't consider myself racist at all, mostly because one of the guys at my school who I'm really good friends with is "Chindian". He can joke about that stuff all he wants, it's his right to. Just like I can crack Jewish jokes whenever I want, as I am one and don't see them as racist.

I think that you have to make sure the jokes are okay with the person. I laugh along with anyone who makes a good Jewish joke, because I know they're just fooling around and don't mean any harm... as long as you can tell the difference between joking and taunting, you should be okay in life.

[TikindiDragon]

I confess I always find it slightly bemusing that one appears to be able to tell the skin colour of someone in the US by the way they talk (I'm not saying everyone, but the majority of people I've either had personal contact with or seen in any form of media). In the UK (at least if that person isn't an immigrant or first generation born here) it's almost impossible to tell. There are different reigonal accents, sure, but someone from Newcastle will have the same accent regardless of wether they're white, black or indian. Yet I've been sitting in the computer room when my other half has had one of those God-awful US reality series on, and I've known from the moment someone started to speak that it was a black woman.

 

What gives with that?

[Crisis]

What gives with that?

Beats me, but I know what you're talking about. When I can't see whoever is talking for whatever reason, I can always tell what race they are. I've wondered why this is myself actually.

[Kazeko]

I think because there's a lot more 'stereotypical accents' going on in America than there seem to be in other places. -shrug- Maybe because immigrants tended to come over in and/or fall into groups that kept their languages (and therefore accents)?

[Kamak]

I confess I always find it slightly bemusing that one appears to be able to tell the skin colour of someone in the US by the way they talk (I'm not saying everyone, but the majority of people I've either had personal contact with or seen in any form of media). In the UK (at least if that person isn't an immigrant or first generation born here) it's almost impossible to tell. There are different reigonal accents, sure, but someone from Newcastle will have the same accent regardless of wether they're white, black or indian. Yet I've been sitting in the computer room when my other half has had one of those God-awful US reality series on, and I've known from the moment someone started to speak that it was a black woman.

 

What gives with that?

It's the effects of regional isolation and enforced/social segregation. In big cities, it's VERY apparent when you go from the Jewish block to the Italian block to the Asian block, etc.

 

Because of things like segregation and unfair pay, many minority groups were forced to live in specific areas of the inner city, and found that those areas, populated by others from the same culture as them was more welcoming.

 

Otherwise, in rural areas, there are many locations with high populations of African Americans, and non-coincidentally, they're in the same general areas where most cotton farming took place, so they usually have a unique mix of southern accents with traditional accents.

 

Even though things have gotten better, with segregation largely gone in the US, a lot of these groups that started out in these separated places or specific regions just haven't had the impetus or the opportunity to spread out very much. Many are "comfortable", generally speaking, of being in a tightly knit familiar community, and/or unable to get jobs that pay well enough to allow them to move out into suburbia or at the very least, into a real/stable home.

 

It's because of these pockets that you'll find people who can easily be discerned for the color of their skin just by listening to them speak.

 

However, there's subtle differences sometimes between two different groups that make it hard for people to discern race. The leading example of this is the Cajun accent, which is very prolific in Louisiana and that's really a wide range of accents that sound very similar (It's kind of difficult to explain, but it's basically like taking someone with a Tokyo-type accent and a Osaka-type accent. Most people looking from the outside wouldn't see an apparent difference besides a few pronunciations, but there are differences. Because of this though, outsiders will tend to lump all of the cajun accents together, which makes it hard to discern which ones are tradtionally used by African American Cajuns.

 

Basically, you can tell the person is Cajun, but you usually can't tell between racial dialects without more experience with the language.

 

Though, this is all from what I've studied on the matter... I'm horrible at guessing accents, and where I live, they aren't as apparent as other places of the US (shocking, us Texans don't all have a drawl?). About the limit of my ability is that I can usually tell when someone isn't from around here if they have a heavy accent, but I can never place them, so I'd probably fail a test in guessing the race of a speaker just by virtue of not being able to discern accents...

 

-K-

[Kazeko]

I thought Japanese accents were more like dialects, with similar grammar but different vocabularies?

[Gsea]

question: why do the african-americans in the, er, worse parts of town usually have southern accents? does it have to do with their origins? the funny thing is, while you'd say "oh, it's because they are in the south, duh!" the people around them don't have as strong accents but they seem to...

[Crisis]

question: why do the african-americans in the, er, worse parts of town usually have southern accents? does it have to do with their origins? the funny thing is, while you'd say "oh, it's because they are in the south, duh!" the people around them don't have as strong accents but they seem to...

I'm going to guess a lack of an education. (If they have bad grammar as well). Just gonig to school doesn't mean you learned anything.

[LadyNightshade]

Accents I think have more to do with the people you are around and talk to and socialize with.

 

I'm not from a midwestern state, but I'm around many people who talk with a midwestern accent and I just kind of picked it up.

 

I beat myself up when I let a "y'all" slip.

 

 

A Southern accent doesn't mean a lack of education. I've watched some hospital documentaries and when they're in the south, those are some real Southern accents coming out of some of the doctors. And I sure hope they learned something in school.

[Crisis]

A Southern accent doesn't mean a lack of education. I've watched some hospital documentaries and when they're in the south, those are some real Southern accents coming out of some of the doctors. And I sure hope they learned something in school.

Like I said, if it is accompanied with bad grammar as well (and it's not just black people, but white's too). I hate hearing the horrible grammar some people have. I know I'm not perfect, but I do try to be correct. And I know about southern accents, living there myself. But the heaviest ones are generally in people who don't care about school.