Subtle racism/prejudice exercise

[bernie]

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It seems to me that walking on eggshells in regards to a person's race is unnatural and an overreaction to racism.

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I put the '/prejudice' part on there to subdue the typical vision of 'racism'. Im not talking about walking on eggshells or openly malicious racism or anything. More about sterotypes. There's really nothing wrong with saying the guy is whatever race during a story and no one should berate one for doing so. As one responder mentioned, it is quite natural to do. My question is, in many stories, why does it matter what race he is?

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Racial diversity enriches us and race IS relevant

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But see, in many casual conversations/stories about stuff that happens everyday to anyone, it really isn't relevant.

To me, it's just interesting to notice in conversation once aware of it.

b

[bernie]

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i think its often very important to a story because most racial stereotypes are often accurate

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Are they? Even if the principle in question doesn't fit the stereotype?

In an example above, I mentioned being in line at a gas station and a guy is holding the line up. He happens to be black. Why is his being black relevant? What stereotype are you putting on him if someone was relaying the story to you? Or if you're telling the story? Say he's a well dressed guy, compared to a hip hop dressed guy. Usually one doesn't differentiate between the 2 styles. The guy is simply the 'black' guy that was holding up the line.

So if I came up and you asked what took me so long and I said, "I had to wait in line while a guy figured out how to pay for his gas." Compared to, "I had to wait in line while this black guy figured out how to pay for his gas." What is your visual? You know nothing of the guy other than he's black. Does this make him less/more likely to be able to handle the task of paying for his gas?

b

[TStoneMBD]

just throwing in a line that someone is black doesnt make much sense. i dont do that. i only do it when i find it pertinent to their character description.

for instance,

"i couldnt understand a damn thing that the guy at the counter said."

"i couldnt understand a damn thing the chinese guy at the counter said."

sentence number 2 says a whole lot more about the situation.

"i was walking down a new york city block when these 2 guys started watching me."

"i was walking down a new york city block when these 2 black guys started watching me."

do we always have to be politically correct about everything? stereotypes werent just created out of thin air. that is not to say that i hate black people because on average they commit more crime. however, its clearly apparent that most people would rather have 2 white people watching them down a new york city street than 2 black people. i will stereotype races, and rightfully so, because statistically they are more likely to fulfill their stereotype than a person of another race.

[bernie]

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do we always have to be politically correct about everything?

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This has nothing to do with PC. Just analyzing the thought process behind it.

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however, its clearly apparent that most people would rather have 2 white people watching them down a new york city street than 2 black people. i will stereotype races, and rightfully so, because statistically they are more likely to fulfill their stereotype than a person of another race.

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Regardless of how they are dressed or carry themselves? Stats don't exactly show the whole story. So you'd prefer 2 whites in 3 piece suits walking down the street compared to 2 blacks in 3 piece suits? Or 2 rough looking white guys in gangbanger-wear over 2 rough looking black guys in bangganger-wear?

b

[banditbdl]

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"I had to wait in line while a guy figured out how to pay for his gas." Compared to, "I had to wait in line while this black guy figured out how to pay for his gas." What is your visual?

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I'm pretty sure I would say something along the lines of "I had to wait in line while some idiot/jackass/moron driving a white hooptie figured out how to pay for his 5 bucks of gas." If all you can come up with is "black guy" you might indeed have some prejudice. The only brightside is maybe nobody will be listening because you're stories always suck.

[bernie]

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If all you can come up with is "black guy" you might indeed have some prejudice.

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That's kind of what Im angling at. It's unconcious in most people. They aren't consciously trying to make sure you know the guy is black, it just come out. I didn't realize it until I actively looked at it that way.

b

[PokerProdigy]

Yeah I've noticed this from other people (and myself, even when talking to my close friends of other ethnic backgrounds), but I don't know if I'd consider this "racism." I think that it's just a little bit of human nature to notice and point out differences between yourself and others (like race, religion, politics, gender, etc...)

[BarronVangorToth]

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I didn't realize it until I actively looked at it that way.

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You were invariably better off before, rather than becoming John Nash in Beautiful Mind finding communist plans in magazines where there was none.

I'm 100% for getting rid of real racism in our society, but people that start to look at the minutia always seem to do more harm than good as people who may be swayed to one side over the other hear stuff like you're talking about and will think you're nuts.

If you want to stop racism, don't sweat the small stuff, because, when you do, you are the problem.

Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com

[bernie]

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You were invariably better off before

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Doubt it. There's nothing wrong with exploring one's own thought process regarding how they see people. It's a harmless, but, to me, a useful exercise. It doesn't work for everyone. Nothing does.

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If you want to stop racism, don't sweat the small stuff, because, when you do, you are the problem.

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This isn't something I fawn over or worry about. Just something I noticed long ago. This isn't something I imagined, it's very real.

It's more about stereotypes and prejudices than actual racism. Though some people do use the description for racial purposes. (this is dependent on who's saying it. Some can easily interchange a racial slur for the nationality/color description. Most don't do this, just covering the base.)

This thread isn't about stopping racism. It's about looking at people as people without a stereotype. I see nothing wrong with thinking that way. Even if it is minor.

I personally, don't like that I have some stereotypes of people that I haven't even met. I want the benefit of the doubt that I try to give them.

b

[papa_georgio]

I used to add the race of whoever I was talking about if it was his race that made him stand out. Such as in a group of 10 white guys if there was a black guy, I would mention the fact he was black so that people would know which person I was talking about. But now I use his clothing, or some other unique feature about a person instead of race.