Are we ALL Racist?

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Too much serious golf stuff - so here's a light hearted Friday question.

If I have a racist thought does that make me racist? I believe that every single one of us of a white British background have racist thoughts. But the vast majority dismiss these thoughts immediately and most certainly don't act upon them.

I have thoughts that if I put into action or let affect what I say or do then I would call myself racist. I cannot control my thinking and the thoughts that pop into my head unasked for. My white, protestant, Scottish upbringing in an environment where there was zero (literally) ethic minority forms part of who I am. And because of that anyone not of my background is - to a little deep part of me - different and 'not like me'.

But such thoughts do pop up. And I am irritated and embarrassed (to myself) when they do - but I can dismiss them and most certainly not act or express them.

But I must also recognise that if we have these thoughts then they can be worked upon (by others) and made more real than we would like and we do not dismiss them out of hand as we normally would. And when the thoughts become more real, then that deep instinct of the fear of the different or unknown comes to the surface. And because the root of the fear is 'real' in our thoughts, the fear is then not irrational - and becomes rational. And when it becomes rational it can be expressed without fear.

And as a result we find folk just like us - expressing views and thoughts that we all understand; that we continue to dismiss; but that others have made real - and take to the ballot box.

Just a thought.

And I'll add an example of thinking

I recently found myself driving through the Roundhay district of Leeds. My instinct and gut feeling thought was 'blimey - not much of a white population around here' -and for a moment I felt a little uncomfortable. But I can immediately dismiss these thoughts and feelings as thoughts that have no place or relevance to me today - and I was then just driving through Roundhay in Leeds.

 

[c1973]

Light hearted. Racism. Seriously?

Give an example of your light hearted racist thoughts that you have and I'll get some popcorn.:rofl:

 

[Rooter]

I'm not racist, I went to school with a lad that was black.




PS. that's a joke in case anyone is wondering. I grew up in the 80's in rural West Berkshire, everyone was white!


All jokes aside, I would suppose its what you do with your thoughts is what defines you, I may think a bird is fit etc but doesnt make me a cheater etc.

 

[MadAdey]

Not going to get involved in a thread like this, but SLH I know exactly what you are saying.

 

[Pin-seeker]

Not going to get involved in a thread like this, but SLH I know exactly what you are saying.

^^^^+1

 

[Imurg]

Every single Human is/has been/will be racist or have racist thoughts.
It's natural - whether we like it or not.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I'm not racist, I went to school with a lad that was black.




PS. that's a joke in case anyone is wondering. I grew up in the 80's in rural West Berkshire, everyone was white!


All jokes aside, I would suppose its what you do with your thoughts is what defines you, I may think a bird is fit etc but doesnt make me a cheater etc.

Yes - that's it. I am sure we ALL have had thoughts about cheating - in golf - and in life - that we instantly dismiss as wrong.

I guess in a way I'm trying to understand why folk express what I think are racist views - when otherwise they are just like me - and as far as I am aware - think like me.

And if I can understand why such views get expressed then at least I have a chance of countering them.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Every single Human is/has been/will be racist or have racist thoughts.
It's natural - whether we like it or not.

And we mostly don't like it - and so most of us don't admit it. And by not admitting and accepting that we do I believe that it becomes harder for us to rationally counter the expression of these thoughts by others.

 

[woody69]

No, we are not ALL racist. I never have thoughts that judge a person based on the colour of their skin or their race. I may think they are a filthy individual, have poor manners, are rude, smell, a bad driver, a lazy worker, a scrounger etc etc but I'm not thinking that because they are a different race and I don't think that because they are like that, everyone of the same race/creed/caste is the same.

 

[User20205]

Party games round at yours must be good SILH, if this is your idea of fun.

As you say, you can't control your internal monologue. It's your ability to challange and rationalise those thoughts that make you not a racist.

I may argue that in varying degrees we are all prejudiced in some way, not acting on those prejudices is key.

 

[Foxholer]

Blue Mink had it right!

Don't fear the difference; celebrate it!

 

[Snelly]

This is a fantastic article from this week's DT that by coincidence, is asking this question.

A very thought provoking read....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10860492/Are-we-all-racist-now.html

 

[ManinBlack]

Light hearted. Racism. Seriously?

Give an example of your light hearted racist thoughts that you have and I'll get some popcorn.:rofl:

Here a lighthearted racist Australian joke. How can you tell when an aircraft is full of English passengers? When the engines stop the whining keeps going. I was mortally offended by this when I heard it - no I wasn't, I laughed. An Indian customer of mine once told me a quite offensive joke about Pakistanis. Would a Pakistani have been offended? I doubt it if it was told without any malice, which it was in this case. In my view it was a joke which played on national characteristics, like the one above. I think that often comments labeled as racist, or sexist for that matter, taken out of context were not that way at all. Like the recent "sluts" comment made by a prominent politician, laughed at by everyone, including the women present and no complaint made until the politically correct brigade got hold of it.

There's no doubt true racism exists & I can't stand it but I think the PC mob make too much of it.

 

[louise_a]

No, we are not ALL racist. I never have thoughts that judge a person based on the colour of their skin or their race. I may think they are a filthy individual, have poor manners, are rude, smell, a bad driver, a lazy worker, a scrounger etc etc but I'm not thinking that because they are a different race and I don't think that because they are like that, everyone of the same race/creed/caste is the same.

I agree

. An Indian customer of mine once told me a quite offensive joke about Pakistanis. Would a Pakistani have been offended? I doubt it if it was told without any malice, which it was in this case.

He probably would be, Indians and Pakistanis really do not get on.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

No, we are not ALL racist. I never have thoughts that judge a person based on the colour of their skin or their race. I may think they are a filthy individual, have poor manners, are rude, smell, a bad driver, a lazy worker, a scrounger etc etc but I'm not thinking that because they are a different race and I don't think that because they are like that, everyone of the same race/creed/caste is the same.

You never have such thoughts or you never solidify them in your thinking? I think you are perhaps very lucky if you NEVER have the thoughts. But I say 'perhaps' because if I never have such thoughts then how can I try and understand why others do - and act upon them.

 

[Fyldewhite]

Racism to me is just a sub-set of being judgmental.......ie basing your view of someone on external characteristics rather than actually getting to know them. We all do this IMO, some more than others, but we all do it. We don't have time to "get to know" everyone we meet or interact with so we naturally make assumptions based on past experience. As racial characteristics (skin colour, accent etc) are pretty high up the "obvious" things we first pick up on then it's something people use to base their initial judgement on. It can just as easily be age or appearance.......we are surprised when a spikey haired punk rocker turns out to be intelligent and well spoken .....we are surprised when grey haired pensioner whips out an i-pad on the bus......we are surprised when football shirted golfer turns out to be off single figures (obviously this is an extreme example but you get my drift ). All the same thing and perfectly natural human behaviour. It only becomes a problem when you let it affect your subsequent treatment of people.

 

[Birchy]

This is about as light hearted as a triple bypass :rofl:

 

[Pin-seeker]

Racism to me is just a sub-set of being judgmental.......ie basing your view of someone on external characteristics rather than actually getting to know them. We all do this IMO, some more than others, but we all do it. We don't have time to "get to know" everyone we meet or interact with so we naturally make assumptions based on past experience. As racial characteristics (skin colour, accent etc) are pretty high up the "obvious" things we first pick up on then it's something people use to base their initial judgement on. It can just as easily be age or appearance.......we are surprised when a spikey haired punk rocker turns out to be intelligent and well spoken .....we are surprised when grey haired pensioner whips out an i-pad on the bus......we are surprised when football shirted golfer turns out to be off single figures (obviously this is an extreme example but you get my drift ). All the same thing and perfectly natural human behaviour. It only becomes a problem when you let it affect your subsequent treatment of people.

Excellent post:thup:

 

[MadAdey]

No, we are not ALL racist. I never have thoughts that judge a person based on the colour of their skin or their race. I may think they are a filthy individual, have poor manners, are rude, smell, a bad driver, a lazy worker, a scrounger etc etc but I'm not thinking that because they are a different race and I don't think that because they are like that, everyone of the same race/creed/caste is the same.

it must be a long way down from that mighty pedestal that you sit on. I defy anyone to say that they have never looked at someone and judged them by their race or country of origin. It does not make you racist, it makes you human, it is not expressing those views or acting upon them that is the difference. It is only the same as other thoughts that we have like "if he does that again I'll kill him", it does not make you a murderer.

Everyone at some point has looked at someone and thought about them in discriminative way, it does not mean you are going to wear a big white bed sheet and start burning crosses.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

I loved the Scottish joke made by a Scots comic in Ireland.

I was bullied at school..........I was the only kid that did not have ginger hair!

Sadly we seem to get racism, sectarianism and prejudice muddled up quite a bit these days.