Racism? You decide. - Page 4

On June 05 2010 18:56 itzme_petey wrote:


While i hate posts that just have a youtube video. I really want to thank jumperer for posting the vid.

The overwhelming majority support my actions and do not think I am a racist. I feel that my perception of my neighborhood (mainly minorities) is contrasted by the normality of a white neighborhood. Is my neighborhood even that ghetto? Or is it because there are alot of minorities that makes it ghetto.

The two black males that walked towards my gf and I, they appeared ghetto only because they had on clothing I deemed as ghetto. One guy wore jeans and a wifebeater and the other shorts and a t-shirt (over sized and old). If those same clothes appeared on a college student in Austin, Tx (my usual residence), I wouldnt think the clothes are too ghetto (even if they were on a black student).

I think the media, my own fears, and insecurities formed the idea that poor/ghetto = dangerous. The only thing those two black men were guilty of were being 1. Poor 2. Black 3. Walking together.

However, if given a second chance, I would still follow my instincts and walk the other way. Its funny how I can justify my actions by telling myself that... in a corporate world situation I would treat a black person the same as a white person. However, in the regular world, if the black guy had "ghetto" clothes on and was poor, then he would be dangerous and threaten my livelihood. Whereas if a white guy had ghetto clothes and was poor, he would probably be only a beggar.

I'm not afraid of whether or not I am the type of racist that shouts out offensive things out of my car or whatever. I am not that type of person. However, I am afraid that I might be the type of person that discriminates subconsciously and therefore adds to the systematic racism that still exists today.

On June 05 2010 21:33 niteReloaded wrote:
How come there's no 'racism' between people of different eye color?

On June 05 2010 20:55 Jibba wrote:
The good news is that you were paying attention, caught it, and now you can actively try to change your behavior in the future. Don't worry, everyone does it. It's impossible to be perfectly immune to it.

On June 05 2010 20:55 Jibba wrote:

The overwhelming majority of TL don't know a lot of things they post about.

You had a reaction of aversive racism. The majority of discrimination that occurs in the US today is aversive. A similar thing is not looking at and feeling uncomfortable when talking to disabled people. Or putting your hands in your pocket when you walk past a black person. These are subconscious reactions based on how you've been socialized.

The good news is that you were paying attention, caught it, and now you can actively try to change your behavior in the future. Don't worry, everyone does it. It's impossible to be perfectly immune to it.

People are going to justify it based on the setting and clothes, but I'd be willing to bet if it were two white boys dressed like that, you would've been fine and then you would've laughed at how ridiculous they looked. Maybe you still would've been scared because of the time and setting, but it'd be less severe.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/opinion/05kristof.html?em

On June 05 2010 22:18 Ramsing wrote:


Are you out of your mind? There's nothing worse then taking that approach into a potentially hostile situation.

If you do not feel safe, then you are not safe. Do what you think will minimize your potential risk in that kind of a situation. You did the right thing, and at this point you're just over-thinking what happened. Ask yourself what would have happened if you had not taken the action you did? Would you have been safer to have ignored those fundamental feelings? You felt those for a damned good reason, and you're short-changing yourself if you think that the next time you should have acted differently. In short, do not ignore your instincts: they will keep you alive and well, whereas taking the high road will rarely do the same.