[Guest]

I know there is another topic on this subject but, i want to discuss the philosophy. I was looking at things white people like(a satire) and it was relatively funny. I kept looking around and found "things black people hate". Honestly, to me, it felt like a pity party. Saying no other group of people have ever been discriminated against. They also just called people who claimed anyone that claimed to be oppressed was just looking for pity. Specifically they mentioned Asians, homosexuals, Jews and Irish. I'm Irish and i personally haven't been preserved nor have any of ancestors that i know of but, 6 miilion Jewish people were slaughtered less than half a decade ago.

I'm geussing there are some African American(site said "black" was racist) braindiners(all are welcome), what are your thoughts?

[Izzy]

..What do you call black people in the UK then? As far as I'm aware, it's just "black". It's not a racist slur. Not all black people come from Africa, and if they do, it could have been centuries ago. To resort to "African American" is to imply that they aren't really American because of the difference in name that can easily be distinguished. Which is way more offensive. African isn't a color. European isn't a color. Asian isn't a color. If your goal is to describe someone based on skin color, then by all means use the adjectives (black, white, brown, yellowish, etc.) designed to do so. If you're trying to give the history of a person, then maybe "African" is more appropriate. However, I could have African ancestors (I could be related to one of the Christians who stayed in Africa after starting a missionary) and describe myself as African, but I'm still very much white.

Anyway.

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking. Throughout history, people have attempted to justify what they perceive as their superiority by singling out people noticeably different from themselves. Typically, people guilty of this can easily gain followers because these people make up the majority, using the argumentum ad populum (logical fallacy where something appeals to the majority and is claimed true purely because of its appeal). An example of this would be homosexuals. Roughly 10% of the population is estimated to be gay. Just because the majority of people are frustratingly moronic, maybe a little over half of the straight people will (at least maybe 50 years ago) find this horribly strange and unacceptable because they can't understand it (and things they can't understand scare them ). So, we're left with an ignorant and scared majority, quite capable of rallying up, making a55es of themselves, and being jerks to people different from themselves. So, essentially, racism stems from ignorance.

Orr..

Maybe it's just human instinct? I mean, through out history we as people (specifically people of one color) have conquered, slaughtered, and enslaved people different from us for our own selfish gain. I don't really know.

Are you asking if I think racism is okay? No, not real racism. Definitely not violent racism. Family Guy is still funny though.

[Guest]

..What do you call black people in the UK then? As far as I'm aware, it's just "black". It's not a racist slur. Not all black people come from Africa, and if they do, it could have been centuries ago. To resort to "African American" is to imply that they aren't really American because of the difference in name that can easily be distinguished. Which is way more offensive. African isn't a color. European isn't a color. Asian isn't a color. If your goal is to describe someone based on skin color, then by all means use the adjectives (black, white, brown, yellowish, etc.) designed to do so. If you're trying to give the history of a person, then maybe "African" is more appropriate. However, I could have African ancestors (I could be related to one of the Christians who stayed in Africa after starting a missionary) and describe myself as African, but I'm still very much white.

Anyway.

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking. Throughout history, people have attempted to justify what they perceive as their superiority by singling out people noticeably different from themselves. Typically, people guilty of this can easily gain followers because these people make up the majority, using the argumentum ad populum (logical fallacy where something appeals to the majority and is claimed true purely because of its appeal). An example of this would be homosexuals. Roughly 10% of the population is estimated to be gay. Just because the majority of people are frustratingly moronic, maybe a little over half of the straight people will (at least maybe 50 years ago) find this horribly strange and unacceptable because they can't understand it (and things they can't understand scare them ). So, we're left with an ignorant and scared majority, quite capable of rallying up, making a55es of themselves, and being jerks to people different from themselves. So, essentially, racism stems from ignorance.

Orr..

Maybe it's just human instinct? I mean, through out history we as people (specifically people of one color) have conquered, slaughtered, and enslaved people different from us for our own selfish gain. I don't really know.

Are you asking if I think racism is okay? No, not real racism. Definitely not violent racism. Family Guy is still funny though.

family guy is funny

and i guess i should have said more directly, are whites the only racists in america?, do blacks have equal rights today?, finaly the most contrevesial question, why can black people say the "N" word but not other races?

[Guest]

family guy is funny

and i guess i should have said more directly, are whites the only racists in america?, do blacks have equal rights today?, finaly the most contrevesial question, why can black people say the "N" word but not other races?

The fact of the matter is that black people DO say the "N" word if they so choose. Culturally, the word is theirs. The intent behind the word when other people say it has been historically derogatory, therefore it is seen as offensive. When a non-black person uses the word, given it's history, they are either seen as racist. The nagging question being: "what else could they have meant?"

It's similar to how "nerd" and "geek" have recently been adopted as badges of honor among those to whom it would have originally been an insult. If someone from outside that particular community uses those words, the intent can usually be assumed to be insulting.

i.e. I consider myself a geek in a positive way, but I know my brothers have no respect for geekdom, so it's still an insult if they dare to call me geek.

Of course, the "N" word (Should it really be capitalized?) has a much more significant and ugly history than nerd and geek. Interestingly, rather than become a complete taboo, it has instead been adopted by the culture of the people it was once used to degrade.

To answer your other questions...

"Are whites the only racists in America?" Heavens no. No cultural, social, or economic group is wholly free from prejudice and hatred. That being said, I personally find the question to be offensive. While I am white and, admittedly, I harbor prejudice (I can't stand the willfully ignorant or intolerant among us, for instance), I can hardly be considered a racist.

"Do blacks have equal rights today?" Of course not. The mere presence of affirmative action indicates an imbalance of civil rights. I doubt you could make a case that all whites have equal rights. For instance: If a Robert Downey Jr. gets caught with a pound of cocaine, he goes to rehab for a couple months and all is well. If your average white college kid gets caught with the same amount of pot, he gets nailed for possession with intent to distribute and goes to jail.

As long as people are different, there will be ignorance, fear, hatred, preferential treatment, intolerance, racism, etc. It's all the same concept with different names. In fact, I would posit that, even if everyone were exactly the same, we would still find something to hate each other for.

[Izzy]

One race related issue I take with schools in my county is their acceptance of students into their programs (IB, CIS, HA, etc.) based on certain demographics they are required to fill rather than the students' academic achievements. It's supposedly done to keep racism out of schools, but it's totally unfair that a smart kid who has worked hard might not get in because an underachiever of a less represented race happened to apply, just to appear politically correct. (What really happens is by senior year the minority kids who are there just to be there flunk out anyway, so if anything, the schools are harming them. Don't get me wrong, diversity is a good thing, but it should be a diversity of students on the same level.)

I'm not racist so much as anti-theistic.. but that's a different sort of prejudice. I'm going to dislike someone based on bad decisions, not an arbitrary chance of birth (though, that comes with religions, so I'm sort of contradicting myself here..).

[Guest]

The fact of the matter is that black people DO say the "N" word if they so choose. Culturally, the word is theirs. The intent behind the word when other people say it has been historically derogatory, therefore it is seen as offensive. When a non-black person uses the word, given it's history, they are either seen as racist. The nagging question being: "what else could they have meant?"

It's similar to how "nerd" and "geek" have recently been adopted as badges of honor among those to whom it would have originally been an insult. If someone from outside that particular community uses those words, the intent can usually be assumed to be insulting.

i.e. I consider myself a geek in a positive way, but I know my brothers have no respect for geekdom, so it's still an insult if they dare to call me geek.

Of course, the "N" word (Should it really be capitalized?) has a much more significant and ugly history than nerd and geek. Interestingly, rather than become a complete taboo, it has instead been adopted by the culture of the people it was once used to degrade.

Chad: “I don’t get it. I mean, if black people can say it then why can’t I?”

Me: “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Chad: “Uh, yea…”

Me: “Do you f*** her?”

Chad: “…..yeah….”

Me: “Cool. Mind if I f*** her?”

Chad: “DUDE! NOT COOL!”

Me: “I don’t get it. I mean, if you can f*** her then why can’t I?”

(censored by myself)

Chad is a "douchebag" and "me" is the author of this blog. http://stuffblackpeoplehate.com/

This is the argument of the webmaster of the site listed above about why white people cant say the N word. To me this doesn't make sense. Many of my friends would die to save their girlfriends. How can you compare that relationship to a word?

[Izzy]

I think it's sort of similar to you calling your own mom a b*tch. Example:

Me: Eugh, my mom is such a b*tch.

Friend: Why?

Me: *rants about mom*

Friend: That sucks. =/

A week later at my house:

Mom: WILL YOU GUYS STOP SCREAMING.

Friend: Dude, your mom is such a b*tch.

Me: Hey, stfu, that's my mom.

[Guest]

I think it's sort of similar to you calling your own mom a b*tch. Example:

Me: Eugh, my mom is such a b*tch.

Friend: Why?

Me: *rants about mom*

Friend: That sucks. =/

A week later at my house:

Mom: WILL YOU GUYS STOP SCREAMING.

Friend: Dude, your mom is such a b*tch.

Me: Hey, stfu, that's my mom.

nice way to put it

[unreality]

yeah I've noticed that too. Everyone likes to rant on their own family members but when somebody else does, they get defensive. Another unrelated aspect of human nature I notice (and this is me too, it's everyone pretty much) is that when you forget an assignment, don't have your work/homework, etc, you desperately want someone else to have lost theirs or forgot theirs too, and ask around to try to find someone else that hasn't done it either, and when people do have it, you get mad at them.

getting off track but I think these little nuggets of human nature are pretty interesting lol

[Izzy]

^ Yeah, and when you don't get straight A's you practically pray that those you consider your equal didn't either.

[Guest]

i hate it when im the only when that does a project everyone blames me

[Izzy]

i hate it when im the only when that does a project everyone blames me

Well, yeah. You make the teacher actually expect something from us. If you admit to doing work, it's a reminder that the work was actually assigned..

[Guest]

There needs to be a distinction made between racism and prejudice. I think prejudice is not always bad. I think racism is always bad. So racism should be eliminated and prejudice should be used with wisdom and reason.

I am half caucasian and half korean. In high-school I was friends with many different groups. Many of those friendships I maintain to this day.

niggas. There is/was a very important distinction between nigga and nigger. The former meaning guy/dude/man and the latter being very unacceptable to say the least. I get gasps when I reveal this info to a lot of people and sometimes stranges looks from bystanders when I talk to my friends in public.

To put everything in context: I am not part of hip-hop culture. Nor am I racist. I have had to deal with racist attitudes directed toward me. I graduated in 1997. I live in southern California. My school was about 70% white, 10% black, 10% hispanic, and 10% everything else in a population of about 3000 students. Whether or not any of these factors make a difference, I don't know. Just my two cents.