# Are you a racist? Warning signs **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 7, 2014, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519 "2014-07-07T08:12:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 76
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1501 "2014-08-17T11:12:51Z")
I’m not sure if its being racist but I do notice certain people at work basically stick with their own kind at breaks and lunch and even on the workfloor tend to only talk to members of their own race. Now I dont know if its racist or maybe they just dont feel comfortable or maybe they just dont find “others” to be interesting to talk to. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1502 "2014-08-17T11:44:13Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I’m not sure if its being racist but I do notice certain people at work basically stick with their own kind at breaks and lunch and even on the workfloor tend to only talk to members of their own race. > > Now I dont know if its racist or maybe they just dont feel comfortable or maybe they just dont find “others” to be interesting to talk to. Not sure if this is jest or not, but it’s no more racist than deducing that most young black men listen to black music exclusively, or, at least predominantly. You have no figures to support your deduction, but it’s pretty obvious from repeated observation, and I doubt even the most stringent empiricists would argue against you. Humans associate and collaborate with their kind. It’s not racism, it’s anthropological fact. Now, the reason we do this may be rooted in racism, but acknowledging the fact that we do this is _not_ racism. ---
**Author:** ![JEngelman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@JEngelman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JEngelman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1503 "2014-08-18T00:24:47Z")
If someone calls me a racist I ask, “What did I say that is not true?” I am not a white supremacist. I acknowledge the higher average IQ’s of Orientals and Ashkenazi Jews. White supremacists get angry at me when I remind them that they are not as supreme as they want to think. :D:cool: ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1504 "2014-08-18T00:25:59Z")
> [@JEngelman](#): > > If someone calls me a racist I ask, "What did I say that is not true?’ Pretty much everything. > [@](#): > > I am not a white supremacist. I acknowledge the higher average IQ’s of Orientals and Ashkenazi Jews. White supremacists get angry at me when I remind them that they are not as supreme as they want to think. :D:cool: Sure, you just hate black people and think they’re inferior. ---
**Author:** ![JEngelman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@JEngelman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JEngelman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1505 "2014-08-18T00:30:47Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Sure, you just hate black people and think they’re inferior. ad hominem You attacked your opponent’s character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument. Ad hominem attacks can take the form of overtly attacking somebody, or more subtly casting doubt on their character or personal attributes as a way to discredit their argument. The result of an ad hom attack can be to undermine someone’s case without actually having to engage with it. [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem](https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem) My hatred for criminals knows no racial boundaries. I do not believe that all blacks are criminals. I do not believe that all blacks are less intelligent than all whites. I do not hate all blacks, or even most of them. I do love facts. I do not care if anyone calls me a “racist” or not. I would like for “racist” to become an unacceptable word. It interferes with the dialogue on race we need to be having. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1506 "2014-08-18T00:33:09Z")
> [@JEngelman](#): > > ad hominem > > You attacked your opponent’s character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument. No, I attack your character because it’s shit (based on what you’ve posted so far). You also haven’t responded to my **PM**. I attack your arguments, separately from my attacks on your person, because they are similarly shit. Old shit that we’ve all seen before. Nothing new here. > [@](#): > > My hatred for criminals knows no racial boundaries. > > I do not believe that all blacks are criminals. Nor do I believe that all blacks are less intelligent than all whites. You just think they’re inferior as a group. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1507 "2014-08-18T00:54:25Z")
> [@JEngelman](#): > > It interferes with the dialogue on race we need to be having. The rest of America had this dialogue fifty years ago. Your side lost. So you can either abandon racism and rejoin the majority and cling to your beliefs and hang out with your shrinking circle of fellow racists. But you’re not going to turn back the clock. America will never again be the white dominated country you want it to be. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1508 "2014-08-18T01:22:55Z")
```php ``` > [@JEngelman](#): > > I am not a white supremacist. I acknowledge the higher average IQ’s of Orientals and Ashkenazi Jews. White supremacists get angry at me when I remind them that they are not as supreme as they want to think. :D:cool: Fallacy of the excluded middle. You may or may not be racist, (I don’t know or care), but many racists are not White Supremacists. ---
**Author:** ![JEngelman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@JEngelman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JEngelman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1509 "2014-08-18T01:41:26Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > ```php > > ``` > > Fallacy of the excluded middle. You may or may not be racist, (I don’t know or care), but many racists are not White Supremacists. Another response of mine is, “Define racist. I will tell you if I meet that definition.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1510 "2014-08-18T01:57:26Z")
… And given the BANNED under his username, apparently he did. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1511 "2014-08-18T01:59:57Z")
> [@JEngelman](#): > > Another response of mine is, “Define racist. I will tell you if I meet that definition.” _meh_ I don’t really care, but I do note that if you were racist and did not want to be so identified, you would simply describe yourself in a way to avoid the definition applying to you, regardless of reality. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1512 "2014-08-18T02:03:05Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > … And given the BANNED under his username, apparently he did. Apparently, he only wore white socks. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1513 "2014-08-19T21:55:04Z")
Another warning sign: [You don’t date white women who ever dated a black man because A.I.D.S.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17653456&postcount=215) (_sic_) Also, those women put up with ebonics and probably want it from white guys, or something. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1514 "2020-09-10T03:29:35Z")
Sorry, couldn’t resist the necro. Too many dog whistles to ignore in this one: > [@Is meritocracy overrated?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-meritocracy-overrated/817385/110): > > OK so now that we understand that tests matter. As long as you are using an objective standard and getting the same results, then all things being equal, more diversity \> than less diversity, generally speaking. I think you would have to describe this method more specifically, because right now you might as well be talking about a fire breathing unicorn. No but neither did whites. How is this minority group outperforming everyone, including whites in this deeply racist country? Are the r… Scientific racism at its finest. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1515 "2020-09-10T03:41:18Z")
Culture is the new eugenics. Both arguments are essentially the same. They acknowledge that black people in this country face a wide range of terrible situations. But they deny racism is the cause for any of these terrible situations. Their counterargument is that there must be something inherently wrong with black people. Bad genes or bad culture or something else that’s vaguely defined and shows no evidence of actually existing. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1516 "2020-09-10T16:08:42Z")
Yep. And more of that here: > [@Is meritocracy overrated?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-meritocracy-overrated/817385/120): > > Yes it’s cyclical. What to be done if you aren’t going to put kids in a better situation? We just discussed a few options but what hasn’t been established is that even if poverty was lessened that the differing cultures would put the same emphasis on education. There are some poverty stricken demographics that Do emphasize education and they trend better I have a feeling that that thread is going to be rich for citation in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1517 "2020-09-10T19:13:10Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > I would think every person in every race has done stuff like this. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > …do you find yourself thinking that you’ve said or done the same thing that other person did? Yeah, no matter how Anti-Racist you are, no one’s perfect. We all have blind spots. I work hard to try to squash my own “casual racism” (hey, it’s a lot less work than the active kind). As well as sexism, and ageism, and homophobia, and trans-cluelessness (oh, and general squickiness about everyone else’s sexuality). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1518 "2020-09-10T19:23:41Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Yeah, no matter how Anti-Racist you are, no one’s perfect. We all have blind spots. > > I work hard to try to squash my own “casual racism” (hey, it’s a lot less work than the active kind). As well as sexism, and ageism, and homophobia, and trans-cluelessness (oh, and general squickiness about everyone else’s sexuality). That’s the true issue in my opinion. Some people accept the bigotry that’s within them. Others decide it’s a problem and work on fixing it. I don’t expect perfection in myself or in others. But I do expect to see efforts towards becoming better. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1519 "2020-09-11T12:51:25Z")
This is pretty much how I view the issue myself. I go easy on people for being ignorant or having blind spots if I feel that they’re otherwise people with good intentions; a racist or a bigot is someone who is bigoted and doesn’t feel the need to change their views. They’re comfortable with their own biases and use them to evaluate people. That’s where the most harm comes from. Even so, subconscious bias is a problem in itself, which is how I perceive the importance of movements like BLM. The anti-racist movement isn’t just about going around to see who’s a racist and who’s not; it accepts that people have biases and wants ordinary people to be more aware of them, and to do something about it. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519/1520 "2020-09-14T16:39:25Z")
**Kearsen1** has been on (or rather off) my radar for a while, but absolutely deserves to make this list for great contributions to the “discourse” like this one: > [@Is meritocracy overrated?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-meritocracy-overrated/817385/228): > > Which is why it gets turned back to racism, that is the much easier answer. I happen to agree that it will not be a quick fix, but listening to most folks, they want every problem addressed right now. The opportunities have been equalized you say, oh well the outcomes aren’t even close, so racism! Not many people speaking about the inherent problems within the communities that need to hear it in order to start the change. It is much easier on the ears to blame it on someone else, anyone else. … This part, in particular, is a gem: > Acting white is something that the white community can do jack and shit about. If the other cultures deem the things that white people do as “not for me” when a lot of the things they do also correlate to success, then wow, talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face. In fact, I think that’s it. I put them on ignore for the similarly themed thread about constructed whiteness and their continued dodging and dishonesty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519.md?page=75) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist-warning-signs/692519.md?page=77)