Anyone Here Not Racist?

[Raptorsin7]

I know that I have a lot of racial bias and racist beliefs/ideas and it seems like most, if not all, people have some racial bias. For me it's clear with woman, there are some ethnic groups I find clearly more than others. There are a few more examples, but the type of racism isn't really the point here.

Can anyone here honestly say they have no racial bias in any circumstance. I consider racial bias in dating preference to be a form of racism but I guess there could be some cases where a person has  a bias that isn't racist. I've seen some people here claim that ethnic preference isn't racist, but if you have an ethnic group and the vast majority find their ethnicity undesirable I think that should be analyzed as a racial issue, but feel free to disagree.

I'm assuming that my racist tendencies will lessen the more I grow but I wonder if all of it will be wiped away. Has anyone hadtheir racial paradigm shattered in a major way? Maybe you thought x group was bad in some way but now have turned completely and now said group is considered great or something.

Sorry(but not really) for clickbait title haha

Edited April 12, 2021 by Raptorsin7

[Rilles]

I think racism lies on a spectrum, you can be extremely racist or you can be unconciously slightly racist, for example, sometimes if I see an Arab man on the train I will think "terrorist?" and feel a teensy bit nervous but at the same time I know its because I have been taught this by post 9/11 culture, I dont make a big story out of it, I just let myself feel it and move on with my day, I dont think its possible to eradicate your bias 100%, not in this climate, were way too underdeveloped for that. 

But its important to do Shadow Work on racism, if you are afraid to be racist and get triggered when someone calls you out and constantly have to put up a front of being the good guy you probably have some hidden biases you havent worked out. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Rilles

[Raptorsin7]

@Rilles What level should we tolerate though, I think that's the tough question.

The most salient example for me is dating preference, and I bet it's heavily ingrained in a lot of people to have some bias. But at the same time it's really not fair to certain groups who drew the short end of the stick based on culture. On the surface it seems harmless but then when you consider stats like either 25 or 50 % of black woman will not get married because of subtle racism and racial bias.

I can see a lot of racial witch hunts coming in the future, especially politically, and because most people have some bias things are going to get ugly haha

Edited April 12, 2021 by Raptorsin7

[Raptorsin7]

8 minutes ago, Rilles said:

But its important to do Shadow Work on racism, if you are afraid to be racist and get triggered when someone calls you out and constantly have to put up a front of being the good guy you probably have some hidden biases you havent worked out. 

I'm hoping it something that falls away on it's own with more meditation. I'm pretty selfish here I live in a first world country and racism isn't something that majorly affects me

[Rilles]

2 minutes ago, Raptorsin7 said:

What level should we tolerate though, I think that's the tough question.

Its circumstantial, we have to look at it case by case. Sometimes things are obviously racist and we should call that out, other times its more messy. The problem is that racism is getting more hidden and dogwhistly which narrows anti-racists focus too, what is racist today wasnt as racist 20 years ago, and thats good, we need to become more conscious, but conscious doesnt mean witchhunts, conscious means education and changing the culture, for example, how is Hollywood portraying Arabs in their movies?

[Rilles]

4 minutes ago, Raptorsin7 said:

I'm hoping it something that falls away on it's own with more meditation. I'm pretty selfish here I live in a first world country and racism isn't something that majorly affects me

Meditation has never helped me change my core beliefs, Shadow Work and Deconstruction is better for that, radical honesty and questioning of the mind. 

[Raptorsin7]

@Rilles How many beliefs do people hold that are due to a lack of experiencing love?

Seems like meditation is the thing that would be best for going to the root of negative core beliefs. Where is the room for racism when you are in love

[Rilles]

6 minutes ago, Raptorsin7 said:

@Rilles How many beliefs do people hold that are due to a lack of experiencing love?

Seems like meditation is the thing that would be best for going to the root of negative core beliefs. Where is the room for racism when you are in love

It takes an extreme amount of meditation to reach those states and they probably wont last. Meditation is important, dont get me wrong, but its a tool, for deeply hidden biases there are better tools. 

Deconstructing thought patterns helped me overcome social anxiety, so I know this works first hand. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Rilles

[Epikur]

Visualize getting intimate with the mentioned group some might suggest.

[Consept]

I think it would be impossible to grow up, pretty much in any country, and not have some kind of bias, simply because you were taught by media, parents, friends, peers, school and all of those groups would have bias' especially if its not a very diverse area that you grew up in. These bias' are almost needed for social cohesion and to create an in group, the issue is that we are becoming more unified and globalised so these, once useful ideologies are now becoming more of a hinderance to progress than anything. 

 

1 hour ago, Raptorsin7 said:

I can see a lot of racial witch hunts coming in the future, especially politically, and because most people have some bias things are going to get ugly haha

Yeah this can happen, the reason i see is that when it comes to racism, most people dont class themselves as racist but they see the racism in others. Really i think the solution is looking at where you are racist and understanding that others may have that within them as well, so instead of demonising them, root it out in yourself. If everyone did this there wouldnt be racism, shaming people out of racism may have its uses but i dont think its the best way to approach it. 

[Blackhawk]

Of course racial bias in dating preference isn't racism.

 

“Racism is a disease in society. We’re all equal. I don’t care what their colour is, or religion. Just as long as they’re human beings they’re my buddies.”
— Mandawuy Yunupingu

 

The people I dislike most are criminals, people who harm other beings, and people who are super racists, in short: bad people.

 

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

Then why do you accept that thought?

Edited April 12, 2021 by Blackhawk

[Rilles]

12 minutes ago, Blackhawk said:

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

Then why do you accept that thought?

Dont play dumb. You know exactly what that quote means. Its a finger pointing to something, dont stare at the finger. 

[Blackhawk]

4 minutes ago, Rilles said:

Dont play dumb. You know exactly what that quote means. Its a finger pointing to something, dont stare at the finger. 

Oic I should accept that thought.

We accept some thoughts and don't accept some other thoughts anyway..

But yes maybe it's good to be aware of that stuff.

[Blackhawk]

33 minutes ago, Rilles said:

Dont play dumb. You know exactly what that quote means. Its a finger pointing to something, dont stare at the finger. 

Weird things start happening when you go meta on even the teaching. It's like killing Buddha on the road. You become alone.

Edited April 12, 2021 by Blackhawk

[vladorion]

5 hours ago, Raptorsin7 said:

@Rilles What level should we tolerate though, I think that's the tough question.

The most salient example for me is dating preference, and I bet it's heavily ingrained in a lot of people to have some bias. But at the same time it's really not fair to certain groups who drew the short end of the stick based on culture. On the surface it seems harmless but then when you consider stats like either 25 or 50 % of black woman will not get married because of subtle racism and racial bias.

I can see a lot of racial witch hunts coming in the future, especially politically, and because most people have some bias things are going to get ugly haha

Are black men also racist towards black women?

[Consept]

55 minutes ago, vladorion said:

Are black men also racist towards black women?

Yes, maybe racist isnt the word id use but definitely a lot of bias against black women from a percentage of black men in terms of dating preference. The root is obviously the european beauty standards that have been the norm in the western world, it makes sense that the type of people who rule would promote their own people as the most beautiful. This subtle and previously not so subtle conditioning can have a massive effect on people. So much so that a lot of black and south asian women bleach their skin, in fact the global skin lightening market is worth more than $8.3 billion. So you could even make the argument that black women have bias against black women, colourism within the black community is also a thing. 

So its a very deep topic that is ingrained in the minds of everyone pretty much. 

[Carl-Richard]

No one is perfect ?

[Epikur]

16 hours ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

I really don't think there's anyone on this planet without an at least slight racial bias. Surely we all have romantic biases towards other races, sure we can say we don't but then sill act on this biases on the dating market.

This gives munition to raice baiters and opportunists. You get called out because you agree that you are biased that is racist and good bye job perspectives and good bye social life.

[Tetcher]

What a strange thread, the first few posts seem to be implying that having a positive bias towards interacting with or dating people of a certain race means there is racism against the other races ?

Racism has negative connotation, calling someone a racist is like calling someone homophobic or antisemitic. Being a racist is having a negative bias against people from a certain race. One can have a positive bias towards people from a given race without being negatively biased against other races, simply lack of positive bias towards them or "neutral". I would never call such person a racist. Especially that the positive bias is simply explained by their culture, how they grew up and the people they've been exposed to from childhood, it's not even a bias in terms of likes and dislikes but just the fact that the person knows how to interact with a certain category of people rather than the others.

Edited April 13, 2021 by Tetcher

[Raptorsin7]

@Tetcher I think for most people having a positive view on something  carries some implicit inherent negativity towards its opposite.

Take dating preferences. I like woman with straight hair and fair skin, and the preference seems harmless enough when you consider there are significant portions of the population that desire these traits, theres going to be a negative effect on this groups lacking these characters.

If you have 10% of a pop with curly hair and darkskin but 95% of the pop prefers the opposite features that disparity is going to have real effects and in the modern climate this is a racist issue. 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Raptorsin7