# Are you a racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966 "2017-10-04T17:55:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/1 "2017-10-04T17:55:43Z")
Inspired by [this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=837422) I was originally going to put multi-options - i.e., “I am very racist,” “I am only a little bit,” “I am mostly un-racist,” but decided to just make it a binary option, yes or no. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/2 "2017-10-04T17:58:53Z")
Do you honestly think anyone is going to say “yes” in a public poll? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/3 "2017-10-04T18:03:42Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Do you honestly think anyone is going to say “yes” in a public poll? Sounds like an additional poll question 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/4 "2017-10-04T18:05:04Z")
Today I posted in another poll, that I thought it was the dumbest poll ever in Dope history. Now I’m not so sure. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/5 "2017-10-04T18:08:23Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Today I posted in another poll, that I thought it was the dumbest poll ever in Dope history. Now I’m not so sure. I am. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/6 "2017-10-04T18:16:49Z")
Not proud of it. Actually, trying to get beyond it. But i suppuse you asked for the truth and I responded in kind. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/7 "2017-10-04T18:25:33Z")
This looks like a poll that a white person would create. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/8 "2017-10-04T18:40:10Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > Not proud of it. Actually, trying to get beyond it. But i suppuse you asked for the truth and I responded in kind. What he said. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/9 "2017-10-04T18:40:17Z")
Way too simplistic. Suppose I wanted to say, “No, I’m not a racist, BUT… I am aware that I have certain prejudices?” ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/10 "2017-10-04T18:43:37Z")
Question to white people should be “Do you know you are racist?” ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/11 "2017-10-04T18:49:02Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > Question to white people should be “Do you know you are racist?” Do you have self awareness? Answer NO if you have the self awareness to know you lack self awareness. Answer YES if you lack the awareness to know that you lack self awareness. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/12 "2017-10-04T18:50:40Z")
I put no because whatever sense of superiority I might feel to others isn’t tied to skin color. I’ve never actually gotten racism. I mean, of all the reasons to dislike someone, you’re gonna go with color. Pride in being white (or black, or Asian, or Hispanic, or Irish, or Italian), to me it’s like being proud of being tall;. It’s your genetic make-up, fool. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/13 "2017-10-04T18:54:43Z")
When you make it a binary choice, then I have to go with “not racist.” It’s not about self-awareness. It’s about what people mean by “a racist.” I can say I have some leftover racist ideas that I’m still working on\*, but, push comes to shove, and I need to be categorized, I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of people would put me in the “not racist” category. As I would do to the vast majority of people on this board. Only those who regularly say racist things and don’t seem to care when people point it out would I consider to go in the “racist” category. If we don’t acknowledge the degrees of racism and limit “racist” (with no qualifiers) to those who have more than just the normal bits that they know they need to work on, then I think we make the word useless, coming off as merely an insult. \*For example, in that one study, I did show some biases towards lighter faces. It’s from some prestigious university and based on reaction times to word associations and pictures. I can’t remember which one to Google it, though. I was not surprised by the results: I live in a predominantly white town and thus have little practice to stop those associations/socially conditioned responses, even if I intellectually realize they are wrong and thus override them. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/14 "2017-10-04T19:12:23Z")
What if I hate _every_ race? Would that count as racism? > [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Do you honestly think anyone is going to say “yes” in a public poll? Part of the reason I feel like putting “yes”, just out of general principle. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/15 "2017-10-04T19:15:22Z")
This is a poorly defined poll. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/16 "2017-10-04T19:27:06Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > Question to white people should be “Do you know you are racist?” Wow. Quite a few around here would lose their damn minds if this was directed at black people. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/17 "2017-10-04T19:33:55Z")
I have prejudices, but they’re not racial. I do have preconceived ideas about people from some cultures (like being surprised that a \_\_\_\_ person is into \_\_\_\_\_, or good at \_\_\_\_\_, or whatever) but I’m aware of them and keep them firmly inside my own head. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/18 "2017-10-04T19:38:23Z")
No. Not in the least. And frankly, it would be almost impossible to live and work in Ottawa if I was. We’re a very cosmopolitan city. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/19 "2017-10-04T19:40:11Z")
I’m in favour of the human race. Does that make me racist? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966/20 "2017-10-04T19:49:23Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Wow. Quite a few around here would lose their damn minds if this was directed at black people. And rightfully so but black and whites – listen up, this will stun you – they have different histories and experiences. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-racist/797966.md?page=2)