Am I a racist or a realist??

[Pheonixops]

Its called being prejudiced.

No, it is called conditioning. Expecting something because it is usually that way. There is nothing derogatory or critical or prejudicial in the examples I gave. It is just an illustration of what my experience has been. Do you think there is something wrong with any of the 'for instances' that I suggested?

Prejudiced is not inherently a bad word. What you said was prejudiced.

The word prejudice refers to prejudgment, or forming an opinion before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case. The word is often used to refer to preconceived, usually unfavorable, judgments toward people or a person because of gender, social class, age, disability, religion, sexuality, race/ethnicity, language, nationality or other personal characteristics. In this case, it refers to a positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their perceived group membership.[1] Prejudice can also refer to unfounded beliefs[2] and may include "any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence."

In my opinion it is sort of a survival instinct; for instance, if you were conditioned as a kid that "The Green" people were bad and then one of the first or many experiences you had with "The Green" people was negative, I would think many people would start automatically thinking that "The Green" people were bad. I would think that people would have positive assumptions about "the Greens" if they had positive initial and concurrent experiences with "the Greens".

 

[Foxfyre]

Its called being prejudiced.

No, it is called conditioning. Expecting something because it is usually that way. There is nothing derogatory or critical or prejudicial in the examples I gave. It is just an illustration of what my experience has been. Do you think there is something wrong with any of the 'for instances' that I suggested?

Prejudiced is not inherently a bad word. What you said was prejudiced.

The word prejudice refers to prejudgment, or forming an opinion before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case. The word is often used to refer to preconceived, usually unfavorable, judgments toward people or a person because of gender, social class, age, disability, religion, sexuality, race/ethnicity, language, nationality or other personal characteristics. In this case, it refers to a positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their perceived group membership.[1] Prejudice can also refer to unfounded beliefs[2] and may include "any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence."

The 'usually unfavorable' part is what I image when I hear the word prejudice. But what I was describing were not judgments in any way. They were mental images based on experience or conditioning. When you hear the word 'racist', what do you most commonly image? A white person? Or a black person? When you hear the term 'rap artist' what do you most commonly image? A white person? Or a black person? When you hear the word 'vaquero' do you image a white, black, or Hispanic person?

This is not a sinister or criticizable thing. I have automatic images in my head for geeks, scientists, cowboys, chefs, divas, or runway models. The reality often doesn't fit that initial mental image, but that is okay too.

 

[Asclepias]

No, it is called conditioning. Expecting something because it is usually that way. There is nothing derogatory or critical or prejudicial in the examples I gave. It is just an illustration of what my experience has been. Do you think there is something wrong with any of the 'for instances' that I suggested?

Prejudiced is not inherently a bad word. What you said was prejudiced.

The word prejudice refers to prejudgment, or forming an opinion before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case. The word is often used to refer to preconceived, usually unfavorable, judgments toward people or a person because of gender, social class, age, disability, religion, sexuality, race/ethnicity, language, nationality or other personal characteristics. In this case, it refers to a positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their perceived group membership.[1] Prejudice can also refer to unfounded beliefs[2] and may include "any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence."

The 'usually unfavorable' part is what I image when I hear the word prejudice. But what I was describing were not judgments in any way. They were mental images based on experience or conditioning. When you hear the word 'racist', what do you most commonly image? A white person? Or a black person? When you hear the term 'rap artist' what do you most commonly image? A white person? Or a black person? When you hear the word 'vaquero' do you image a white, black, or Hispanic person?

This is not a sinister or criticizable thing. I have automatic images in my head for geeks, scientists, cowboys, chefs, divas, or runway models. The reality often doesn't fit that initial mental image, but that is okay too.

Thats what i thought for a long time as well. When I hear racist I see a KKk member.When I hear rap artist I think of Nappy Roots.They are Black. Never heard of the word vaquero but I assume its a Spanish word. sounds European Spanish.

 

[Foxfyre]

Prejudiced is not inherently a bad word. What you said was prejudiced.

The word prejudice refers to prejudgment, or forming an opinion before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case. The word is often used to refer to preconceived, usually unfavorable, judgments toward people or a person because of gender, social class, age, disability, religion, sexuality, race/ethnicity, language, nationality or other personal characteristics. In this case, it refers to a positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their perceived group membership.[1] Prejudice can also refer to unfounded beliefs[2] and may include "any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence."

The 'usually unfavorable' part is what I image when I hear the word prejudice. But what I was describing were not judgments in any way. They were mental images based on experience or conditioning. When you hear the word 'racist', what do you most commonly image? A white person? Or a black person? When you hear the term 'rap artist' what do you most commonly image? A white person? Or a black person? When you hear the word 'vaquero' do you image a white, black, or Hispanic person?

This is not a sinister or criticizable thing. I have automatic images in my head for geeks, scientists, cowboys, chefs, divas, or runway models. The reality often doesn't fit that initial mental image, but that is okay too.

Thats what i thought for a long time as well. When I hear racist I see a KKk member.When I hear rap artist I think of Nappy Roots.They are Black. Never heard of the word vaquero but I assume its a Spanish word. sounds European Spanish.

However it is defined in the dictionary, 'prejudice' is a negative word for the huge majority of Americans including me when it refers to a general group of people. What I have been talking about and what you refer to here is just the natural quirks and characteristics that we automatically assign to folks. They aren't good or bad nor do they infer anything other than we notice blue eyes as opposed to brown, we notice blond hair, black hair, red heads, we notice short and tall, fat and thin, old and young. It is simply not reasonable for us not to notice black, white, brown etc.

Color blindness to me means treating everybody the same regardless of whether they are blonds or redheads or regardless of whether they are black, white, or polka dot. As long as we are not allowed to treat everybody alike, but are required to treat people differently or use different words because of somebody's skin color, racism will remain alive and prevalent. Because nobody will be allowed to be color blind.

So returning to the question of Healthmyth's OP. I don't see what he/she is describing as prejudice.

 

[Politico]

Racist.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Am I a racist or a realist?? hm, you are not a realist.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

I am being very honest here.

As I've said before living in the midwest in the 50s I had a cousin that had a black baby.
I had a black business partner in the south in the 70s and have had several black bosses.. so I really don't think I'm a racist... but
when I saw this headline:...
"North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party"
my first observation was I wonder if this took place at a black Baptism party"?
North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party | NBC 6 South Florida
Was I racist or a realist?

You’re a racist and a misogynist, given the fact that you advocate women who have had abortions be subject to forced sterilization.

 

[AquaAthena]

I am being very honest here.

As I've said before living in the midwest in the 50s I had a cousin that had a black baby.
I had a black business partner in the south in the 70s and have had several black bosses.. so I really don't think I'm a racist... but
when I saw this headline:...
"North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party"
my first observation was I wonder if this took place at a black Baptism party"?
North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party | NBC 6 South Florida
Was I racist or a realist?

Before the Obama administration, I honestly don't ever recall a positive or negative color association, or connotation when I saw or read of a black person who did something wonderful or awful. I was very neutral about color, and didn't think of them being any different than I was. They were equal in my mind and I was reared amongst them, and loved the ones I knew. Those blacks were educated and uneducated. And they were just another person, in my mind.

 

[AquaAthena]

I am being very honest here.

As I've said before living in the midwest in the 50s I had a cousin that had a black baby.
I had a black business partner in the south in the 70s and have had several black bosses.. so I really don't think I'm a racist... but
when I saw this headline:...
"North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party"
my first observation was I wonder if this took place at a black Baptism party"?
North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party | NBC 6 South Florida
Was I racist or a realist?

I forgot to answer your question. You are a realist. Our cultural perceptions have changed, sadly so.

 

[healthmyths]

I am being very honest here.

As I've said before living in the midwest in the 50s I had a cousin that had a black baby.
I had a black business partner in the south in the 70s and have had several black bosses.. so I really don't think I'm a racist... but
when I saw this headline:...
"North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party"
my first observation was I wonder if this took place at a black Baptism party"?
North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party | NBC 6 South Florida
Was I racist or a realist?

You’re a racist and a misogynist, given the fact that you advocate women who have had abortions be subject to forced sterilization.

How do you know I'm not a woman, i.e. the definition of a misogynist is "a person who hates women" so therefore I hate my sex?

So you used the wrong word again because advocating sterilization of women who have had 2 more abortions does not mean I hate women.
Unlike the precursor to Planned Parenthood..

"Birth Control: to create a race of thoroughbreds"
Slogan of Margaret Sanger - Founder of Planned Parenthood

The banner-head above summarizes the philosophy of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. Like Adolf Hitler, Margaret Sanger considered herself to be part of a genetically superior elite who had to protect themselves against "hereditary taints." She set out to start a "New Race" - "A Race of Thoroughbreds." This elitist attitude is clearly at odds with the leftist, social worker image that is commonly attributed to her by the mass media.

In 1921, Sanger founded the American Birth Control League, which was renamed "Planned Parenthood" in 1942.
In 1952 she helped found the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), serving as its first president until 1959.
Even today, Planned Parenthood proudly proclaims Margaret Sanger as its "visionary" founder.
'The Nuremberg Files' Abortion Birth Control Margaret Sanger Founder Planned Parenthood Lancaster PA Pa Abortion Clinic Birth Control Holocaust Murder Nazi German Dictator Adolf Hitler German Eugenics Murder Nazi Germany
So was Sanger a misogynist because she advocated sterilization as a means to start a "New Race"??

I just simply think it is a waste of money to continue providing abortions for women who after 2 abortions still can't understand how they got pregnant!

 

[Asclepias]

I am being very honest here.

As I've said before living in the midwest in the 50s I had a cousin that had a black baby.
I had a black business partner in the south in the 70s and have had several black bosses.. so I really don't think I'm a racist... but
when I saw this headline:...
"North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party"
my first observation was I wonder if this took place at a black Baptism party"?
North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party | NBC 6 South Florida
Was I racist or a realist?

You’re a racist and a misogynist, given the fact that you advocate women who have had abortions be subject to forced sterilization.

How do you know I'm not a woman, i.e. the definition of a misogynist is "a person who hates women" so therefore I hate my sex?

So you used the wrong word again because advocating sterilization of women who have had 2 more abortions does not mean I hate women.
Unlike the precursor to Planned Parenthood..

"Birth Control: to create a race of thoroughbreds"
Slogan of Margaret Sanger - Founder of Planned Parenthood

The banner-head above summarizes the philosophy of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. Like Adolf Hitler, Margaret Sanger considered herself to be part of a genetically superior elite who had to protect themselves against "hereditary taints." She set out to start a "New Race" - "A Race of Thoroughbreds." This elitist attitude is clearly at odds with the leftist, social worker image that is commonly attributed to her by the mass media.

In 1921, Sanger founded the American Birth Control League, which was renamed "Planned Parenthood" in 1942.
In 1952 she helped found the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), serving as its first president until 1959.
Even today, Planned Parenthood proudly proclaims Margaret Sanger as its "visionary" founder.
'The Nuremberg Files' Abortion Birth Control Margaret Sanger Founder Planned Parenthood Lancaster PA Pa Abortion Clinic Birth Control Holocaust Murder Nazi German Dictator Adolf Hitler German Eugenics Murder Nazi Germany
So was Sanger a misogynist because she advocated sterilization as a means to start a "New Race"??

I just simply think it is a waste of money to continue providing abortions for women who after 2 abortions still can't understand how they got pregnant!

Technically a woman is a person and yes its quite possible to hate your own sex.

 

[DelbertGrady]

Racist is just a term used to try to shut your mouth. If all whites were suddenly transformed into "non-racists" there would never be a word uttered about blacks which would agitate them even more for being ignored.

 

[Asclepias]

Racist is just a term used to try to shut your mouth. If all whites were suddenly transformed into "non-racists" there would never be a word uttered about blacks which would agitate them even more for being ignored.

I could have sworn it was a term to describe someone who considered their ethnicity to be superior to someone else. Actually if all whites were transformed into non-racists the world would be a much better place.

 

[Freewill]

I am being very honest here.

As I've said before living in the midwest in the 50s I had a cousin that had a black baby.
I had a black business partner in the south in the 70s and have had several black bosses.. so I really don't think I'm a racist... but
when I saw this headline:...
"North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party"
my first observation was I wonder if this took place at a black Baptism party"?
North Miami Beach Man Fatally Shot After Fight Over Utensils Breaks Out at Baptism Party | NBC 6 South Florida
Was I racist or a realist?

I am not sure that assuming the obvious makes one a racist. In other words when we hear of the knock out game I usually think of black on white crime because that is usually what it is. So I guess breaking down to black an white makes one a racist? I assume it does if the person doing so is white.

Here is an example of how Racism has gotten lost in the argument.

Say you have two people equally qualified for a job. One is black and one is white, who do you hire?

I wait your answer.

I didn't know their color as I would be hiring them over the phone.

Then how would you hire one over the other if equally qualified?

Flip a coin is the only honest answer that would not make the choice based on race.

 

[Truthmatters]

Racist is just a term used to try to shut your mouth. If all whites were suddenly transformed into "non-racists" there would never be a word uttered about blacks which would agitate them even more for being ignored.

I could have sworn it was a term to describe someone who considered their ethnicity to be superior to someone else. Actually if all whites were transformed into non-racists the world would be a much better place.

here here!


that day is approaching.

the youth in this country are heaving the full diaper the racists in this country are trying to pass down to them.


Soon after a long, healthy, happy life most racists are due for their dirt naps.


I hope their last years are wonderful and full of happy family and love.


The fact remains none of us get out of this game alive.

the legacy of racism is dying with the generation who REFUSED to give up these HORRIBLE ideas.

This generation of young folks will merely lie that full diaper in the coffin with their loved ones who insisted on staying racist.


they will NOT carry that full diaper into the future like their elders had hoped

 

[Foxfyre]

I am not sure that assuming the obvious makes one a racist. In other words when we hear of the knock out game I usually think of black on white crime because that is usually what it is. So I guess breaking down to black an white makes one a racist? I assume it does if the person doing so is white.

Here is an example of how Racism has gotten lost in the argument.

Say you have two people equally qualified for a job. One is black and one is white, who do you hire?

I wait your answer.

I didn't know their color as I would be hiring them over the phone.

Then how would you hire one over the other if equally qualified?

Flip a coin is the only honest answer that would not make the choice based on race.

You really think that? For contractors and service people, I would make the choice based on how competent the person came across, the price he or she quoted, who could better accommodate my schedule. Race would not be an issue though if I was absolutely 100% honest, if it was something electronic and it was really close, I might be predisposed to hire the one who was Asian looking.

As for somebody to work for me as an employee, I'm looking for people who are of pleasant disposition who I think would be a good fit for the organization, who are well spoken and demonstrate that they know their stuff, and who have good references. Again, the color of skin is not an issue.

 

[healthmyths]

I didn't know their color as I would be hiring them over the phone.

Then how would you hire one over the other if equally qualified?

Flip a coin is the only honest answer that would not make the choice based on race.

You really think that? For contractors and service people, I would make the choice based on how competent the person came across, the price he or she quoted, who could better accommodate my schedule. Race would not be an issue though if I was absolutely 100% honest, if it was something electronic and it was really close, I might be predisposed to hire the one who was Asian looking.

As for somebody to work for me as an employee, I'm looking for people who are of pleasant disposition who I think would be a good fit for the organization, who are well spoken and demonstrate that they know their stuff, and who have good references. Again, the color of skin is not an issue.

Wow... you are so incompetent! How could anyone work for someone who can't read?

My response was to the postulation: "Then how would you hire one over the other if equally qualified?"
Operative word "equally"... so to everything "equal".. flip a coin!

 

[Foxfyre]

Then how would you hire one over the other if equally qualified?

Flip a coin is the only honest answer that would not make the choice based on race.

You really think that? For contractors and service people, I would make the choice based on how competent the person came across, the price he or she quoted, who could better accommodate my schedule. Race would not be an issue though if I was absolutely 100% honest, if it was something electronic and it was really close, I might be predisposed to hire the one who was Asian looking.

As for somebody to work for me as an employee, I'm looking for people who are of pleasant disposition who I think would be a good fit for the organization, who are well spoken and demonstrate that they know their stuff, and who have good references. Again, the color of skin is not an issue.

Wow... you are so incompetent! How could anyone work for someone who can't read?

My response was to the postulation: "Then how would you hire one over the other if equally qualified?"
Operative word "equally"... so to everything "equal".. flip a coin!

I wasn't questioning flipping the coin. I was objecting to the ONLY way to make the choice without being racist would be to flip a coin.

It would be so very rare that two candidates would be absolutely equally qualified in every way, I doubt there wouldn't be some way to qualify one more than another. I've never had to make a choice like that and I have hired a very widely diverse group of people over the years. But if absolutely equal on paper? I think I'd go to a format like "chef wanted' (Food Network) or some format like that to test them in a task they would be responsible for and see which one would win.

Flipping a coin just doesn't feel right to me. But there wouldn't be anything wrong with it.

 

[AquaAthena]

I am not sure that assuming the obvious makes one a racist. In other words when we hear of the knock out game I usually think of black on white crime because that is usually what it is. So I guess breaking down to black an white makes one a racist? I assume it does if the person doing so is white.

Here is an example of how Racism has gotten lost in the argument.

Say you have two people equally qualified for a job. One is black and one is white, who do you hire?

I wait your answer.

I didn't know their color as I would be hiring them over the phone.

Then how would you hire one over the other if equally qualified?

Flip a coin is the only honest answer that would not make the choice based on race.

I would hire the one I had the best feelings about, all other things, attitude, experience, etc., being equal. I would rely upon my intuition, as it has almost always proven reliable.

 

[healthmyths]

I didn't know their color as I would be hiring them over the phone.

Then how would you hire one over the other if equally qualified?

Flip a coin is the only honest answer that would not make the choice based on race.

I would hire the one I had the best feelings about, all other things, attitude, experience, etc., being equal. I would rely upon my intuition, as it has almost always proven reliable.

Speaking of your criterion.."best feelings".. did you vote for Obama because he just felt right to you?