Why are people racist?

by MrMoe 100 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  MrMoe

  Something on the song thread that i posted, song by Tu Pac, got me to thinking about racisim. Why do people discriminate against people that have different color skin? i understand it is a learned response, but my "elder" father is very racist... and this is how i was raised.

  i don't get it. When i see people treat others differently based upon thier ethinic background, it hurts. People are people. Dark skin, light skin, blue eyes, brown eyes, blonde hair, brown hair, who cares. And racisim runs so much deeper than commets and attitudes. Iot runs so deep, to the way people live, where they live, the chances in life they get. Why can't this change? Why aren't the governments of the world trying to change all of this? Educate the people, actually have a true interest in them. All of us have a heart, brain, set of lungs, so why? i just don't get it. Why even classify skin color? I mean fill out a job application and i am asked if i am black or white or asian or hispanic. This is wrong.

  Isn't thier beauty in different cultures? i think so. Human form is so breath taking, in all the colors of the rainbow. Just don't get it... and racisim truly saddens me.

  Amanda
• 

  minimus

  because of HATRED
• 

  Incense_and_Peppermints

  Why are people racist?

  because they're ignorant fools!
• 

  VioletAnai

  Me too Amanda.

  There is a program on Racial Prejudice only I can't think of it's name. I know Blue Eyes is in the title - run by an older woman, she based her prejudices on blue eyes to show the ridiculousness of it, she soon puts people in their place and makes you think just what racism is. Sometimes we could be guilty of it and not even know. It's a real eye opener. If only I could remember the name.

  Does anyone else remember or know the program I'm talking about?

  Edited by - Violetanai on 29 July 2002 23:7:50
• 

  MrMoe

  Why see in black? Why see in white?

  "Oh yeah, her, the black girl standing behind the counter"

  "Oh, yeah the little white girl standing over there"

  INSTEAD OF

  "The girl with a pink shirt"

  "The little girl with the blue sunglasses on and red ribbons in her hair."

  Seriously, i find the whole thing so painful. Will the world ever get past this? Will they ever get over differences? i find it more childish than 2 children who are fighting over which family has more money or who has a better car. It's just plain stupid and yet the chain reaction is so much moreserious than this.

  God damn it, stop. Get over it, be human and live life. Remove the blinders and embrace society. Be the HUMAN race for once.

  Ever see the movie A Time To Kill? At the end, he says, now imagine she is white. Made me realize a LOT of things. Never saw myself the same after that movie.

  Edited by - MrMoe on 29 July 2002 23:9:38
• 

  one

  Ignorance

  lack of proper education

  just as with most other wrong human actitude
• 

  minimus

  MR.MOE...is it so wrong or racist to describe a person's color or nationality?
• 

  SpiderMonkey

  ...and fear. Fear of finding out that what you were taught is wrong, and fear of growth. The really sad thing, I find, is that when confronted the racist will usually spew out all sorts of "arguments" and "proof" that their view is correct. I don't think the problem originates in hatred; I think it originates in a history of ignorance, coupled with a fear of growth, the unknown, and change, which have led to hatred when put all together. I think the hatred is a mask for the fear. It's pathetic, I agree.
• 

  blondie

  You've got to be taught to hate and fear
  You've got to be taught from year to year
  It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear.
  You've got to be carefully taught.

  You've got to be taught to be afraid
  Of people whose eyes are oddly made
  and people whose skin is a different shade
  You've got to be carefully taught.

  You've got to be taught
  before it's too late
  before you are six or seven or eight
  To hate all the people your relatives hate
  You've got to be carefully taught.
• 

  MrMoe

  I am going to make a prediction...

  I see that the generation of those in my age group have different viewpoints. We are different. We see things in a different light, we sense things on a different level.

  I predict by the time i am old that the world will be one of 2 things. Half dead and a total lost cause OR we will begin to embrace each other. We will become united and aware and overcome our hatred, out fear and see beyond the surface things, embrace the differences.

  Amanda