Is uneasiness around people of other ethnicity the same thing as racism?

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Uneasiness not as in "I hope that black man is not a murderous crack addict like so many of his brethren" but more in a silly "must not mention the many liver spots" way. That's not racism, or is it?

― loggedout, Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:16 (twenty years ago)

let's just say it is

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:20 (twenty years ago)

"Don't mention the war!"

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:26 (twenty years ago)

No, that's not racism. Racism is a system of thought that sees others as inferior... the problem you speak is just a lack of experience, and that leads to unease about saying the wrong thing or something. You can try and do something about it, or just keep your mouth shut.

― andy --, Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)

Is being uneasy around old people the same thing as agism? Because old people are really creepy, and they smell weird.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:34 (twenty years ago)

"omg i am so uneasy around this person, they're one of those people, and i know what those kind of people are like, i read it in the paper! still, at least i'm not a racist, thats some consolation"

― terry lennox. (gareth), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:36 (twenty years ago)

Is being uneasy around Kylie Minogue the same thing as rockism?

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:37 (twenty years ago)

Is being uneasy around dead people the same thing as corpsism? Because dead people are really creepy, and they smell weird.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:37 (twenty years ago)

what about when it's not lack of experience, but bad experience?

when you feel uncomfortable because you've had a couple experiences where you have confronted a couple of people (of a different race than yourself) because of their negative behavior, and immediately get it shouted back at you "you are a racist!"

when it was not the race that caused the confrontation, but the behavior.

it's not a pleasant thing to be accused of racism - but the problem is, now i suspect that it may have changed my behavior to avoidance, because i am afraid of being put in situations in the first place.

― Different Logged Out, Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)

Wait. Now, what's this about black people and liver spots?

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:39 (twenty years ago)

The correct response is "I'm not a racist, I'm an assholist."

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, sometimes they smell really bad.

― Confounded (Confounded), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:41 (twenty years ago)

DLO, sometimes you will get unjustly accused of racism. Big deal. Don't go avoiding people 'cause you're worried they might say something mean to you. I'm white and I don't avoid white people because they tend, statistically, to say more craptastic things to me than other groups.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:43 (twenty years ago)

Often 'racism' gets thrown around when really they mean prejudice or stereotyping.

― andy --, Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:47 (twenty years ago)

Interesting:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/race/story/0,,1598608,00.html

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:53 (twenty years ago)

If I'm the only black face in a club full of white people (which doesn't happen me as often as it used to during my misguided indie phase in the 80s) I do get a bit uneasy...

The only thing that happens in that case is some posh white kid asks me to sell him drugs.

― Stone Monkey (Stone Monkey), Thursday, 27 October 2005 15:59 (twenty years ago)

I was watching some random band at Glastonbury a couple of years ago, standing next to a huge big tall black with equally huge big massive dredlocks and so on. By the time the 15th posh white kid had asked him if he had any drugs, he finally snapped and said "Why the fuck does everyone keep asking me that?" in a really, really posh upper-middle class voice.

I would have ROTFL, but it was too muddy.

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Thursday, 27 October 2005 16:24 (twenty years ago)

why liver spots? black people all have liver spots? WTF?

― ummmmmmmmmm, Thursday, 27 October 2005 16:37 (twenty years ago)

Maybe it's the dredlocks. Back when I had mine the little bastards wouldn't leave me alone when I was out clubbing and as this was Manchester in the early 90's, the supply of posh, white, dickheads slumming it in the club capital of Britain was particularly high.

Them (In Estuary English): Got any gear mate?
Me (In my booming Shakespearean [so I'm told] voice): I'm not your mate and I haven't got any gear. Now, fuck off!

― Stone Monkey (Stone Monkey), Thursday, 27 October 2005 16:52 (twenty years ago)

You weren't standing next to a giggling loon at a rather muddy Glastonbury a couple of years ago were you?

If so, you have a very fit missus.

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Thursday, 27 October 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)

Uneasiness not as in "I hope that Jew is not a usurous Zionist like so many of his brethren" but more in a silly "must not mention the hook nose" way. That's not racism, or is it?

-- loggedout (my.wif...), Today 12:16 PM. (later)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 27 October 2005 16:56 (twenty years ago)

Oh brother.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Thursday, 27 October 2005 17:03 (twenty years ago)

If I give the impression or suggest that someone's views about race are simplistic, their reaction is to act so shocked that I usually feel obliged go on the defensive. And that annoys me. Why can't I suggest that someone isn't as liberal as they would like to think without causing a scene?

Of course, one reason might be because I have touched a nerve, but I also believe that a lot of people are scared of being wrongly outed as a racist.

That hit the nail on the head. Anyone who takes pride in being an intellectual person is going to take it hard when someone infers that they are racist. Bigotry is commonly accepted as the antithesis of enlightenment, so I think the thing a lot of people fear the most is to have someone expose their prejudices - both to themselves and in front of other people. This thread was started by someone who was so afraid of how their fairly banal and innocent question would reflect on them, that they logged out before asking it.

I've noticed a lot of that on this board because:
A) A lot of the people on this board consider themselves to be intellectuals, and
B) Because posters like the person who started this topic know that people of all races, nationalities, genders, and sexual orientation contribute regularly to this board, and they are afraid of either accidentally offending people they like and respect (or perhaps they are just afraid to have their reputation ruined).

The way we discuss these issues "in private" as opposed to in front of or with the subjects of these discussions is different - even among non-racist/homophobic/misogynist liberal types - and that's part of the problem in my opinion.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Thursday, 27 October 2005 17:28 (twenty years ago)

I will say that the original poster worded their question crudely, in such a way that it seems like they were just trying to troll, but either way I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Thursday, 27 October 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

wwldd?

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/tv_pix/emmys/emmy_awards_after_party_2004_photos/_group_photos/chris_rock2.jpg

― jagged little filly (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 27 October 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)

http://benicialiving.com/images/uploads/surrounded.jpg

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 27 October 2005 20:31 (twenty years ago)

Liberals, with their peculiar intellectual fetishizations of minority cultures, are often the most racist of all.

― shookout (shookout), Thursday, 27 October 2005 21:46 (twenty years ago)

"liberals"

― jagged little filly (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 27 October 2005 21:47 (twenty years ago)

http://www.cel-ebration.com/ITS-GREAT-PUMPKIN-CB-I.jpg

― Remy (x Jeremy), Thursday, 27 October 2005 22:21 (twenty years ago)

Also, ILX has this annoying tendency to refer to any non-anglo group of people as 'minority culture.'

― Remy (x Jeremy), Thursday, 27 October 2005 22:23 (twenty years ago)

"Those Chinamen sure are a wiley minority..."

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 27 October 2005 22:24 (twenty years ago)

where all the retaliatin hokeys at?

― Remy (x Jeremy), Friday, 28 October 2005 17:53 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

i had a little kid maybe 8 years old yell "THIS ISN'T A WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD" at me and my non-white girlfriend 3 times the other day. His older brother was trying to get him to shut up.

― GET EQUIPPED WITH BUBBLE LEAD (ex machina), Tuesday, 3 January 2006 07:53 (twenty years ago)

What if you're uneasy around lots of people of the same ethnicity? I get uncomfortable and nervous around big groups of other Asians.

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 3 January 2006 08:23 (twenty years ago)

is uneasiness around people the same thing as misanthropy?

― Yawn (Wintermute), Tuesday, 3 January 2006 08:25 (twenty years ago)

shyness is nice, but...

― it was jody that killed the beast (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 3 January 2006 08:45 (twenty years ago)

jon, u gotta grab one of those little animals and swing them around, maybe hold one of them down with ur foot and throw an iceball (w/acorns and shit packed in) at him

― I GUARONTEE ::cajun voice:: (Adrian Langston), Tuesday, 3 January 2006 09:14 (twenty years ago)

because I know all about the world, whenever I meet people from other countries I always want to talk abou their country in a manner that would probably be quite annoying to them. So I don't, but instead feel mildly uncomfortable, fearing that I might inadvertantly start asking them about the mad guy they have as a President or whatever. This feeling is particularly extreme if I am in the company of someone from some suckass country where only bad things happen.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Tuesday, 3 January 2006 15:31 (twenty years ago)

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