<p>dke- I do not know if weight would be a problem but I did hear some comments both on the radio and some people at my gym. I have to be honest NJ is a very Democratic State and the NJ Republican Party is a mess but this may be the election that is set up for the right republican. Think Tom Kean not Mitt Romney.
Our current governor is weak and has shown poor judgment. He is lucky that most people do not pay attention.</p>
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<p>…And would the above be an example of Asian racism against “white boys”, or your own against Asians, Toadstool?:rolleyes:</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, racism is itself colorblind, meaning it doesn’t matter what ethnicity you or your target is! I’ve seen African-Americans disparage Carribbean blacks, Japanese put down Koreans, etc. etc. I guess that wouldn’t technically be racism, but just garden variety prejudice?</p>
<p>I’ve heard black people say they were nervous about walking alone in a high crime/black neighborhood if they thought they were being followed–that’s self-defense, not racism, as most crime is black on black.</p>
<p>But a study that didn’t include black people wouldn’t pick up on that anyway.</p>
<p>And I think no matter how fair-minded we honestly try to be, there are still biological reasons we prefer people who look like us, at least at first meeting. Later we are glad to know all sorts of diverse people, but that first kneejerk classification by ethnic or racial group is almost unavoidable. </p>
<p>It kept us alive when our tribe was facing off against other tribes.</p>
<p>I don’t see what wrong with racism the way it’s used in this study. </p>
<p>If you’ve had bad experience with people from a certain race, it makes sense to make generalizations. You can never be certain of anything in life–all our beliefs are based on generalizations. There’s nothing wrong with thinking that blacks are more violent or that Asian lab partners will savage you, if that’s what you’ve experienced in the past, as long as you recognize the exceptions when you see them and are willing to change your first impressions. That applies to all preconceptions of anything, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have preconceptions.</p>
<p>^^ No. You don’t generalize based on one case. That’s prejudice. If something holds true in every case, then you can begin to see a pattern, but it’s frankly not very bright to draw conclusions based on one case.</p>
<p>So if your Asian lab partner is evil, you may be wary of lab partners in the future, until you are sure the next person is nice, but why would you blame their ethnicity and hold all Asians accountable? That doesn’t make any sense to me.</p>
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There is something wrong with this thinking. This is exactly how racists beliefs and subconscious racist actions exist and progress.
It isn’t if you had a bad experience with people from a certain race that allows you to make justifiable conclusions about that race. Pure crap. How about having a bad experience with persons and judging it on the merit of that person, not their race. That is predjudice and racist.</p>
<p>Thanks, milkandsugar, for saying it better and more forcefully than I did.</p>
<p>I have noticed that blacks in South are much more nicer than blacks in Cali.I mean i have lived in Missisippi which has a lot of black ppl. My dad used to do business there(hes indian) AND he got robbed like atleast 4 times and was put to gunshot twice.In Cali, it happens so frequently and there isnt even as much black ppl in Cali as Missisippi.(Sorry this is not really on topic)</p>
<p>"“Because the “social scientists” are themselves either ignorant or racist. They presume that blacks cannot be racist.”</p>
<p>Blacks cannot be racists unless they are in a position to enforce power relationships. (About the only place where I know that to be true, systemically, is in Black churches). They can, of course, be prejudiced. Not the same thing.</p>
<p>^ the subjects in this study seem to me to exhibiting prejudice, not necessarily racism. Which, as mini says, is not the same thing.</p>
<p>I tried the test , but I admit I was in a hurry…don’t think the distraction would make the results accurate…to me it was like an on line arcade game to which you could improve your score if " played " a few times</p>
<p>if it was real life, I would display certain actions in certain areas.
For instance, I would never drive with my car doors locked in my own town , but if I was driving in Philly ( a major city relatively close to me ) I would absolutely lock my doors.
It is not because I hear of many people jumping into cars with solo female drivers, it is just an instinct in a city. I do it in mall areas too or other places where I see more pedestrians
Does that make me racist , predudice or conscious of my surroundings and being safe ?</p>
<p>There is a current murder trial in my area involving a white supremist ( alleged ) who killed a black woman ( alledgedly ) who was going to a movie theatre to buy tickets for her family…disgusting… and it would be difficult to find anyone in our area who isn’t already in the mindset that he is guilty…me included</p>
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<p>So very true.</p>
<p>^
except that growing up white in America makes you much less likely to be as racist, xenophobic or prejudiced than had you grown up anything practically anywhere else…</p>
<p>The day after the presidential election, I talked to my mom. I was absolutely stunned by her reaction to the election’s outcome … her concerns struck me as so very racist. My parents never showed any signs of racism as I was growing up. We lived on the edge of Detroit during the ‘67 riots, and I never heard a racist word through all of that mess. Yet, here was my mom, spouting things I couldn’t believe were coming from her mouth. This conversation took place during my lunch break. When I returned to work, I shared the conversation with my coworkers, who are black & Hispanic. They all shared stories of their own families’ racism … and they assured me that it is not just a white thing. We discussed our own feelings about the issue. In the end, I felt a measure of hope that little by little, things are changing. As long as our progress is forward, we are definitely making changes for the better.</p>
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<p>This is an important observation. It is easy for your parents to accept that blacks can “misbehave”, can be good in sports or entertainment. They can even accept blacks in the Ivies, or AA in general. None of these challenges their world view. </p>
<p>OTOH, when a black graduated magna cum laude at Harvard Law, became editor of the Harvard Law Review, and now President of the United States, they are becoming fearful. They are fearful of the end of white domination in America, and with it, the white privilege that their decedents will enjoy.</p>
<p>I think this is the true reason why a different standard has been set for Asians vs blacks and Hispanics in elite college admission. Blacks and Hispanics were never perceived as a threat to their decedents well-being the ways that Asians are (except in a physical sense). President Obama is changing that, and a lot of people are having a hard time of it.</p>
<p>Yes, I do believe things are getting better. There is no doubt about that.</p>
<p>No, they are not fearful of the end of white domination. They are fearful of the unknown … and for people like my mom, the blanks are filled in with racial stereotypes. Oh, and she doesn’t think he is a U.S. citizen … and that he <em>might</em> be a closeted Muslim (perhaps the Cold War contributed to these fears). So, no, it’s not that she is worried about about the end of white domination - she is actually afraid of what she doesn’t understand.</p>
<p>I think that’s a good point Kelsmom. The unfamiliar CAN be scary. My mom is also an interesting case study after this election because she’s an elderly white woman who, at first glance, would be right up there with people afraid of an Obama presidency. But she’s not because she has lived all her married life in a totally integrated area. The neighbors were all sorts of everything and completely welcome as long as they could afford their houses and mowed their lawns! A lot of the church ladies in our church are black and they are exactly like my mom. Still wear hats, knit prayer shawls and take a casserole to a sick parishioner or someone with a new baby. The point being that the black and white people all have much more in common with each other, based on shared history and customs, than they could have with someone of the same color who has different experiences. I’d bet that my mom and Mrs. Robinson would be kindred spirits.</p>
<p>Kelsmon, there is no conflict between what you said and what I was saying. Prejudice is like an iceberg, much of it is below the surface. Consciously it is expressed as fear of the unknown, subconsciously, it is fear of the survival of the “gene pool”.</p>
<p>Unless your parents know President Bush personally, was he not an “unknown quality” as well? Did they think of him as a possible closet Muslim? Or that he may not be an American?</p>
<p>When I was in my teens, Canada liberalized her immigration policies. Before long, I started to hear jokes about how Canada is giving the land back to the Indians, but the wrong type of Indians. Even then I knew it was not simply a joke, but the expression of a deep-seated fear of being displaced. </p>
<p>We all have our prejudice, of course. How we deal with it defines us as a culture and as a nation.</p>