Are you a racist?
You’re definitely not a racist you think. Maybe people would vouch that you’re not. But they’d be wrong.
Let me ask a few questions. You can tell me your answers if you want. Here goes:
How many black friends do you have?
Do you have any black friends?
When was the last time you invited a black person inside your home?
Have you ever invited a black person inside your home?
Have you ever had a black partner?
Do you consider foreigners as just the faces behind the counter?
I think if we all ask ourselves these questions we can honestly understand that we are all racists. As a character in Ian Rankin’s Fleshmarket Close once said: ‘We are all racist, Inspector…even me. It is how we deal with that ugly fact that is important.’
“I think if we all ask ourselves these questions we can honestly understand that we are all racists.”
I definitely disagree with that comment!
Firstly, even if the answers to those questions are mainly no, none etc., (which they aren’t, by the way), then it could be down to the fact that you live in a predominantly white area and therefore do not come into contact with many (if any) other racial groups, would you not say?
I definitely do not think that ‘we are all racists’. Everyone discriminates, consciously or not, you could argue through that method that we are all a tiny bit racist, sexist, xenophobic, fascist, nazi etc., since everybody has judgements – it is part of human nature.
However, in the context of reality, in the grander scheme of things, I am NOT a racist person. I believe everyone is born equal, I make friends based on similar interests/chemistry, NOT on where someone is from, what religion they have or anything like that. I am friends with people from different countries, backgrounds and religions, indiscriminately. Most of my friends are white, yes – but I come from a predominantly white area in England. Surely it would be ‘positive discrimination’ to go out of my way to make sure I had equal amounts of friends from each ethnic group?
I am sure there are many people who share my views. Philosophically speaking you can argue absolutely anything so in that case, maybe everyone is racist, technically. But realistically, that is far from the truth.
rowena
November 27, 2006
Honestly I think everyone is racist to some extent. Whether you like it or not.
Annette
November 27, 2006
Oh yeah, we definitely all are. I mean, we only deal with it when bad things surface.. like Michael Richards, but we all are. We just can’t deal with it.
shelbycockrell
November 27, 2006
Like it or not even the best people have their worst moments where they say or think things that are racist. Even if it’s completely out of character.
Harry
November 27, 2006
We naturally move towards simmilar groups of people, generally different colours have different social activities etc, if your likes or work places cross then you probably do have friends of different races, if not that doesnt make you racist, just different which is something we should celebrate in my mind, what if you don’t know any lawyers, or artists for example what does that make some label? Too much is made of the colour issue we should be looking at the differences in culture. For example I was wondering the other day why my friends are predominantly white or asian, I don’t know a single black person, but how did I meet my friends, at school (southwest england totally white) at uni (no black people on my course or in halls or at any sports club) infact the only time I’ve talked to black people is on the bus (which generally isn’t known to create long term friendships) or whilst being threatened with ‘im gonna blow your f-ing head off’ on the way home, I love traveling and meeting different cultures and it was a huge releif to get out of totally white middle class cornwall and meet some different people but my path does not seem to cross that of any black people, its madness to think thats racism, positive descrimination is probably one of the worst social situations happening at the moment, it doesn’t help ayone.
minibrains
November 27, 2006
It’s interesting that you see racism as being largely a white versus black issue. You didn’t ask if people had friends or partners who were Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern or any other racial grouping.
You didn’t even ask if they had a white friend or partner.
I have a friend who’s moderately swarthy. In the Sudan, he was regarded as “white”; in Egypt he was generally accepted on passing; and in Malta he was regarded as “black”.
While dining in a Chinese restaurant, another friend – who is white British but lived in Hong Kong for more than 20 years, suddenly addressed the waiters in fluent Cantonese and told them to stop insulting the white and black customers. They’d been mouthing off constantly about the customers being lower than dogs, stinking of milk, having round eyes like monkeys and so on.
Humans have a tendency to gravitate together in groups based on looks as much as attitudes (hence all the groups based on various fashions). This can be good as well as bad, with racism being one of the bad faces of this tendency.
Personally, I think racism is the lazy, passive option as are all the other xenophobic attitudes.
You have to work hard to accept other people as they are and overcome the cultural prejudices to which you’ve been exposed. If you can do that, then you are not a racist or any other form of bigot.
Well, unless you have an irrational hatred of bigots!
stonehead
November 27, 2006
Interesting Book to Read- “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” By Beverly Daniel Tatum, PH.D. (I am currently about half way through it.)
In the book David Wellman defines racism as “a system of advantage based on race.” They go into the aspect of being racists without the knowledge of being racists. By these definitions I am racists. That is hard to say being a white male with an african american son.
Answers
3-4
Yes
Daily
Yes
No
Nope
isualum
November 27, 2006
I think it’s right to say that groups of people tend to stay together and this is often demonstrated in one race gangs.
I was not trying to put racism forth as a black and white issue: this is just area I wanted to highlight. I’m glad the discussion has grown to encompass other races.
I think that different races have a different cultural upbringing and this is often the reason why one race groups appear: they have been raised to have the same interests as each other. This is why racism occurs: you cannot accept the interests of other groups and therefore are afraid of that other group and try to drive them away. This is also why it feels strange to see a person of another race talking like you do and talking about the same things.
Harry
November 27, 2006
Incidently I have a African auntie. I was introduced to her family at the wedding and it really opened my eyes to how other cultures are different.
Harry
November 27, 2006
In what way did it open your eyes???
isualum
November 28, 2006
I kind of realised the differences between the UK and Africa. The Africans were much friendlier but sometimes didn’t do things the way we did. This made it very interesting for both groups as it was a period of discovery.
I believe that both groups benefited from getting to know each other and became better people for it.
Harry
November 28, 2006
Something else to consider is white on white racism (as well as black on black, Asian on Asian etc).
I’m a white Australian living in the UK with a Scots wife. When we lived in London, I’d get comments like “you wouldn’t understand, you’re a colonial”, “Aussies are all drunken louts with no culture of their own” and “why don’t you p*** off home then”.
Most people don’t consider comments like that to be racist, but if you changed the key words to black, Asian, Chinese or, to bring in religion, Jewish, Muslim etc, then many of those same people would agree the statement was racist.
At the same time, my wife would get similar comments but with the Aussie/colonial switched to Scots (or Scotch!).
Now that we live in Scotland, she doesn’t get that – instead she’s regarded as “posh” as she has a neutral accent.
I’m generally accepted here as the locals have realised I have a lot of Scottish ancestry, including links up this way, so I’ve been semi-adopted by many. (They tend to disregard the inconvenient Swedish, Irish, Cornish bits!)
I have friends who are Afro-Caribbean – they don’t think much of many “whities” but they think even less of Africans and Asians. It can be difficult and cause a lot of tension when they launch into racist tirades that they would never accept if a white person spoke like that about them.
As a result of my own experiences, those of my friends and what I’ve witnessed in quite a few years travelling, I don’t see racism as the problem.
I see racism as both a symptom and a tool.
As a symptom, racism emerges from a much deeper and intrinsic part of the human psyche – fear of the unknown and fear of strangers.
As a tool, racism used to create and maintain socio-economic oppression by creating an illusion that one group is better than another and therefore deserves more wealth, more privileges and more status.
And that’s also why I think racism is the lazy way out – it’s very easy to go with the flow, follow your own herd and stick with what you know. To be culturally and racially open, mobile and accepting is hard work, requring a huge commitment to self-reflection, generosity and honesty.
It can be done.
stonehead
November 28, 2006
White on white racism and black on black racism are both big problems too.
Racism is mostly fear but also stems from your upbringing and social experiences. Racism as a tool has been used throughout history e.g. apartheid. There are always people who prey on people’s fear.
Racism is also lazy but not always. I think if all you’ve faced from one race is hatred and abuse you feel entitled to racism. racism can be revenge.
All racism is connected to the emotions fear, hatred and anger.
Harry
November 29, 2006
[...] Note – A special thank you to the people who commented on the previous post ‘Are you Racist?’. Your commentary wrote most of this post. Your feedback is most welcome and always welcome. Published in: [...]
Racism: what causes it? « Bar-Room Politics
November 29, 2006
I think your questions are a bit skewed to one side, no? you are already stating that another race, black, is the control. this is wrong in my opinion and is a slippery slope to racism in itself. keep asking questions though, hey i subscribed to your blog.
patrick
December 1, 2006
Good point patrick. The questions I posed were the kind of questions I would ask myself, me being white. I did not mean to undermine black people or anything as extreme. It was meant to be a kind of reference point, not the be and end all of racist criteria.
Thank you for the tip, I will try to be more careful in the future.
Harry
December 3, 2006