Have you ever interrupted someone because they started their sentence with "im not a racist, but..."?
how did that pan out for you?
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Its like saying: “No offense, but…”
no, I’ve never done that but I usually follow it with ’...which is racist, but thanks for playing’
Yea totally LOL It was weird cause it was another black girl. She found out that I was dating a white guy and she said OH so you got a white man? I was like damn right. Prob? She was like Well I’m not racist or nothin but…And i said BUT you can keep ur comment in ur dome before I go upside your dome. So what you wanna stay with your own race or your family told you it was wrong. This is me and my life. I love my man damn what you think LOL I think it went well.
@LuhvKiller hehe yea, sounds like you set her straight allright.
@poisonedantidote for real and we were at work too so it could have definilty escalated haha!
@LuhvKiller aye, got to be careful at work, people are annoyed enought just by having to be there in the first place.
When a person gets to ”...but…”, lean your head a little to the side and say, ”Really? Hmm.”
@aprilsimnel i normally just say “but im going to be racist anyway”
this is normally followed by them saying “hu?” i do the same some times when people start with “with all due respect”.
everyone has prejudices and preconceived ideas about other people and especially other races. That’s how the human mind works. Everyone is racist, some people choose to hide it, and others try to overcome it, but it is always there.
@grntwlkr thats quite true. i have even cought my self doing things like this in the past. i think it has to do with tribalism. everyone is more comfortable with their own kind. be that kind a race, a taste in music, a fashion style or other thing.
i wonder how long it is going to take for it to properly disappare.
I don’t think I’ve ever interrupted someone out loud, but I’m always like “wtf? seriously?” in my head.
@Facade yes, sometimes you do need to bite your tongue.
I feel like if you bite your tongue you’re not really standin up for yourself or what you believe. They have no problem with voicing their opinion, whats wrong with voicing yours?
@LuhvKiller well, sometimes its someone who is obviously missing a few screws. and you could end up being called a race traitor or something and it could get ugly. i think the situation does require some consideration.
as grntwlkr said we all are racist, but most of us have suppressed these feelings. As humanes we always separate into ‘them’ and ‘us’, from early childhood. Race is most evident so it is the most likely used, but if we get over that theres: religions, sexual orientations, lifestyles, politics… for example even if your ok with your child converting religions, and being gay (very rare tolerance) you probably wouldnt like them being a self-chosen hobo? Another example hippies, we take them as some of the most accepting people, well they are still prejudice against ‘the man’ right?
@Alek2407
yea, its really quite interesting how deep it goes. how something as simple as a change of clothes can change a total strangers view about you.
Yeah I do. Usually it’s involuntary, but what comes out isn’t words, it’s just “ughhhhhhhhhhhh”
its instinct, animals separate into heards for protection, then the heards compete, happens in most mammals. We may not see it but horses are prejudice to horses that smell different=from other heards. People are very ‘visual’ so we base it on skin color which used to up until them early 1900s connect to our culture aka ‘heards’ (for the most part) Now we as a society are smart enough to at least give others a chance, but truth be told if i saw 3 mexicans in LA in all read with bananas playing rap music i would sorta run, they may be good people but um yah…
Ha ha ha!
@LuhvKiller: “keep it inside your dome before I go upside your dome” is my new favorite phrase. Thanks.
@Alek2407 there must be some truth to it too though i would imagine. otherwise i dont see how such stereotypes would still exist.
take the claim that “chinese restaurants cook cats and dogs” , it is quite true that in china they do eat dog meat. and there probably have been quite a few cases of chinese restaurants in the west serving dog as something else. i just wonder where the exaggeration or missconceptions come in to play.
for example, the claim that “black people are criminals”, well, if you look at jail figures it is plain to see there are indeed a lot more black people in prison per capita. so i guess it all just comes from the erroneus assumption that they are actually all guilty.
Well considering that there is no such thing as immoral thought the comment that everyone is racist isn’t true. Unless they commit to an action that discriminates another for their skin colour they’re not racist. Right?
@breedmitch yea lol, that got to my tickled my funny bone too.
@acidlogik
yes, thanks for that. i would just like to clarify that there is indeed a hell of a difference between casual racism and the real hardcore stuff. we should not put racial jokes on the same level as the KKK’s actions for example. it detracts from the seriousness of the problem.
and also, how curious that even the statement ’‘everyone is racist’’ is actually a generalization and could even be seen as a prejudice in and of its self.
@acidlogik as poison just said racims, or prejudice more exactly, can be as much change your seat on a bus as a group of ‘suspicious looking’ people sat behind you. No cross burning there!
wow im making tons of typos!
@Alek2407
here is an interesting thought. do you think it would help, if we actually learned to forgive certain levels of prejudice, and just accept them as an inevitable part of language.
i think we do tend to generalize things a lot us humans.
and yea, no worries on the typos. im immune to them by now. i dont even see them half the time.
I just give them an “Eat shit” look right off.
The worst racists are those who think that because they’re whatever they are, they can’t be racist… So any racist thing they do/say isn’t racist because they’re the ones saying it and they can’t be racist because of who they are, so they can do whatever and it isn’t racist. :P People are stupid.
@avvooooooo
yea, i have noticed that too. but more along the lines that they feel its ok because they preficed their question with the all mighty magical “im not being racist, but…”
when they see it has failed, the normal thing i find is they attempt to roll with good old “i have lots of friends that are ‘x’ quality”
Openly interrupted? No, not that I can recall. Stopped giving a crap what exited their pie hold after the word “but”? Absolutely… practically every time. ;-)
I don’t think I interrupt, but I do inform them that they are indeed racist.
No, because I’m usually that person.
No response you give is likely to sway their opinion. Starting a confrontation will solve nothing.
You know, I was raised by racist thinking parents. I sometimes question things that I am going to say with this question, “Could this be misconstrued as racist?” Not because I am a racist, but because I spent the majority of my life around them. Even my childhood friends were racist. When I worked for my older brother back in 1993, we were going to a house to replace some windows, and he told me, “Watch your mouth, these people are colored.” I just looked at him like he was insane and told him, “Colored is what people in the fifties said, this is the nineties, the people you are talking about are black, unless you have gotten a remodeling job from some green or blue people.” He just stared at me like I was green.
Sometimes I wonder if I am making a racial faux pas, and I stop, hoping not to offend someone. That is when I ask the people I am around if it is correct to refer to them by certain racial definitions. I want to know, and I have no desire to make anyone uncomfortable, least of all myself. So if you hear me (read me) call someone something that you find offensive, remember, I have already discussed it with someone else and they saw no problem with it. Correct me if you feel the need. just don’t be an asshole about it.
I don’t interrupt them, but I frequently stop listening to them. There is generally no point in saying anything to them about it because they believe that if they say “I’m not racist but…” then they can’t possibly be racist.
This is a hard one for me because I have used that phrase myself and I truly do not think I am racist at all. I have always taken people on a one by one basis. I don’t like to think I would ever say anything deliberately to hurt someone else based on their race. It seems that almost everything I say can end up offending someone, maybe I better just get out the duct tape.
But I am curious, do you feel that anyone who does use it is automatically racist themselves?
Because it seems that if you believe that, then you yourself are putting another in a group or class or profiling them not by skin color but by words.
I hope I don’t get crucified for this, I am being honest.
@rooeytoo I think there are such things as observations that are not based in racism.
For example, I noticed that the percentage of people in town who voted for the African American candidate for mayor in the election yesterday is quite similar to the percentage of African American people in town and the same was true of the Caucasian candidate. Some people might take offense to this observation, but that’s all it is.
@avvooooooo – I think that is true, somethings are hard not to notice. But I also think some people would find that offensive. And that makes me nervous because they are 2 totally different things. And if the truth be known, probably the percentage that voted for the different candidates was made up of a mixture of both. I would hope that neither group would support a candidate just because their skin tones matched.
Usually I just snicker to myself and wait for whatever they are going to enlighten me with after they have used the “I’m not racist…but” line.
However, I have been known to use the line “I hope this doesn’t sound racist but” (this is usually followed by a question about race or culture etc ie “why do the majority of black people have good singing voices” which is a question I asked my singing teacher recently!) I am a bit paranoid when it comes to what is and isn’t politically correct when it comes to discussions about race. I’m always worried that I am going to say the wrong thing and appear racist or worse, offend someone.
Btw I think the song “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist” from Avenue Q sums up human nature perfectly and I think everyone should come to term with this instead of sitting in denial which is when the “I’m not racist…but” line rears it’s ugly head!
Racism is the product of the rational mind. Fear of the unknown is an automatic response and part of our genetic legacy. People can’t turn it off. But people have a choice to turn on their rational minds. Racists limit their mental capacity to that of the “reptilian” brain functions.
“No? Well, I am, you <racial slur>.”
When someone does that, I just do a face/palm and give them my best “long suffering” look. I might mutter “oy” or something of that nature.
If it is someone I am friends with, odds are the person is being serious about not being racist and, after they have made whatever statement they are going to make, I point out how silly the preface made it sound.
Regarding people I am not friends with, sometimes a statement like that is not followed by a racist remark but, in my experience, it is usually followed by a racist remark. I then point out hypocrisy if it is, indeed, there.
How that pans out for me is one of two main reactions: extreme embarrassment or anger. I try to ease the embarrassment and, well, I might take a bit of amusement at the anger as I thank them for showing their true selves.
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