Are you racist?

[Alex]

The ways in which I'm "racist" tend to be probabilistic. I put racist in quotes because I'm not necessarily meaning just negative things but simply conclusions based solely on race.

I see a Hispanic person and I know that they are more likely to speak Spanish or have difficulty speaking English but I don't assume that to be true of this particular person. But if I walk into a fast food restaurant and see a Hispanic person working the register I will approach them more mentally prepared to deal with a language barrier than I might be if it were a white person (though of course, it is certainly possible they have a language problem as well).

I know that a black person is more likely to have grown up poor, with imprisoned relatives, and raised by grandparents but I don't assume that to be true about any particular anonymous black person.

No, it wouldn't occur to me that David Goldberg might want bagels and lox, but that is for two reasons: 1) despite the fact that it is also an ethnicity I tend to view Jewishness as primarily religious and I really don't care about religion and 2) I don't view bagels and lox as particularly Jewish. Similarly, when I look at "soul food" I recognize it as really just being poor Southern food (my grandparents ate the same stuff on the farm); it's just that for most Northern whites the first poor Southerners they met were blacks migrating from the south and therefore the food they ate became associated with blacks.

Anyway, I definitely use race to make probabilistic predictions about people but I do that with any other possible clue about people (age, dress, geography) and do my best not to actually act based solely on probabilistic predictions. As long as race is associated with differentiating predictors, "racism" can't really go away and may actually have some value.

But no, I have never liked or disliked somebody simply because of the color of their skin. I may like or dislike behaviors that have some racial correlations (and such correlations almost never anything to do with inherent racial qualities) but I do my best to differentiate correlation from causation.

[Prudence]

Perhaps with racisim there's an element of retaining the initial classification despite evidence to the contrary?

[Alex]

Not that I'm aware of, but then I've spent most of my life in intensely integrated environments (much of the time with whites being a minority). While there are certainly trends that are of worth to note I've spent too much time with the actual people to get too caught up on expecting individuals to match the group average.

Of course, who am I know to? Mostly I'm just opposed to prideful ignorance and that has no racial correlation that I'm aware of.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I come from racist stock-- from farmers, in Michigan. I made it a life goal to get my mother to stop saying "jew him down" the way that she made it her life goal to get her mother to stop saying "n gger." She and I were both successful... and boy am I glad, because racial slurs make my skin crawl.

That said, I'm sure there are ways that I am racist. I have never been particularly into the hip-hop culture in terms of music, or fashion. Is that racist? Or is that preferencial? Are the two mutually exclusive?

I'm the minority on the metro, but it doesn't stop me from smiling at the other people or talking to them. But if someone is loud or aggressive or rude, it doesn't matter if they're white or black or purple polka-dotted, I'm going to shy away.

When it comes to alternative action, I really think our time and energy and money ought to be concentrated on where the problem starts. Why aren't we putting more money into the poorest school districts? If they grow up and remain in the same district, chances are they won't have a lot of money to fund those districts, and if they do they'll probably be moving out of them. You can't help these things retroactively nearly as much as you could have pre-emptively.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

Why aren't we putting more money into the poorest school districts? If they grow up and remain in the same district, chances are they won't have a lot of money to fund those districts, and if they do they'll probably be moving out of them. You can't help these things retroactively nearly as much as you could have pre-emptively.

While a bit off topic, increase in money does not equate to a better education.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

While a bit off topic, increase in money does not equate to a better education.

Yes, that's true. But it's very difficult to establish a better education without that money.

Think of the sad state of textbooks and materials in a poorly-funded school district. And if you don't have enough teachers per student (or qualified enough ones) the quality of education is going to suffer.

(also, if you read the sentence before the one you quoted, I also referred to requiring time and energy to help improve those school districts.)

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

(also, if you read the sentence before the one you quoted, I also referred to requiring time and energy to help improve those school districts.)

Understood, and I wasn't meaning to take you out of context.

[Gemini Cricket]

So...

French people stink.
Southern Americans are uneducated.
Black people are violent.
White people are out of touch.
Mexican people steal.
Germans are Nazis.
Americans are oppressive.
Polish people are stupid.
Italians are mafia members.
Scottish people are tight with money.
Chinese people are cheap.
Japanese people are electronics wizards.
Koreans are the stepchildren of Asia.
Native Americans are alcoholics.
Hawaiians are lazy.
Portuguese people are dumb.
Samoans are thugs.
The British are superior to everyone else.
Finnish people live in their saunas.
Russians are Communists.
Anyone from the Middle East is a terrorist.

Did I miss any?


Edited to add: I'm several of the above.

[Prudence]

What about the drunken Irish?

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Prudence

What about the drunken Irish?

Yep, forgot them.