Common Courtesy...
07-15-2009, 09:40 AM
#92
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This is sort of strange and a dangerous topic for "internet" discussion. I have to admit that since coming here to the Bay Area, I have been mildly racially prejudiced, but at the same time if you took a picture of me and my best friends together we would look like some sort of racially PC advertisement. I am not an *******, I am not mean, but seeing the same exact things over and over and over - well if you don't see a pattern you are blind. One could list numerous examples showing details about a car, dress, personal actions, many other things without knowing what race the person is and most likely pick out the race with frightening accuracy. This does not mean that person is racist, rather, they are paying attention to the surroundings around them.
At the same time, the most irrationally racially prejudiced people I have met are without a doubt always the ones who label others as racist. I also think it's funny that I can jokingly talk about a douche with white sunglasses driving a lifted black pickup covered in NOR*CAL stickers and driving like an ***, but any of the other reality-based stereotypes are taboo to mention and instantly make me a racist. I am far from it, and the only thing important on this internet forum is that I know that for myself.
I have known racist people that take things far further than being racially prejudiced. Some of these people have been in my family. This has made me extra sensitive to my own prejudices as I do not want to be like these people or remembered for those reasons say like my great grandfather for example. I have been told I couldn't do certain things because of my race. I have been told that certain people hate me because of the color of my skin. I have been followed for miles on my moto by a group of folks who were waving bats and screaming about how they were going to kick my haole ***, but I know these guys are simply stupid, bored and looking for someone, anyone, to hate - these people come in every color. I have DEFINITELY been the victim of racial prejudice growing up, but it does not affect my feelings toward the specific race of people who did these things, in fact some of my best friends are of this race and it makes no difference to me. Hard to explain I guess. Maybe it's because I have seen people of different races do this to others for years and throughout history, and it polarizes it not as a racial issue but as a problem with human nature.
The best people I have ever met, of any race, are the people that are not concerned with all this bull**** and are living THEIR lives with self esteem regardless of their background/last name/skin color/etc. The people that shoot out knee-jerk "that's racist" type responses in a serious manner be it internet posts or in person, are the ones with the issues. One that can sit back and laugh off anything is going to make it. One that sees a person of any race and makes decisions based on that is probably a racist and asking for trouble with the specific race they have chosen to have issues with. If you focus your attention on anything, you can realize it in your life. This is true across the board and is reflected clearly every time two people look at the same item and see different things.
At the same time, the most irrationally racially prejudiced people I have met are without a doubt always the ones who label others as racist. I also think it's funny that I can jokingly talk about a douche with white sunglasses driving a lifted black pickup covered in NOR*CAL stickers and driving like an ***, but any of the other reality-based stereotypes are taboo to mention and instantly make me a racist. I am far from it, and the only thing important on this internet forum is that I know that for myself.
I have known racist people that take things far further than being racially prejudiced. Some of these people have been in my family. This has made me extra sensitive to my own prejudices as I do not want to be like these people or remembered for those reasons say like my great grandfather for example. I have been told I couldn't do certain things because of my race. I have been told that certain people hate me because of the color of my skin. I have been followed for miles on my moto by a group of folks who were waving bats and screaming about how they were going to kick my haole ***, but I know these guys are simply stupid, bored and looking for someone, anyone, to hate - these people come in every color. I have DEFINITELY been the victim of racial prejudice growing up, but it does not affect my feelings toward the specific race of people who did these things, in fact some of my best friends are of this race and it makes no difference to me. Hard to explain I guess. Maybe it's because I have seen people of different races do this to others for years and throughout history, and it polarizes it not as a racial issue but as a problem with human nature.
The best people I have ever met, of any race, are the people that are not concerned with all this bull**** and are living THEIR lives with self esteem regardless of their background/last name/skin color/etc. The people that shoot out knee-jerk "that's racist" type responses in a serious manner be it internet posts or in person, are the ones with the issues. One that can sit back and laugh off anything is going to make it. One that sees a person of any race and makes decisions based on that is probably a racist and asking for trouble with the specific race they have chosen to have issues with. If you focus your attention on anything, you can realize it in your life. This is true across the board and is reflected clearly every time two people look at the same item and see different things.
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