I misinterpreted that. I thought it meant we were all racist because we have to be not that the people who are racist don't get to choose it. I get it now and think it's true for the most part.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It is true, sadly. We were actually talking about this in my psychology class the other day. Racist attitudes in young people are formed by copying what their parents views are, and of course, children look up to their parents and think that everything they say is right, so then they grow up believing that this is okay.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

We 'grow' a brain in our mother's womb ;)

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The things you are exposed to in the first years of your life are the basis of what you become. It isn't saying racism is okay. It is similar to if you came from a [specific religion] family. More than likely you will continue with that religion; some people might break away from it, but most won't.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah, old habits die hard

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Religion is often not accepted either.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Not really, I've seen lots of people say you're allowed to be racist or homophobic or what have you as long as you're not in your face about it. Even so, that's not really a factor in comparing the two in terms of deciding to quit one of them.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It doesn't matter what's accepted and what isn't. People who are old enough to make their own decisions, shouldn't be like "Uh, well, my parents were racist so..."

by Anonymous 11 years ago

My parents weren't racist, yet I kind of am...

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Funny, my whole family is REALLY racist and sexist and they hate me cause I try to "pretend that all people are equal". But on a serious note, it's not like you have no choice in it. If you only usually interact with people from your own race, you'll let the media determine everything you know about other races.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I think it would be rare that a person thinks "I think I will continue to be racist because my parents are... " I think they were raised that way and don't think anything else about it. That's just how they are. Then if/when someone does comment on it it MIGHT make them think it is wrong. But things you are exposed to in the first years of your life are harder to change. A person exposed to racism in there teenage years would be more likely to think it is wrong than a child exposed to it from birth. If something is ingrained in a person at a young age, it is less likely you will question it. It seems to me people are so against racism, that they forget we are all human and all flawed. I have a couple friends who are racist, and while I don't agree with it they have other qualities I do like... Yes, racism is wrong, but I think to completely deny reasoning as to why a person thinks the way they do is wrong, too.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah, I completely agree that some habits are hard to get rid of. But I think a person who is actually mature, wouldn't disregard such a serious topic. They would notice that they feel superior to people of other races, and they would try to do something about it. People aren't perfect and they will never be, but racism isn't like not being able to keep a secret, or being too outspoken. Racism is a societal issue that needs to be eliminated, it's not going to be easy, it might take hundreds of years - but look where we are now and look where we used to be. I'm sure your friends are nice people, but I don't think there's any reasoning behind judging people and discriminating against them due to something they can't control.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Exactly. No one is born racist, it's something you're taught at a young age because of your influences. Not to say someone coming from a racist family is going to be racist, but chances are if you come from a family that isn't racist you're not going to end up racist. I'm curious to know what the NWers think.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Everyone who's racist knows they're racist and continue to be racist even though they don't have to be. A racist living in the 21st century may be a product of their environment but in the end they choose to hate.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

They can chose to change, that doesn't mean they chose to be the way they are.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm kind of racist, but it's not like I chose it. Basically, I was playing minecraft, and I the people wore different skins. I instantly put the person in the indian skin below everyone else. That was when I relized I was racist.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I took racist to mean that you consciously hate people for being a different skin color. Subconsciously doing it because your parents told you to is different. A child who's racist is not his fault. An adult who knows better yet is still racist is. If I see a person who's racist I'm not going to pity him because his parents made him that way, because he knows what he's doing is wrong yet he still chooses to do it.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Your beliefs are your beliefs and you have them for a reason, snapping out of them because logic isn't that easy when the idea has been driven into your head since you were a kid.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It isn't easy, but one can make that choice.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You can try that doesn't mean you're going to succeed in changing and even if you don't try to not be racist you still didn't chose to be racist. Imagine trying to change your stance on pro life or pro choice. Not very plausible. If you don't see the flaws in your stance even if millions disagree you're not likely to change it.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I choose to hold the opinions I hold. I could choose to change them if I wanted to. My opinions are based on what I think is right and I choose to think that way. No one's forcing me to have a certain opinion, therefore, I choose my own opinions.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

But are you really choosing it or are your opinions slave to the way your mind works? Do you really think you could up and just change something you believe in? I don't. I think you're lying to yourself if you think you can.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

People change their beliefs all the time. Thousands of people convert to different religions or abandon the idea of religion all the time. I used to be //seriously// against abortion, but I'm not anymore because I am more informed now. It's not like humans are some kind of robots programmed since childhood to uphold beliefs and prejudices.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Of COURSE beliefs change, I never said they didn't.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

"Do you really think you could up and just change something you believe in? I don't." But...

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I mean consciously decide to not belive what you believe in, instead of it just happening. It happens, yes. Your POV changes, but what ever your morals are, are a result of how your brain is wired and your upbringing.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Oh, I see what you mean now. It's making me wary...

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I don't see what you were going for spare. They can believe people can change without believing people chose their beliefs.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

When a person changes their beliefs, they usually chose to do so.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Not really. When I became pro choice instead of pro life, it wasn't something I thought about. I just changed.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You can chose to not be racist, you still don't chose to be racist. You can chose who you want to be, not who you are.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You chose to do it because no one forced you to...it was your free will doing what you did.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

What I understood is that, once a person is exposed to some information, let's say modern scientific research, then they stop believing in what they used to and start believing something else. There's no epiphany or a conscious decision-making, it just happens. But I think this justifies //being// racist, but not //staying// racist.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm aware no one forces you, that doesn't mean you chose, sometimes things just //happen//. And yes George.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Exactly. If it's been brought to your attention that you are racist and you realize racism is not ok, it is //kinda// your fault, key word being kinda. If you don't know it's not ok (and let's face it, the majority of racists don't think that being racist is not ok, they think being (insert race here) is "not ok") then how are you choosing? Even staying racist isn't really a choice even after it's been brought to your attention. You can want to be not racist anymore, but you don't chose your emotional reaction to people even if you know it's not ok. The only thing you chose to do is make racist remarks that brings attention to your racism, not the actual belief its self. Say you have a phobia of bald men. Is that your fault, did you chose to have peladophobia? No.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm a different anon. My parents were racist. I've been racist my entire life. I'm not 18 yet so I'm not an adult. Anyways, you can't really just snap out of it. They didn't just tell me "Blacks are bad." They gave me reason after reason. It's been in my head forever, so to me, their logic makes sense. And for the most part, I think it true. Not the blacks in Africa, just the ones here. I don't see why it's a bad thing to be racist. I'm not beating up the black people or saying anything, it's just quietly in my head. They're right though. I used to live in a city where there Was a lot of black people, and the crime rate was pretty high. Then I moved to a town where it was mostly whites, and there was barely ever any crime.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You should realize the color of someone skin does not make them more inclined to crime. There's a whole historic background to why black towns are poorer than white towns; it was because of racism that they're poor in the first place.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm just saying it's not my FAULT. It's like morals. Once they're installed into you, they're hard to get rid of. And no one ever really gives me good reason why I shouldn't be racist. They just say it's wrong. And even if they had to face slavery and stuff, they shouldn't go around making nuisances of themselves. The best revenge is to be successful. But no. They keep proving to me over and over why my parents and I are right.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'll give you a good reason. No one should ever be treated with hate based on something they have no control over. I'll say it again. They are poor because your ancestors were racist and refused them good property and thus their schools were terrible. If you grow up in a culture where everyone's undereducated and poor, you will do what it takes to survive. Take my word for it; if whites and blacks were reversed, whites would be doing the same exact thing blacks are. There is no reason to hate someone because of the concentration of melanin in their skin. It was an evolutionary tactic to protect them from the sun. We are all different shades of brown. When you look at things scientifically, there is nothing more to fuel racism.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

MY ancestors? I'm Asian! My ancestors didn't do shit to black people! And I don't hate them, neither does my family. We dislike them. There's a big difference. And okay fine. White people made them poor and uneducated. Fine. But they go to school now. Why don't they actually learn something and become successful? And like I said, I'm fine with the blacks in Africa. All that stuff about evolution is okay. I just don't like the African Americans.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Sorry, assumed you were white. My bad. **America's ancestors. Um, because their schools are shit. Because white people screwed them over. They pay very very little property tax, resulting in very slim school funding. I still have yet to hear a reason from you **WHY** you don't like African Americans. Look at Obama, regardless of politics, he's brilliant, and he's black. Harvard Law School. That's something even escapes whites' grasps. There are countless numbers of successful blacks just like there are so many whites who are the scum of the earth. You dislike people for no reason, and you can't even admit it.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

He's half white. And fine. I'll list the reasons I don't like black people: They're ghetto. They rob and murder people, and commit many other crimes. They never feel any remorse. 25 of them broke into my old, vacated house and lived there. In that house, a black man blew up the garage. At my old school, a black guy bullied me. They're not classy. They smell bad. They have weird hair. They get welfare and spend it on stupid things. They COULD go to school and learn, but instead they just smoke weed. A lot of schools in America don't get much funding, but their students are still able to learn. I DISLIKE them, and I have reasons.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It's mostly black people

by Anonymous 11 years ago

//People// are ghetto. //People// rob and murder people, and commit many other crimes. They never feel any remorse. 25 //people// broke into my old, vacated house and lived there. In that house, a //person// blew up the garage. At my old school, a //person// bullied me. //People// aren't not classy. They smell bad. They have weird hair. They get welfare and spend it on stupid things. //People// COULD go to school and learn, but instead they just smoke weed. A lot of schools in America don't get much funding, but their students are still able to learn. Are you fucking kidding me? You think there's like some sort of African DNA that makes them do stupid shit. In fact, they're a product of their surroundings, which are there **because whites put them there**. You dislike people because of something they **can't control** and pin it on something obvious: their skin color. Why? Because you're too ignorant to bother looking deeper as to WHY they do these things. Oh, it's so easy to say "because they're black". Idiot. There are blacks who have accomplished more than you will in 1,000 lifetimes, yet you still dislike them because their motherfucking skin is darker than yours. Goddamn.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

...Ok I'm sorry but that made me laugh. And I know it's because of their surroundings. That's why the real Africans in Africa aren't stupid. And why do you keep saying people? Yeah I know they're people. I got that. And yeah I know they can't control their skin color. But black people commit more crimes than any other race. And yeah whites put them there. They're just taking revenge on America, because it's run by the white people. They're bitter that they were dragged here, so now, as revenge, they're trying to destroy our country. Because the white people dragged them here. And yeah there are blacks who accomplished things. There's people like that in EVERY race. Those blacks, the ones who actually did something with their lives, they're called "exceptions."

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Honestly, there are some serious underlying issues here, probably stemming from the damage you faced from specific black people in isolated incidents. I'm very sorry your parents drilled it into you that blacks are less than "the higher races". Maybe you've never faced racism, but it's some horrible shit. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I truthfully cannot tell if you are trolling, because if you are, you're a damn good one. We would all wish you back to the 19th century if we could, believe us. On reflecting this conversation, I can't tell if you are actually racist, or just **//really//** stupid. Good for you that you don't have much melanin in your skin. I bet being lightskinned makes you feel good about yourself but too bad that doesn't make you better in the slightest than the most ghetto, fucked up drug addict black guy on the street. It must be hard living a life where you simply lack brain capability to comprehend the idea people are more than what they're born with.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I didn't say which part of Asia I'm from. Don't assume I have light skin. And yeah I've faced racism. Nothing extreme. Ooh people call me names, how terrible. I'm not going and beating anyone so they can suck it up, just like me. I'm not trolling, just saying what I think. And it's actually pretty easy living without being able to comprehend the idea people are more than what they're born with. I don't even understand that. We're all born with skin and bones, that's kind of just what we are. Humans are made up of organs, blood, bone, muscle, and a few other things but nothing more than that. I don't know what you're trying to say.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I just simply do not comprehend why you would prejudice against someone who's black simply because they are darker than you. When someone prejudices me over my race, I get pissed, and I have a right to be. I didn't choose my race, and my actions are not a result of my race. I can get good grades like an Asian would, and I could be good at baseball like a white person would, or I can speak fluent Spanish like a Latino would. Nothing restricts me and nothing entices me just because they are "what Asians do/don't do". Do you do certain things because you're Asian? Is there something nearly Asians do because of their ethnicity (not their culture)? I understand why you would stereotype blacks to be the ghetto dumbass on drugs. There are a lot of them like that. But they are that way not because of their dark skin, but like I said, because of their circumstance. Not because they're black, but because they're poor. Very big difference. You're not racist if you dislike the ghetto, but you are if you dislike the African race as a whole.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I don't hate Africans as a whole. How many times do I have to say it? I like the ones in Africa. I don't understand why you would get pissed. People are racist to me ad I'm just like "Okay. You go on thinking that, son." It's not worth boiling your blood over. And like I said, even if they're poor, they can do something about it! I know people who've been dirt poor and they got scholarships to college, became successful. Why can't the black people do it?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Because they go to shit schools! I told you that! How can you expect someone to get a 2400 on the SATs when their school hardly even mentions college and they have to work part time to support their family? Racism is just fucking rude and anyone who does it is just of low intelligence because they fail to understand there is zero correlation between a person's skin and a person's actions. End of story. I don't think you're actually racist, to be honest. I think you just hate ghetto people. You might not come across "normal" black people everyday but I do. There are a lot in my town and they aren't ghetto at all. This environment lets me know that //people who live in ghettos are ghetto.// Black people =/= ghetto, it's just that most people in ghettos are black. Go to a well-off town and you'll find a lot of black people who don't murder other people. (Nearly all teens do weed so I can't promise you they won't.) I don't think you should prejudice against all blacks in America. Just dislike the ones that are ghetto. See, we've come to a great point. Dislike people for their //actions//, not their skin color.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Holy pointlessness.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I agree with what spareseconds was saying. As a child, your parents and environment have an influence over you, and of course it makes an impression. But after a certain point I firmly believe that any sort of prejudice that remains is very much your choice.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You don't choose to be homophobic or sexist then either.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I never really thought of racism as being a choice before. I have never really studied psychology but I guess it could be. People learn from Other people when they are young, so it is really up to how you were brought up.

by Anonymous 11 years ago